The 10 best museums to visit in Seville

Introduction

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There are numerous museums to visit in Seville, each with a unique theme, but I would like to highlight a few that I think you should not miss on your visit.

Therefore, in this article, we are going to see the ten best museums in Seville, which will teach you the history of the city. Before we start I would like to emphasize that the cultural offer that Seville has to offer is gigantic, and there are many more museums that can give you a fantastic experience that are not listed here.

• Museum of Fine Arts
• Provincial Archaeological Museum
• Archive of the Indies
• Museum of Popular Arts and
• Popular Arts and Customs of Seville
• Museum of Flamenco Dance
• Triana Ceramics Center
• Military Historical Museum
• Cathedral Museum
• Aquarium of Seville
• CaixaForum Seville

This square is located near the Corte Ingles downtown, in the Plaza del Duque and is a must-see.

This neighborhood stands out for its commercial and gastronomic offer.

We recommend visiting the Museum Chapel, admiring the Palace of the Counts of Casa Galindo and paying homage to the statue of Murillo in the center, a bronze sculpture by Sabino de Medina.

In addition, on Sundays, an art fair is organized, if you are interested in taking a special souvenir of the Sevillian city.

2. Provincial Archaeological Museum

The Archaeological Museum of Seville is located in the Plaza de America, at one end of the Maria Luisa Park.

It is housed in a neo-Renaissance building designed by Aníbal González y Álvarez-Ossorio between 1910 and 1915 to house the Fine Arts Pavilion at the Ibero-American Exposition of 1929. In 1962, the building and its collections were declared a Historic-Artistic Monument.

The Museum was created in the second half of the 19th century. As a consequence of the disentailment, the Ministry of the Interior issued a Royal Order on July 19, 1835, in an attempt to save the works of art preserved in the suppressed convents. In order to be inventoried, these objects had to be appraised by a Provincial Board of experts.

The museum is divided into three levels, which are explored chronologically. The basement covers the oldest period, displaying ceramic, stone and copper elements from the prehistoric societies that lived in the area.

The Carambolo Treasure, a mysterious set of gold and ceramic pieces more than 2,700 years old, is on the second floor and is one of the museum’s key pieces (it is a replica).

The tour concludes with numerous Roman remains, mostly from Italica, including sculptures, mosaics and ceramic elements.

It is a must-see museum if you are interested in learning about the evolution with evidence of the different cultures that occupied Seville and the region.

3. Archive of the Indies

The Archivo General de Indias of Seville, built by Charles III in 1785, is one of the most recognizable structures in the city. Its walls hold centuries of history because it was the only place that housed all the documentation related to the Spanish colonies up to that time.

Throughout its history, it has served as a merchants’ market or as the headquarters of various institutions, including the Academy of Painting founded by Bartolomé Esteban Murillo. Since the 18th century it has housed the Archive of the Indies, which contains all documents related to the New World.

The Archive of the Indies contains some 43,000 folders with some 80 million pages and some 8,000 maps.

It frequently organizes temporary exhibitions, and works by Francisco de Goya are on permanent display.

4. Museum of Popular Arts and Customs of Seville

The Museum of Popular Arts and Customs of Seville, founded in 1972, is a museum dedicated to the tangible and intangible ethnological heritage of Andalusia, with exhibitions of objects and utensils that document the customs, knowledge and ways of life of the traditional culture of the region.

It is located in the Mudejar pavilion, designed by the architect Aníbal González for the Ibero-American Exposition of 1929.

The City Council of Seville ceded the use of this building to the State, first partially and then completely, which resulted in this location in the pavilion.

It is a museum full of works that explain the culture and settlements that have been in Andalusia over the centuries, and in its rooms you can see:

• Female court dresses.
• Andalusian folk costumes.
• Popular musical instruments.
• Agricultural tools.
• Gold and silver work.
• Textiles, lace and embroidery.
• Modernist ceramics, fine earthenware and oriental ivories.
• Costumbrista painting.

5. Flamenco Dance Museum

Seville’s Flamenco Dance Museum is an impressive setting for some of the best flamenco shows in the city. Every day, the museum’s “Patio Flamenco” show is held in the Santa Cruz neighborhood, just steps from the Plaza de la Alfalfa.

The museum’s central courtyard has been specially designed to host performances for a small number of spectators. The museum, of course, attracts some of the best talent in Seville and Spain under the direction of Cristina Hoyos.

This Flamenco Museum is one of the most technologically advanced museums in Spain. Interactive exhibits show the origins and evolution of flamenco dance, covering various musical and dance styles. The music, video and costume exhibits are among the best we have seen in any museum.

