Museum sights in Central America
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Museo de la Palabra y La Images
In its brand-new location, the Museum of Word and Image is a museum of Salvadoran writing and writers, with a heavy emphasis on the revolutionary movement of the '70s and '80s. No surprise really - the museum's director is Carlos Henríquez Consalvi, aka 'Santiago,' the Venezuelan-born journalist who was the founder and main voice of Radio Venceremos during the war. (You're liable to see him around the museum most days.)
The museum has three small exhibit areas, through which it rotates compelling exhibits on themes such as writers (like Roque Dalton and Salarrué), the massacre of 1932, and women in Salvadoran history. Throughout the museum are terrific black-and-white ph…
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Military History Museum
Head to the troubling but surprisingly interesting Military History Museum. In a series of interconnected, barrack-like rooms, President Maximiliano Martínez is praised for the 'resolve and patriotism' with which he suppressed Communist insurgents in 1932 - some 30,000 indigenous men, women and children were killed in the process - and Colonel Domingo Monterrosa, alleged mastermind of the massacre at El Mozote, is described as having 'written pages of glory for the history of the armed forces.'
On the walls and in floor-mounted displays is an incredible array of rifles, machine guns, grenade launchers, mortars, flame throwers, radio and night-vision equipment - almost a…
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Convento y Museo San Francisco
The oldest church in Central America and the most striking building in Granada (that is to say, Nicaragua) boasts the big blue birthday cake facade of Iglesia San Francisco which, incidentally, houses the region's best museum.
The museum is through the small door on the left, where guides (some of whom speak English) are available for tours; tips are appreciated. Museum highlights include top-notch primitivist art, a scale model of the city and a tribe of papier-mâché Indians cooking, relaxing in hammocks and frolicking on comelazatoaztegams, a sort of a 360-degree see-saw.
The reason why you're here, however, is the Zapatera statuary, two solemn black basalt statues car…
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Museo de Café
There's a lot of information in the Museo de Café, almost all of it in Spanish, and very little actually pertains to coffee. Staff, however, who also operate a tour desk, are highly caffeinated, offer free cups of coffee, and also sell bags of the stuff.
This is actually more of a Nicaragua and Matagalpa history museum. It begins with a nice archaeology display, then segues into high-school-quality exhibitions about the city and region, from photos of beauty-contest winners past and present through a list of Latin America's great liberators, from Bolivar to Martí.
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Chiminike
Chiminike is Tegucigalpa’s excellent children’s museum. Situated about 7km south of downtown, it caters to kids of all ages, from a peaceful infant/nursing area to adolescent-level displays on Maya history. It’s refreshingly frank: the area about the human body has exhibits on the hows and whys of farting, vomiting, sneezing and body odor, while a crawl-through digestive tract starts at the mouth and ends with a slide through an oversized rectum.
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Museo El Valle
On the eastern side of El Valle's conspicuous church is the very modest Museo de El Valle, which contains exhibits of petroglyphs and ceramics left by the indigenous peoples who lived in the area hundreds of years ago. There is also some religious art (the museum is owned by the church next door), mostly statues of Christ and the Virgin, as well as some historical and geological information on El Valle's volcano.
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Turicentro Estelimar Science Museum & Pools
A good excuse for a 2km walk toward Jinotega, Turicentro Estelimar Science Museum & Pools has a small science museum with some pretty fabulous solar- and pedal-operated dinosaurs made out of old car parts, plus displays involving alternative energy, gears and hydraulics. There are also three attractive pools where you can relax afterward and big cabañas that are a good deal for groups and families.
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Mi Museo
This brand-new museum displays an incredible private collection of ceramics dating from at least 2000 BC to the present. Hundreds of beautifully crafted pieces were chosen with as much an eye for their artistic merit as their archaeological significance, and displayed in the grand old adobe with the same aesthetic awareness.
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Centro de Exhibiciones Marinas
The Centro de Exhibiciones Marinas, a marine exhibitions center operated by the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI), includes an informative marine museum with signs in English and Spanish, two small aquariums and a nature trail through a patch of dry forest containing sloths and iguanas.
There are many exhibits at the center, including a small six-sided building with sweeping views of the Bahía de Panamá that was built by Noriega for intimate gatherings. Today it houses a museum containing exhibits on the history of Panama's indigenous cultures.
At the museum you can also learn about the role that Panama's marine resources play in the country's economy, and t…
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Palacio Nacional de la Cultura
The imposing Palacio Nacional de la Cultura lies on the north side of the Parque Central. It was built as a presidential palace between 1936 and 1943 during the dictatorial rule of General Jorge Ubico at enormous cost to the lives of the prisoners who were forced to labor here. It's the third palace to stand on the site.
