Though Alcalá de Henares is a small town, there´s always plenty to do and see. One of its jewels is the wonderful Regional Archaeological Museum, the Museo Arqueológico Regional (MAR) which, as the name suggests, serves not only the city but the region, the Comunidad de Madrid.
Located in the lovely Plaza de las Bernardas, a two-minute walk from the town´s colonnaded Calle Mayor, this airy, historical building is the perfect place to be at any time, but on a Sunday morning it´s an absolute delight.
Large enough to be comprehensive, but compact enough to be doable, the MAR positively beckons alcalaínos and tourists alike to take a leisurely stroll through its top-notch installations and well-stocked shop before a couple of tapas in the Casco Viejo.
And the morning won´t break the bank since, like the tapas, the museum visit is free!
Like most museums it has both a permanent collection as well as temporary exhibitions. To its display of archaeological remains from the earliest times in the Madrid area right up to the Royal Court´s move to its present location, are added, to my mind, some of the best and most-varied events of interest to everybody (and not just archaeology buffs like myself).
In terms of language, while the permanent collection and the website are disappointingly only in Spanish, the temporary exhibitions are often in a number of languages, particularly English.
As a family we´ve gone along to see many exhibitions at the MAR, though my favourite was about the Neolithic, alpine Otzi – El hombre que vino del frío. Also interesting was El Tesoro Arqueológico de la Hispanic Society of America.
The MAR is something of a workhorse since, besides its collections, it also plays host to prominent speakers – such as my hero, Atapuerca archaeologist, Juan Luis Arsuaga – childrens´workshops, conservation and guided visits, not to mention participation in excavations.
Currently running is an exhibition on the Iron Age, Celtiberian tribe, the Carpetani.
I´ll be there tomorrow morning.
The museum is open from Tuesday to Saturday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m, Sundays and holidays, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Happy International Museums Day!
And P.S. la mar de cosas means “lots”.
About Mo
Finally got to the Carpetanos exhibition this morning. It´s wonderful, particularly because of the artists´ impressions of daily life in this Iron Age tribe which accompany the finds. Life seemed pretty good then – they seemed to lack nothing. The museum now owns the excavation site near Santorcaz called El Llano de Horca and plans on creating a proper complex for tourists to visit. i hope it all works out.
Replying to myself here …. meant to say I learned a new word – very specialized and not one you can just slip into a conversation over a beer – but i like it. A “fusayola,” I could see, was a small stone with a hole in it and from the artists illustrations, used in spinning. I looked it up just now and it´s a “spindle whorl.” So, if you ever get that in a translation, now you know!
Sounds like a great museum.We went to see the Otzi exhibition here in Valencia and it was great. I would like to see the Celtiberia one as I have lately really got into Iberos for one of our trips and I have been visiting loads of archeological sites(remains of Ibero fortified towns) which are quite amazing.
It is a great museum! I really learned a lot from the Otzi exhibition, such as that Otzi had rheumatism! Although I said I was going on Sunday I got up late and didn´t go – but i will and fill you in. We also went to Numancia near Soria to see Celtiberian remains and it was really good too.
I was in Alcalá de Henares once, way back when I was still an exchange student in Madrid, but I didn’t know about the museum, so I missed it. It sounds interesting, though, so maybe sometime if I’m nearby, I’ll pop in for a peek.
And for a cuppa with me! (Or something stronger). As for the museum, it´s nice to see an organization getting it right (when so often here they get it so wrong). Thanks for commenting Theresa!