Museo de los Pueblos Leoneses

About the museum

The Museo de los Pueblos Leoneses, under the Instituto Leonés de Cultura (Leonese Institute of Culture) of the Diputación de León, holds the institution's ethnographic collection. Its history dates back to 1918, when private collections, donations and temporary premises were brought together. The permanent home was inaugurated in 2008 in Mansilla de las Mulas, about 18 km from the city of León.

The building, designed by the architect Mariano Díez Sáenz de Miera, incorporates the remains of the former convent of San Agustín, founded around 1500 by Fadrique Enríquez, Admiral of Castile: the Renaissance façade of the church with the coats of arms of the founders, a doorway with a conopial (ogee) arch, the funerary chapel of the lords of Villafañe and cobbled floors. It has three floors.

Some 7,000 pieces of popular culture from the Leonese regions are preserved, of which about 1,200 objects are shown. The permanent exhibition is organised into 27 thematic areas: farm implements and tools, transport, crafts and trades, the festive cycle with the antruejos or traditional carnivals, the costumes and jewellery of each region, and recreations of rooms in a traditional house, of building a tapial (rammed-earth wall) and of a thatched palloza roof. The museum also has a specialist library, the Biblioteca Etnográfica Concha Casado, with more than 10,000 volumes.

Highlights

• Permanent exhibition in 27 thematic areas on traditional Leonese culture
• Antruejos and traditional carnivals within the festive cycle
• Costumes and traditional jewellery of each Leonese region
• Recreations of a traditional house, a rammed-earth wall and a palloza straw roof
• Remains of the convent of San Agustín: Renaissance façade and the Villafañe chapel

Permanent exhibition

• Exposición permanente sobre la cultura tradicional leonesa – Twenty-seven thematic areas with farm implements, transport, crafts, the festive cycle, costumes and jewellery, and recreations of spaces of traditional life.

Founded

2008

Operated by

Instituto Leonés de Cultura (Diputación de León)

Admission & discounts

Free admission: Sundays from October to March

Rates according to the Castilla y León tourism portal; the museum publishes a rates sheet with the conditions for reduced admission.

Accessibility

The museum hasn’t published any information on this.

Kids & families

• Family tours & workshops

The activities programme includes workshops for all ages.

Getting there & parking

Mansilla de las Mulas is about 18 km from the city of León, on the Camino de Santiago.

Amenities & dining

The museum hasn’t published any information on this.

Events & venue rental

The museum hasn’t published any information on this.

Plan your visit