National Archaeological Museum

Executive summary by darmansjah

The National Archaelogical Museum  is a museum in Madrid, Spain, which is now open after its renovations. It is located beside the Plaza de Colón (Columbus Square), sharing its building with the National Library.

The museum was founded in 1867 by a Royal Decree of Isabella II, and its purpose was to be a depository for numismatic, archaeological, ethnographical and decorative art collections compiled by the Spanish monarchs.

In 1895 all the collections were moved to the current venue, a neoclassical building projected by architect Francisco Jareño and built from 1866 to 1892. In 1968 renovation and extension works considerably increased its area.

In 2008 the museum closed for renovation. The projected completion date was 2013, but the museum remained closed until April 2014.[ The remodelled museum concentrates on a core role and releases items from the decorative arts collection.

The collection includes, among others, Pre-historic, Egyptian, Celtic, Iberian, Greek and Roman antiquities and medieval (Visigothic, Muslim and Christian) objects.