Museo Arqueológico Los Baños

Archaeology museum on the remains of the Roman baths, the Islamic baths and the 19th-century spa of Alhama de Murcia.

Temporarily closed

Temporarily closed. The museum is temporarily closed for renovation works, efficiency improvements and digitisation of the collections. No reopening date has been announced.

About the museum

The museum protects the archaeological remains of the baths of Alhama de Murcia, a complex that has been in use for more than 2,000 years. The Romans built baths next to the castle to make use of a hot spring. In the Islamic period there were ordinary baths and mineral baths, with separate sections for men and women. In 1848 the Hotel Balneario was built, which attracted bathers from all over Spain until its decline in the 20th century.

The remains were declared a Monumento Histórico-Artístico (Historic-Artistic Monument) in 1983. The centre opened in 2005 and joined the Red de Museos de la Región de Murcia (Murcia Museum Network) in 2008. The building combines a modern structure with a garden and the original thermal architecture, including vaulted rooms and a room for temporary exhibitions.

The permanent collection brings together more than a hundred objects and is arranged in sections on the building, the Roman world, the Roman baths, the Islamic baths, the 19th-century Hotel Balneario and the garden. It also houses the municipal archaeological and ethnographic collection of Alhama. At the entrance is a Roman mosaic from the late 1st century AD, found in the square of the church of San Lázaro Obispo.

Highlights

Remains of Roman baths and Islamic baths in the building itself
History of the 19th-century Hotel Balneario
Roman mosaic from the late 1st century AD
Municipal archaeological and ethnographic collection
Virtual reconstructions and the sound of water