Cadiz Museum

Picture this: you’re standing in the heart of Cádiz’s old town, surrounded by history, and you step into a time machine disguised as a museum. The Cádiz Museum blew me away with its treasures, from eerie Phoenician sarcophagi to vibrant Baroque paintings by Zurbarán. The ground floor’s archaeology section is like a journey back to 1100 BC, with artifacts that whisper tales of ancient Cádiz as a bustling Phoenician hub. Did you know the male sarcophagus found in 1887 sparked the creation of this very museum? For just €1.50 (free for EU citizens with ID), you get access to this cultural goldmine on Plaza de Mina. Pro tip: bring a translation app, as some signs are Spanish-only. Also, check the website for current hours, as renovations might limit access to some floors. Don’t rush—give yourself at least an hour to soak it all in! What’s your favorite artifact here?

Great experience. We went to the Hercules shop in town and bought a beautiful ring moulded from an original Roman ring. We were told that we could see the original in the museum. It’s free entry which was unusual for us! And the exhibits were gorgeous, particularly the display of jewellery and pottery.

Although the place is undergoing extensive refurbishment due to filtration & humidity, the ground floor & third floor are partially open. Ground floor exhibits some Phoenician artefacts; Roman except the big marble sculptures & some objects from the time of the Caliphates in Andalusia. None of the great Spanish masters are exposed. The third floor has a nice collection of XIX century puppets, from a famous theatre.

Two 5th century BC Phoenician marble sarcophagi currently in the Museo de Cádiz in Cádiz, Spain, are thought to have originated in Sidon, Lebanon. A famous set of "Tia Norica" puppet skits, once used during the annual carnival of Cádiz, Spain, are ALSO exhibited in the museum. In one example the bull is getting the better of the bullfighter. Puppet shows are popular in Cádiz around Christmas.

Entrance is free for EU residents, including temporary residence permit cards. Although the description is mostly in English, a google lens app works just fine. Recommended to go check out the prehistoric collection of Cádiz.

Surprised at how extensive the exhibits were. Some signs in English.. but you have signal in half the building to use Google translate. Interesting story of the two stone sarcophagus.. on man one woman but (spoiler alert !)... both with a man interned into them... what's the story there ?. Sadly the fine art on the 2nd floor is being renovated . But I thought the 1.5 euro entrance was well worth it just for the ground floor... we are museum junkies so spent probably 3.5 hours reading everything... but leave yourself an hour and you could get through and still have time for tapas close by.. enjoy.

Interesting collection of sculptures and artifacts from Roman and era before. It would have been also interesting if museum could include the history of transatlantic slavery aswell.

Sorry to say but we thought it was a very poor exhibition. Probably it didn’t help that the fine art on the 1st floor was closed. The sarcophagus were however very interesting. Very disappointed that there was very little English of any kind (except for a very bad QR code that we couldn’t read properly on the phone) A little weird to run an international museum where most people would be tourists interested in the history of Cadiz and not have English translation to explain.