Museo Etnográfico El Caserón

Municipal ethnographic museum in a 17th-century farmhouse, with objects, clothing and traditional trades of San Sebastián de los Reyes.

Opening hoursFree admission

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About the museum

The Museo Etnográfico El Caserón grew out of the work of the Centro de Estudios Tradicionales of the Universidad Popular José Hierro, which from 1982 onwards recovered tools, utensils, clothing and songs from the town before urban growth made them disappear. After careful cataloguing and restoration, the museum opened on 26 August 2005, and most of its holdings come from donations by local residents, a practice that continues today.

It was installed in the oldest surviving civil building in the municipality, a 17th-century farmhouse (casa de labor) next to the Plaza del Ayuntamiento. The ground floor is devoted to graphic documents, clothing and a domestic room set in the 1940s, which is usually what visitors remember most. The upper floor displays traditional instruments, trades, the museum's library, which specialises in ethnography, and the section on agriculture, livestock and transport.

The attic houses “El rincón de la memoria” (The Corner of Memory), a permanent exhibition on local residents persecuted during the dictatorship, prepared with the Asociación Comisión de la Verdad. Finally, a cave-cellar with the original clay jars (tinajas) completes the route. The oldest piece in the museum is a book on economics from the mid-18th century.

Highlights

17th-century farmhouse, the oldest civil building in the municipality
Domestic room set in the 1940s
Holdings gathered largely through donations from local residents
“El rincón de la memoria”, an exhibition on victims of the dictatorship
Cave-cellar with the original clay jars

Permanent exhibitions

Colección etnográfica – The ground floor shows graphic documents, clothing and a 1940s domestic room; the upper floor displays traditional instruments, trades, agriculture, livestock and transport, as well as the museum's library.
El rincón de la memoria – Permanent exhibition in the attic, with panels, documents, photographs and objects commemorating local residents persecuted during the dictatorship.
Cueva-bodega – Underground brick space with the original clay jars, where the temperature drops noticeably.

Founded: 2005
Operated by: Ayuntamiento de San Sebastián de los Reyes