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Museums in Granada

20 agosto, 2018

: Archaeological | art | Casa de los Pisa | Casa-Museo de Federico García Lorca | culture | Museo Arqueológico | Museo de Bellas Artes | Museo de la Alhambra | Museo de la Capilla Real | Museo San Juan de Dios | museums | Parque de las Ciencias | works

Granada has a good number of museums that house a lot of showing and collections of artistic and cultural interest. For this reason, if travelling to this city, it is necessary to take time to visit the museums that manage to take you back to other epoch and world through its wide cultural content.

When talking about museums, it is common to think directly in pictorial and sculptural works. Hence the importance of the Parque de las Ciencias de Granada: the first museum of interactive science of Andalucía. With more than 70,000 m², it stands out because you can enjoy a lot of interesting scientific experiences, for example: discovering the inside of a volcano, discovering the functioning of the gravity, using a gyroscope, playing with lens and mirrors in order to observe optical illusions… Besides, it has a Mariposario Tropical (Tropical Butterfly House), and the 37 metre-high Torre de Observación (Observation Tower), where you can contemplate beautiful views of the city. Definitively, a tourist area with temporary and permanent exhibitions in the downtown area of Granada that achieve that the science will become interesting and funny for the young, adults and children. 
Although it is closed for refurbishment at this moment, the Museo Arqueológico y Etnológico de Granada (Archaeological Museum of Granada) is also a museum of tourist interest, since it allows discovering the historical and cultural evolution of the society through the remains that are here. These remains date from different epochs, from the prehistory to the Roman and Muslim ages. The museum, which has two floors and a patio, is settled in the Casa de Castril, a Renaissance palace, whose façade with three levels makes you feel impressed. 
You can also discover archaeological remains in the Museo de la Alhambra (Alhambra Museum), situated in the south wing of the ground floor of the palacio de Carlos V  (Carlos V palace), a Renaissance building annexed to the Alhambra.  Its collection, originating from excavations of Granada and donations, is monographic, since it is dedicated to the culture and the Hispanic-Muslim art, especially to the Nasrid Art. It is showed throughout seven rooms and explores the Hispanic-Muslim history from the IX to the XVI century, showing metals, ceramics, plastering… The exhibition is distributed chronologically and thematically; the Jarrón de las Gacelas and the Pila de los Leones are stood out. 
In addition to the Museo de la Alhambra, on the first floor of the palacio de Carlos V is also situated the Museo de Bellas Artes de Granada (Fine Arts Museum in Granada), the oldest art gallery of Spain. Its collection has paintings and sculptures from the XV and the XX century. Among the oldest sculptures are stood out the sculpture by Roberto Alemán: Santa María de la Alhambra (at the end of the XV century), which dominated the Puerta de la Justicia of the Alhambra. Machuca and Alonso Cano (well-known artists) stood up in the XVI century. The museum has works of Alonso Cano, such as San Jerónimo penitente en el desierto (St Jerome in Penitence), La Virgen del Lucero and the sculpture of San Diego de Alcalá. The sculptural ensemble of El entierro de Cristo by the Florentine Jacopo da Torni (Jacopo Florentino), was also executed in this century. Finally, the exhibition of the XVII century is highlighted, which has the work of Juan Sánchez Cotán: Bodegón con cardo y zanahoria, one of the most important works. 
If you want to visit the rich legacy of the Catholic Monarchs (Reyes Católicos), it is necessary to visit the Museo de la Capilla Real (Royal Chapel), which is situated in the sacristy premises of this chapel, where their tombs are situated. Here you can see jewels, books, paintings, crowns, the mirror and the case of the Queen… and an endless number of high-value personal objects that take you back to an oldest epoch.
Besides, there are some other museums as attractive as the previous ones. The Museo San Juan de Dios and Casa de los Pisa in Granada, the most important museum of its kind in Andalucía, is highlighted by its paintings, porcelains, craftsmanship in precious metals and all the iconography of San Juan de Dios (John of God). In the Casa-Museo Federico García Lorca you can contemplate personal objects of the poet, such as its drawings, pictures, manuscripts, paintings… During the summers of 1926 – 1936, Lorca wrote here some renowned works, such as Bodas de Sangre. Equally, in the Casa-Museo Manuel de Falla, a traditional carmen of Granada, you can discover the private life and the environment in which he conceived his famous composition El Retablo de Maese Pedro, which was inspired in an chapter of Don Quijote. These three museums are indispensable for all the people that like imagining the life of these three important personalities, since it is reflected surprisingly.
If you want discover not only the cultural aspect, but also wonderful views, the ideal place is the Museo Cuevas del Sacromonte, where you can visit ten caves in their original state, exactly as they were ten years ago, with its traditional tools and adornments, in order to discover the history and understand the customs and the development that have taken place. Together with this, the visitant will be fascinated due to the beautiful environment, with its views to the Albaicín, Sacromonte, Alhambra and the valley of the river Darro. For this reason, this museum has a nature room in order to show the agriculture, fauna and flora of this area.
Other important cultural exhibitions are in the Museo CajaGRANADA Memoria de Andalucía, where the visitant can discover the culture of Andalucía, its evolution, its art and its culture trough some workshops and works from XVI to XXI century of very important authors, such as Andy Warhol, Pablo Picasso…; the Museo Casa de los Tiros, which is specialised in subjects from Granada, or the Palacio de los Condes de Gabia, among others.
In this way, the visitant will not be able to ignore these cultural exhibitions, since Granada has a lot of things that show you in this field, becoming a singular and unique area with a great range of artistic and cultural possibilities that must be discovered.