The doors to a new museum in Biscay have been opened a few years ago to the public. The Arkeologi Museoa can be found in the Old Quarter of Bilbao and comprises 3,000 m2 of exhibition area on five floors. It is a centre for heritage research and conservation that offers its visitors an interactive journey through the history of Biscay.
The Cave of Santimamiñe has been a point of reference in our area for most of the past century. For decades, successive generations of Biscayans have been able to explore its galleries and look at its rock paintings and carvings.
Now, after 90 years of visits, the cave, which is a real geological, artistic and archaeological treasure, needs a great deal of cleaning and conservation work. With a new presentation, partly physical and partly virtual, the public that will have the opportunity to get to know and enjoy the complex in a sustainable and responsible way.
The Arkeologi Museoa
The Arkeologi Museoa, located in the Old Quarter of Bilbao, is a new cultural centre and its main objectives are:
1. Guaranteeing the conservation of the materials retrieved from archaeological excavations, and the documents generated by such materials, given that the museum must preserve the objects and their context.
2. Promoting archaeological research by documenting the collections and creating the necessary infrastructures and services for their study: Research rooms, wash rooms, dating, and cataloguing, conservation laboratories and library.
3. Disseminating knowledge about the History of Bizkaia, by connecting the past with modern-day society in order to contribute to its future projection, through organising exhibitions, courses, conferences, and issuing publications, among other activities.
Cave of Santimamiñe
The Cave of Santimamiñe is one of the most important archaeological sites in the Basque Country and has been a point of reference in that area for most of the past century.
Now, after 90 years of visits, the cave, which is a real geological, artistic and archaeological treasure, needs a great deal of cleaning and conservation work. With a new presentation, partly physical and partly virtual, the public will have the opportunity to get to know and enjoy the complex in a sustainable and responsible way.
The Santimamiñe cave is located on the eastern side of the basin of the Urdaibai River, dominating a vast landscape of diverse ecosystems: Holm oak forests in Cantabria, rural areas, estuaries, etc.
In one of its rooms, a remarkable archaeological fill is preserved displaying a cultural sequence ranging from the beginning of the Upper Palaeolithic to Roman times.
The cave of Santimamiñe is intensely connected to the Arkeologi Museoa, where the materials witch are being recuperated in this archaeological site since 1916, are conserved.