Despite its tragic background, architecturally the palace is one of the country's most interesting constructions, a mélange of multiple earlier styles from Spanish Renaissance to neoclassical. Today, most government offices have been removed from here and it's open as a museum and for a few ceremonial events. Visits are by guided tour (available in Engli…
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Real Aduana de Portobelo
The handsome, two-story Real Aduana de Portobelo was originally built in 1630 to serve as the contaduría (counting house) for the king's gold. It was in this building that the treasure brought across the isthmus was recorded and stored until it could be placed on galleons and sailed to Spain. According to early records, no less than 233 soldiers were garrisoned in this building alone.
The customs house consists of two main rooms, which are now used as permanent exhibition halls. One room displays dozens of purple velvet robes, which are placed on the statue of the Black Christ every October when thousands of devotees descend on Portobelo to worship the icon. Among the do…
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Museo de Leyendas Y Mitos
The Museum of Myths & Legends is unmissable. The contrast of its main subjects is striking: a quirky collection of life-size papier-mache figures from Leónese history and legend, handmade by founder Señora Toruña (also represented in glorious papier-mache), and murals graphically depicting methods used by the National Guard to torture prisoners.
The museum is located inside what used to be a prison during the Somoza regime. The prison was built in 1921 - hence its name, La XXI (the 21st Garrison). You'll be led from room to room, each dedicated to a different aspect of Leónese folklore, from La Gigantona - a giant woman representing an original colonist still ridiculed…
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Tin Marín Museo de los Niños
Where to start? This gem of a museum has so many interesting hands-on features, your little one may need a return trip. Roughly divided into four sections - health, environment, technology and culture - exhibits include a miniature supermarket (to learn about food groups), a huge artificial volcano (complete with smoke and red lights for lava) and a papermaking area (to learn about recycling).
There's a cockpit and fuselage of a real Boeing 727 airplane, and a real VW Beetle that kids can handpaint to their heart's delight - part of an exhibit on color and senses, it looks like an Andy Warhol piece. Another kid-favorite is the Casa de Gravedad (Gravity House) - a small ho…
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Museum of Popular Art
Yet another terrific museum is the Museum of Popular Art, which showcases El Salvador's underappreciated contribution to Central American folk art. The main attraction is the Sala Dominga Herrera, which describes the evolution of 'sorpresas,' the tiny clay figures made and sold in nearby Ilobasco.
Dominga Herrera (1911-1982), the daughter of ceramic doll makers, gained modest fame for her miniature and meticulously painted creations, which she began making on a whim but have since become a cottage industry for the whole town, even the country. Classic sorpresas are single pieces, usually portraying a profession, domestic scene or, more recently, sexual entanglements. Cont…
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Museo de Arte Fundación Ortiz-Guardián
Probably the finest contemporary art museum in Central America, the Ortiz-Guardián Collection has spilled over from its original home in Casa Don Norberto Ramiréz, refurbished in 2000 to its original Creole Civil style, with Arabic tiles and impressive flagstones. It and another beautiful old home across the street are now packed with artwork; a Spanish-speaking guide costs extra, and is well worth it.
Begin surrounded by the luxurious realism of the Renaissance and spare beauty of the colonial period, then wander through romanticism, modernism, postmodernism and actually modern pieces by Cuban, Peruvian and other Latin American schools. Rubens, Picasso, Chagall and oth…
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Museum of Belize
This excellent modern museum in the Fort George district is a must-see for anyone interested in the story of Belize. Housed in the country’s former main jail (built of brick in 1857), the museum preserves one cell in its original state, complete with inmates’ graffiti; if you thought your hotel room was cramped, think again! Fascinating historical photos and documents bear testimony to the colonial and independence eras and the destruction wrought by hurricanes. The Maya Treasures section, upstairs, is rather light on artifacts (most of Belize’s finest Maya finds were spirited away to other countries) but makes up for that with informative models and explanations. Othe…
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Huellas de Acahualinca
Discovered by miners in 1874, the Footprints of Acahualinca are perhaps Managua's most intriguing site, and shouldn't be missed. These fossilized tracks record the passage of perhaps 10 people - men, women and children as well as birds, raccoons and deer - across the muddy shores of Lago de Managua some 6000 years ago.
Despite early speculation that they were running from a volcanic eruption, forensic specialists have determined that these folks were in no hurry and, oddly enough, were fairly tall, between 145cm and 160cm. The excavation was undertaken by the Carnegie Foundation in 1941 and 1942, and unearthed 14 layers (4m/13ft) of earth. About 2 metres (6.5ft) down, the…
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Museo de la Revolución Salvadoreña
Just west of the parque central, the Museo de la Revolución Salvadoreña is an excellent museum that charts the causes and course of the armed struggle with photos, posters, weapons and histories of those who served and died in action. Weapons range from high-tech hardware to homemade bombs and mines. Behind the main building are the remains of the downed helicopter that carried Lieutenant Colonel Domingo Monterrosa, head of the notorious Atlacatl Battalion, to his death.