The museum has become a destination for good flamenco in Seville. After a brief introduction, the show “Patio Flamenco” demonstrates the museum’s commitment to offer its visitors an authentic and unique Flamenco show.

If you want to enjoy a quality Flamenco experience, with a golden address, we recommend you to live the experience at the Museum of Flamenco Dance in Seville.

6. Triana Ceramics Center

The Ceramics Center of Triana was founded in 2014 with the aim of highlighting the history of the Triana pottery tradition, as well as serving as a reception center for visitors to the Triana neighborhood.

It is located in the pottery complex that served as the headquarters of the company Cerámica Santa Ana-Rodríguez Daz S.L., which has been active since the late medieval period, producing countless famous pots and tiles.

The old company sign, painted with cuerda seca on a blue background, can still be seen on the façade.

On the second floor of the Center you can see the factory and the manufacturing process. The water well, the clay tanks, the pigment containers, the potter’s wheel, the tables for drying the molds or the board where the painters decorated the large tile panels can be found here.

In addition, all this together with posters describing the manufacture of Triana pottery and images of the most important factories of Triana.

On the upper floor, along with other facilities, is the Permanent Exhibition Hall, which houses ceramic pieces by Aníbal González from the Plaza de España, pieces from the City Hall collection, and works on loan from museums such as the Museum of Popular Arts and Customs, the Archaeological Museum, the National Museum of Decorative Arts, and the Pickman and Santa Ana Factories.

It includes a historical and ethnographic tour of Triana and its traditions.

7. Military History Museum

The Military Historical Museum was inaugurated on December 18, 1992, but was renovated in 2000 to build two more floors in order to incorporate more important collections until reaching the current 5,000 pieces.

It has twelve exhibition rooms with pieces mainly from the old Armory of Seville, the Military Pyrotechnics (currently the Faculty of Law of the University of Seville), the former Southern Military Region and the Royal Cannon Factory.

This Museum has different rooms dedicated each one of them to a thematic having rooms of Captaincy, Infantry, Artillery, among many other rooms.

8. Cathedral Museum

The Cathedral Museum is another essential museum to visit in Seville. It is, without a doubt, a religious museum where you can see everything you can imagine about the cathedral, its relics, soak up history and, above all, everything related to the brotherhoods and Holy Week.

It is located in the heart of the city, a few steps from the Alcázar of Seville and a few minutes from the Torre del Oro.

The Cathedral Museum, also known as the Cathedral Treasury, contains important paintings by Murillo, Zurbarán, Luis de Morales and Francisco Herrera el Mozo, among others.

In this seat of the Cathedral of Santa Maria, the main monument of the city and World Heritage Site, numerous stained glass windows, reliquaries and countless objects of worship of the Catholic religion are preserved.

It houses some of the most valuable pieces of the Spanish church.

Opening hours

Monday to Saturday: from 11:00 to 17:00.
Sunday: from 14:00 to 18:00.

9. Seville Aquarium

The Aquarium of Seville presents the maritime species of the voyage of Elcano and Magellan, through which a wide range of ecosystems of the planet is presented, corresponding to the areas visited in the first round-the-world voyage.

The historic expedition visited the Canary Islands, the Guadalquivir River, Patagonia, Brazil, the Philippines and the South Seas. If you go to the Aquarium of Seville, you will be able to see a great variety of river and marine species from all over the world.

It is certainly an added attraction to a visit to Seville, and one of the best attractions for those traveling with children, those concerned about the environment, and those interested in Spain’s rich history of navigation and discovery.

The area is very pleasant in general, with views of the river, the aquarium itself, a restaurant and a nice terrace for a drink with children’s attractions such as remote-controlled boats.

10. CaixaForum Seville

CaixaForum Seville is the third largest venue in Spain, after Barcelona and Madrid. Art, music and cinema are some of the disciplines that coexist in 8,100 square meters.

It also aims to be a space from which to contribute to the dissemination of the arts and humanities; to encourage debate on contemporary ideas, trends and research; and to promote dialogue and reflection on major social transformations.

The Sevillian architect Guillermo Vázquez Consuegra designed the building, which uses a sophisticated system of skylights and an intelligent arrangement of the rooms to bring light into the new space, achieving a pleasant balance between the introspection required by the exhibition halls and their link to the unique environment of the Andalusian capital.

The Center has two large exhibition halls, an auditorium, a spacious lobby, a cafeteria, two multi-purpose rooms and one dedicated to children’s activities.

In this space countless exhibitions are held throughout the year, which you can find out about on the CaixaForum website.