When people talk about visiting museums in Spain the usual places tend to come up during the conversations and they do not realize that in Leon City there are top class museums to visit which definitely offer an amazing cultural experience at a fraction of the price tourists would pay in other places in the country,
Unfortunately, Castilla and Leon does not promote the province of Leon enough to make it popular and this is causing it to struggle in many different ways but especially growth. As everybody knows Tourism is probably the main industry in Spain and holiday makers tend to travel to places sold as touristic destinations leaving other places completely ignored.
Anyway, the aim of this post is to showcase the main museums in Leon City which truly deserve a visit. Don't forget Leon City is not massive and allows walking to all these lovely museums, this is a big plus when it comes to tourism (at least in my opinion)
Convento de San Marcos is now a luxury hotel however it contains an annexed area a church and a museum. San Marcos is probably one of the most important monuments of the Renaissance era in Spain. At the museum tourists can find artifacts which have a very high historic and artistic value, perhaps el Cristo de Carrizo (spiritual figure from the XVI century) should be highlighted as one of the more important things to see at San Marcos.
Museo de Leon used to be part of Convento de San Marcos until 2007 when it was moved to its actual venue at the Pallares building in Plaza de Santo Domingo. The building was inaugurated back in 1869 making it the oldest museum in Spain.
There is a permanent exhibition about the Leon history starting from the Paleolithic and going all the way through the Romanic and medieval times .
The museum is made of 7 well structured sections and it is all set in chronological order.
At the main hall there is an introduction about the museum where maps, the geography and and the characteristics of Leon lands can be observed in detail. Further, there are exhibits of minerals and fossils.
If you are a lover of Contemporary Art, you need to visit MUSAC in Leon. This museum is located in Leon City within the neighborhood of Eras de Renueva. The walking distance from the city centre is approximately 15 to 20 minutes. The MUSAC is well known because of its vanguardism design, the museum has been awarded with multiple awards however one of the most important would be the the Contemporary Architecture European award received back in 2007. Th building was designed by Luis M. Mansilla and Emilio Tuñón. There are over 3000 colour panels on the external side of the building inspired on the windows glass from Leon's cathedral.
The museum counts with 5 different exhibition areas making up to a massive 3400 sqm excluding the main hall and the exhibition room available for customized collections and events.
Casa Botines is one of the 3 designs Antonio Gaudi built outside of Catalunya. The building has a neo-Gothic style with modern influences attributed to Gaudi. The building was built between 1891 and 1894 and it was declared a historical monument in 1969. The architect was working on Casa Episcopal in Astorga and one of his friends recommended him to a development company to build a textile headquarters in the town centre of Leon. The owners of the company decided Gaudi was the right person for the job and therefore he designed a medieval palace with neo-Gothic nowadays known as Casa Botines.
Colegiata de San Isidoro is one of the most historic and beloved buildings in Leon as well as one of the most famous roman constructions in Spain. San Isidoro is right in the middle of the Leon old city and only a few minutes away walk from the Cathedral.
The original church was built during the pre-Arab period on top of the ruins of an old roman temple which was devastated during the Muslim interruption in Leon. old monastery was dedicated to keep the relics of Don Pelayo.
The church has a lovely museum full of history that portrays over 1000 years of exciting history, facts and how things have changed over time to they way the are today.
Without a doubt one of the most notable icons of Leon City is its magnificent Cathedral. here, we talking about a French style gothic building built during the XIII century on top of the old roman bath ruins. The Cathedral is right in the heart of Leon City centre and it has it own museum. Its origins go back to the X century and it was the King Ordoño II who defeated the Muslim during the San Esteban de Gormaz battle who decided to build the Cathedral as a tribute to God.
Commentaires