Not all pupils are interested in history lessons. Dry textbooks about the primitive communal system and small pictures of tools from the Stone Age are certainly no fun. But if the unscheduled class occurs in a museum, there's much more interest.
Take children to the Museu d'Arqueologia de Catalunya (MAC) when you're in Barcelona with children. This collection of antiquities will give them a different perspective of Barcelona.
The museum is housed in the former Palace of Graphic Arts, built in 1929 for the International Exhibition. The building of the Museum of Archaeology of Catalonia in Barcelona was designed by Pelagi Martínez i Patricio. The museum dates back to 1932, and since 1935 the unique pieces discovered by archaeologists have been available for viewing.
The Archaeological Museum of Barcelona collection covers a considerable period of history: from the first appearance of humans on the territory of Catalonia until the beginning of the Middle Ages. Its total area of 4000 m2 divided into five chronological spaces: prehistory; protohistory, Greek and Phoenician colonizations; The Roman Empire; and, finally, the Visigoths, who laid the foundation for the medieval period. It's not just primitive tools and clay pots on display here.
The showcases display luxury items and artworks dating from millennia to our era. The exhibitions on the lives of the Phoenicians, Greeks, Romans, Iberians and Visigoths in north-east Spain are full of valuable artefacts such as weapons, jewellery, mosaics and frescoes.
But the layout of the Roman city is exciting. Firstly, it shows very clearly how functional the settlements were. Secondly, next to the mock-up, fragments of the walls of actual ancient buildings are on display.
The Archaeological Museum of Catalonia often has temporary exhibitions. For instance, the museum has a quest exhibition inspired by the Indiana Jones films. The museum is relatively small, so you can combine it with visiting other attractions on Mount Montjuïc, Spain.
