Archaeological Museum of Granada

About Archaeological Museum of Granada

The Museo Arqueológico y Etnológico de Granada occupies the Casa de Castril, a 16th-century Renaissance palace on the Carrera del Darro, the riverside street below the Alhambra on the edge of the Albaicín. Founded in 1879, it was one of the first archaeological museums in Spain, and it moved into this palace in 1919.

After eight years closed, it reopened in May 2018 with a selection of 146 of its most important pieces, arranged chronologically in three rooms around the central patio. Highlights include the Orce molar from the Palaeolithic, finds from the Cueva de los Murciélagos and the Argaric Bronze Age, a painted ostrich egg, Iberian funerary pieces and horse reliefs from Trasmulas. The Roman room shows the Venus of Paulenca, and the patio gallery holds large pieces such as the mosaic from the Roman villa of Los Mondragones.

The palace was built on the site of Moorish houses demolished after the Christian conquest of 1492.

The museum is closed on Mondays, except before public holidays, and summer hours are shorter, so check before you go. Spring and autumn suit the walk along the Darro; come in the morning, before the street fills with visitors heading for the Paseo de los Tristes.

Archaeological Museum of Granada in pictures

What you’ll find

• Museum exhibitionExhibition visitTicket
• Museum galleriesMuseum visitTicket
• Museum guideGuided tourBook
• Museum workshopChildren educationBook

Nearby places to visit

Two composers' houses lie a short walk away on the Alhambra hill. The Ángel Barrios Legacy Museum (400 m), inside the Alhambra, shows the collection gathered by the guitarist and composer's daughter and donated to the Alhambra, and the Manuel de Falla House Museum (600 m) is the carmen where Falla lived with his sister from 1922 to 1939. For golf, Granada Golf Club (9 km) lies in Las Gabias, with views of the Sierra Nevada. The Federico García Lorca House Museum (21 km) in Valderrubio is where the poet spent part of his childhood and youth.