National Archaeological Museum (Madrid)

National Archaeological Museum
Museo Arqueológico Nacional
Museum's main facade
Established 1867
Location Madrid, Spain
Type Archaeology museum
Director Andrés Carretero Pérez
Website man.mcu.es
National Archaeological Museum
Native name
Spanish: Museo Arqueológico Nacional
Location of National Archaeological Museum in Spain
Location Madrid, Spain
Coordinates 40°25′24″N 3°41′20″W / 40.423333°N 3.688889°W / 40.423333; -3.688889Coordinates: 40°25′24″N 3°41′20″W / 40.423333°N 3.688889°W / 40.423333; -3.688889
Official name: Museo Arqueológico Nacional
Type Non-movable
Criteria Monument
Designated 1962
Reference no. RI-51-0001373

The National Archaeological Museum (Spanish: Museo Arqueológico Nacional) is a museum in Madrid, Spain. It is located on Serrano Street beside the Plaza de Colón (Columbus Square), sharing its building with the National Library.

The museum was founded in 1867 by a Royal Decree of Isabella II as a depository for numismatic, archaeological, ethnographical and decorative art collections of the Spanish monarchs.

The museum was originally located in the Embajadores district of Madrid. In 1895, it moved to a building designed specifically to house it, a neoclassical design by architect Francisco Jareño, built from 1866 to 1892. In 1968, renovation and extension works considerably increased its area. The museum closed for renovation in 2008 and reopened in April 2014.[1] The remodelled museum concentrates on its core archaeological role, rather than decorative arts.

Its collection is based on pieces from the Iberian Peninsula, from Prehistory to Early-Modern Age. However, it also has different collections coming from outside of Spain, especially from Ancient Greece, both from the metropolitan and, above all, from Magna Graecia, and, to a lesser extent, from Ancient Egypt, in addition to "a small number of pieces" from Near East.[2]

Artefacts

Prehistoric and Iberian
Roman and Visigothic
Medieval
Al-Andalus

See also

References

  1. ↑ Official website (in Spanish), plus information from Madrid Tourist Office etc, as at November 24, 2013.
  2. ↑ "Egipto y Oriente Próximo", Museo Arqueológico Nacional
  3. ↑ The first R is held at the Musée de Cluny, Paris.

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