Not everyone loves archaeology — ancient shards and tarnished coins are silent, so they tell their stories only to the most interested. But are you ready to walk past a museum with a rock art gallery? And the treasures of this gallery are exhibited not just anywhere but in a cave. Such an intriguing excursion in Madrid will surely interest the child. And to see the paintings of the first artists and many other valuable archaeological finds, visit the National Archaeological Museum of Spain.
The antiquities discovered during excavations in different regions of Spain began to be collected one and a half hundred years ago. The Museo Nacional de Arqueología was founded in 1867 by order of Queen Isabella II. In 2008-2013, the museum was reconstructed, and the exposition was re-planned, using modern methods of presenting information.
The museum collection occupies four floors. There is a section dedicated to archaeology as a science and halls where several periods of history can be traced from archaeological finds. The exhibits illustrate life in Spain, North Africa, Greece, and the Middle East. One of the most unusual exhibits is a copy of the Altamira cave. Coloured rock carvings were found in this cave, and an amateur archaeologist made a fantastic find with his 9-year-old daughter. The rock paintings are copied very carefully, and the same natural paints that people could get in the Paleolithic era were used for drawing.
Among other valuable exhibits of the Archaeological Museum in Madrid is the monument of Iberian art, "The Lady of Elche", and Visigoth treasures (gold crowns and church utensils hidden from the Moorish conquerors and lying in the ground for more than a thousand years), Etruscan vases, mosaics of the Roman period and much more.
Also, the National Archaeological Museum (Madrid) owns the best numismatic collection in Spain, which covers the period from the 6th century BC to BC. e. to the 21st century. The museum is next to the large old Retiro Park, where you can walk after the tour.
