Museo Geominero

About the museum

The collections of the Museo Geominero date back to 1849, when a decree of Isabel II created the Commission for the Geological Map of Madrid and of the Kingdom, the origin of today's Instituto Geológico y Minero de España. The holdings passed through several Madrid premises, including the palace of the Duke of San Pedro and the convent of La Trinidad, before reaching the present building.

Construction of the headquarters on calle de Ríos Rosas began in 1921 and continued until the mid-1940s. The great hall was inaugurated in 1926, on the occasion of the 14th International Geological Congress, and the collections were installed permanently in 1927. For years it was known as the Museo Nacional de Geología. After a renovation begun in 1980, which included restoring the building, updating the collections and a general inventory, King Juan Carlos I reopened it on 2 March 1989 as the Museo Geominero.

The collection exceeds 108,000 specimens, of which around 19,000 are permanently on display. The route covers several floors with exhibitions on mineralogy, petrology and palaeontology and a gem room, and includes meteorites, historic rocks and fossils from Spain and other countries. The museum also offers guided visits for groups and school workshops.

Highlights

• More than 108,000 specimens, around 19,000 on permanent display
• Rooms on mineralogy, petrology and palaeontology, and a gem room
• Meteorites, impactites and natural glasses
• Fossils from Spain and other countries, from the Precambrian to the present
• Historic 1920s building with a large central hall
• Free admission every day

Permanent exhibitions

• Exposición permanente de mineralogía y petrología – Mineral cases arranged by systematics, by autonomous community and by resource, sedimentary, metamorphic and igneous rocks, meteorites and a gem room.
• Exposición permanente de paleontología – Fossils of invertebrates, vertebrates and plants from Spain and other countries, from the Precambrian to the present, with highlights such as Jurassic cephalopods and Eocene fish.

Founded

1926

Operated by

Instituto Geológico y Minero de España (IGME-CSIC)

Director

Isabel Rábano Gutiérrez del Arroyo

Admission & discounts

Admission is free.

Free admission.

Accessibility

• Partially wheelchair accessible
• Elevator: no information
• Accessible restroom: no information
• Accessible parking: no information
• Service dogs welcome: no information
• Tactile models & exhibits
• Sign language tours: no information
• Easy-to-read materials: no information
• Audio description: no information

Wheelchair users enter by a ramp at the side of the main door; staff at the entrance should be asked for help. The museum states that it continues to improve accessibility. There is an accessible route for visually impaired visitors, with pieces outside cases, labels, a guide and a Braille plan, and personal induction loops; both are requested from the room staff.

Kids & families

• Family tours & workshops

Workshops for primary school pupils (“Aprendiz de paleontólogo” and “Aprendiz de geólogo”) and workshops for identifying fossils, minerals and rocks for children and adults, usually scheduled on some weekends and during school holidays.

Getting there & parking

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