The studios of the FMLN's clandestine station Radio Venceremos (We Shall Prevail Radio) are also here; an elaborate hoax involving a radio transmitter rigged with explosives was what brought Monterrosa…
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Teatro Nacional
On the southern side of the Plaza de la Cultura resides the Teatro Nacional, San José’s most revered public building. Constructed in 1897, it features a columned neoclassical facade that is flanked by statues of Beethoven and Calderón de la Barca, a 17th-century Spanish dramatist. The lavish marble lobby and auditorium are lined with paintings depicting various facets of 19th-century life. The most famous is Alegoría al café y el banano, an idyllic canvas showing coffee and banana harvests. The painting was produced in Italy and shipped to Costa Rica for installation in the theater, and the image was reproduced on the old ₡5 note (now out of circulation). It is clea…
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Museo de Herrera
This anthropology and natural history museum contains many well-preserved pieces of pottery dating from 5000 BC until the time of the Spanish conquest. Some of the pieces that were found at the excavation sites outside Parita are here, although most of those artifacts are on display at the anthropology museum in Panama City.
Also on display are replicas of huacas (golden objects placed with indigenous peoples at the time of burial) found on the peninsula, as well as numerous photos of archeologists at work and maps showing where the pottery and huacas were found. Be sure to visit the museum's 2nd floor, where you'll find photos of Azuero residents, authentic folkloric cos…
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Centro Monseñor Romero
This small center pays homage to the martyred archbishop, assassinated by government agents in 1980. It is also the place where six Jesuits, who, along with their maid and her daughter, were slain in their sleep by military forces in 1989. The displays include photos of the murder scene - be forewarned, they're pretty grizzly. University students give tours.
To get here, take bus 44. Don't get off at the main entrance; instead, wait until the smaller back entrance on Calle de Mediterreáno (ask the driver if you're unsure). From there, Centro Romero is a few minutes' walk into the campus; ask a student for directions or look at one of the posted campus maps. You can also w…
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Palacio Nacional de la Cultura
Adjacent to the Old Cathedral, the 1935 Palacio Nacional de la Cultura houses the Museo Nacional. The timeline starts only 500 million years ago, as Nicaragua is one of the newest places on earth, and takes visitors through the formation of the lakes and volcanoes - not to mention gold mines - before getting to pre-Columbian statuary and one of the best pottery collections in the country, all well signed and explained.
Other exhibits whiz through the Spanish colonial period before landing in the Sandino, then Sandinista, eras. Above the main staircase is a mural of revolutionary movements in the Americas by Mexican artist Arnold Belkin, and there's also a room tracing 500…
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Convento y Museo San Francisco
Central America's oldest church, and Granada's most striking building, the Iglesia San Francisco's bright blue facade resembles a big, gaudy cake. Constructed in 1585, it has been burnt down and rebuilt a couple of times since then, and most recently restored in 1989. Inside, you will find the region's best museum.
The church's museum includes a display of papier-mâché Indians engaged in various activities, some great primitivist art, and a scale model of Granada. But its main claim to fame is the Zapatera statuary: big black basalt statues carved sometime between AD 800 and 1200, discovered on the ancient ceremonial island of Zapatera in the 1880s, and brought together…
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Museo de Arte Sacro
Call ahead to make sure the intriguing Museo de Arte Sacro is open, as the curator and founder, Monsignor Ricardo Clemente Juárez Soza, sometimes needs to run errands during the day. You've probably noticed that this neighborhood's churches are in some disrepair, a situation that inspired Juárez to preserve the region's absolutely beautiful 16th- and 17th-century religious art right here, where it would be safe.
Faithfully detailed wooden saints - including one of the first Virgins of Guadalupe - to more ostentatious examples of baroque overkill, including lots of gold and silver artifacts, have been packed in the original Casa de Cultura Subtiava, built in 1544.
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Museo Nacional de Arqueología y Etnología
The Museo Nacional de Arqueología y Etnología has the country's biggest collection of ancient Mayan artifacts, but explanatory information is very sparse. There's a great wealth of monumental stone sculpture, including Classic-period stelae from Tikal, Uaxactún and Piedras Negras, a superb throne from Piedras Negras and animal representations from preclassic Kaminaljuyú.
Also here are rare wooden lintels from temples at Tikal and El Zotz, and a room of beautiful jade necklaces and masks. Don't miss the large-scale model of Tikal. The ethnology section has displays on the languages, costumes, dances, masks and homes of Guatemala's indigenous peoples.
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