Museum sights in Andalucía
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Centro de Interpretación del Sacromonte
This wide-ranging ethnographic and environmental museum and arts centre is set in large grounds planted with all manner of herbs where you can also see art exhibitions and attend a herbal remedy workshop. Morning is the best time to see the artists at work. The centre has an outdoor flamenco music, dance and film programme on Wednesday and Friday from June to September.
It's difficult to see flamenco that's not geared to tourists but some shows are more authentic than others and attract Spaniards as well as foreigners. In summer the flamenco nights here are well worth catching. It also shows the gitanos' way of life and traditional crafts - metalwork, pottery, weaving, an…
reviewed
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Cathedral
Málaga's Cathedral was begun in the 16th century on the former site of the main mosque. Building continued for two centuries, so while the northern door, Portada de la Iglesia del Sagrario, is Gothic, and the interior, with a soaring 40m dome, is Gothic and Renaissance, the facade is 18th-century baroque. The cathedral is known as La Manquita (the One-Armed), since its southern tower was never completed. Inside, note the 17th-century wooden choir stalls, as dark and smooth as chocolate, finely carved by the popular Andalucian sculptor Pedro de Mena.
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Museo de Cádiz
Cádiz’s excellent major museum faces one of the city’s largest and leafiest squares. The stars of the ground-floor archaeology section are two Phoenician marble sarcophagi, carved in human likeness, and a monumental statue of the Roman emperor Trajan, from Baelo Claudia. The fine-arts collection upstairs has 21 superb canvases by Francisco de Zurbarán, and the painting that cost Murillo his life – the altarpiece from Cádiz’s Convento de Capuchinas. The baroque maestro died from injuries received in a fall from scaffolding while working on this in 1682.
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Museo del Baile Flamenco
The brainchild of sevillana flamenco dancer, Cristina Hoyos, this is Seville’s newest museum. It’s spread over three floors of an 18th-century palace, although at €10 a pop it is more than a little overpriced. Exhibits include sketches, paintings, photos of erstwhile (and contemporary) flamenco greats, plus a collection of dresses and shawls. Performances, classes and workshops are regular occurrences here, and there’s the obligatory shop.
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Centro de Arte Contemporáneo
The Centro de Arte Contemporáneo is a coolly minimal museum of international 20th- and 21st-century art housed in a skilfully converted 1930s market. To get here head west on the Alameda Principal from the city centre and turn left when you get to the Río Guadalmedina. The large and diverse museum shop and suitably stark cafe are good stops to complete your visit.
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Museo del Bandolero
Museo del Bandolero is dedicated to the banditry for which central Andalucía was renowned during the 19th century. One dashing mannequin vaguely resembles Bryan Ferry, and there are plenty of striped blankets flung over shoulders, together with the tools of the bandit trade, and some of their spoils. The museum is wheelchair accessible.
reviewed
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Museo de Artes y Costumbres Populares
Located in a 17th-century inn, the speciality of Museo de Artes y Costumbres Populares is everyday rural and urban life of the past; note the painted clay figures (barros) of characters from Málaga folklore. To get here head west on the Alameda Principal from the city centre and turn right when you get to the Río Guadalmedina.
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Museo Taurino
The Museo Taurino is crammed with bullfighting memorabilia such as blood-spattered costumes worn by Pedro Romero and 1990's star Jesulín de Ubrique. It also includes photos of famous fans such as Orson Welles and Ernest Hemingway, whose novel Death in the Afternoon provides in-depth insight into the fear and tension of the bullring.
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Monasterio de la Encarnación
Opposite the Colegiata, this former monastery is now Osuna’s museum of religious art, with beautiful tile work and a rich collection of baroque art. Just down the road, the pointy blue-and-white-tiled towers of the Antigua Universidad fascinate like illustrations in a sinister fairy tale.
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Archivo de Indias
On the western side of Plaza del Triunfo, the Archivo de Indias is the main archive on Spain's American empire, with 80 million pages of documents dating from 1492 through to the end of the empire in the 19th century: a most effective statement of Spain's power and influence during its Golden Age.
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Palacio de Viana
Córdoba is famous for its patios and nowhere are they better exhibited than in this Renaissance palace with a dozen tranquil courtyards, a formal garden and a gilded house (with guided tours). It’s 500m north of the Plaza de la Corredera. Opening times are extended in July and August.
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Royal Chapel
The Royal Chapel is Granada's outstanding Christian building. Catholic Monarchs Isabel and Fernando commissioned this elaborate Isabelline-Gothic-style mausoleum. It was not completed until 1521, hence their temporary interment in the Convento de San Francisco.
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Museo de las Cortes de Cádiz
Museo de las Cortes de Cádiz is full of historical memorabilia focusing on the 1812 parliament, including a marvellous large 1770s model of Cádiz, made for King Carlos III. The museum was being renovated at the time of research.
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Torre del Oro
This 13th-century riverbank Islamic watchtower supposedly had a dome covered in golden tiles, hence its name, ‘Tower of Gold’. It has long been one of the most recognisable architectural symbols of Seville. Inside is a small maritime museum.
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Plaza de Toros
Take a walk along Playa de la Malagueta before visiting the museum of the Plaza de Toros, the busiest bullring on the coast. The museum is OK if you want to see some stuff on bullfighting, but the museum in Ronda is much better.
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Museo Diocesano
The Palacio Episcopal also houses the Museo Diocesano, which has a collection of religious art. The best of this art is some outstanding medieval woodcarving, including the 13th-century Virgen de las Huertas.
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Posada del Potro
Miguel de Cervantes lived for a while in the Posada del Potro, then an inn (which he described in Don Quijote as a ‘den of thieves’) and today a more respectable exhibition hall.
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Museo Catedralicio
The cathedral ticket admits you to the nearby Museo Catedralicio, with an excavated medieval street and material on the Anglo-Dutch sacking of 1596 alongside cathedral treasures and assorted art.
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Casa de Pilatos
One of the city’s finest noble mansions is still occupied by the ducal Medinaceli family. This extensive and splendid 16th-century building is a mixture of diverse architectural styles.
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Museo de la Alhambra
Museo de la Alhambra has an absorbing collection of Islamic artefacts from the Alhambra, Granada province and Córdoba, with explanatory texts in English and Spanish.
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Castillo de Santa Catalina
The Castillo de Santa Catalina was built after the 1596 sacking; inside are an interesting historical exhibit on Cádiz and the sea, and a gallery for exhibitions.
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Museo de Bellas Artes
Set in a beautiful former convent, Seville’s fine-arts museum does full justice to Seville’s leading role in Spain’s artistic golden age. The museum is wheelchair accessible.
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Museo de Artes y Costumbres Populares
Facing Seville’s Museo Arqueológico is the Museo de Artes y Costumbres Populares. It is wheelchair accessible.
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Torre de la Calahorra
A14th-century tower with the curious Roger Garaudy Museum of the Three Cultures highlighting the intellectual achievements of Islamic Córdoba.
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Maritime Museum
It’s worth visiting the Torre del Oro just to peer down on river life Seville style. Inside is the small maritime museum.
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