The Museum of the Americas (Museo de América) brings together more than 25,000 objects from the American continent in Madrid, from pre-Columbian archaeology to colonial-era art and the ethnography of peoples from the Amazon to North America. Created in 1941 from the American collections of the National Archaeological Museum, it occupies a large brick building in the University City, near Moncloa. Most visitors come for the Quimbaya Treasure, a set of Colombian gold work, and for the Tro-Cortesiano Codex, one of only four Maya codices preserved anywhere in the world. A national museum run by the Ministry of Culture, it costs €3 and is free on Sundays and on Thursday afternoons.
Highlights
The Quimbaya Treasure
Discovered in 1890 at La Soledad, in today's Colombian department of Quindío, this group of gold funerary objects was given in 1893 by the Colombian president Carlos Holguín to Queen Regent Maria Christina of Spain, in thanks for her arbitration of a border dispute between Colombia and Venezuela. It includes poporos (gourd-shaped lime containers), helmets, necklaces, nose and ear ornaments, and six figures of seated chiefs.
The Tro-Cortesiano Codex
Also known as the Madrid Codex, this Maya book painted on bark paper and folded like an accordion is dated between the 14th and 16th centuries. It is one of the four Maya codices that have survived and one of the museum's star pieces. Its pages, covered with glyphs and deities, served as a ritual and divinatory almanac.
Colonial-era America
The museum holds nearly a hundred enconchados, Mexican paintings inlaid with fragments of mother-of-pearl, making it the most important collection of its kind in the world. You will also see casta paintings, including several canvases from the series painted by Miguel Cabrera in 1763, which depict the racial mixing of New Spain's society.
The University City building
Designed by the architects Luis Moya Blanco and Luis Martínez-Feduchi and built between 1943 and 1954, the historicist brick building stands out for its tower and monumental gateway; inside, some of the brick vaults span 12 metres. Closed in 1981, it reopened on 12 October 1994 after a complete renovation, with a thematic layout in five sections: knowledge of America, the American reality, society, religion and communication.
Infos pratiques
Tips
General admission €3, reduced €1.50 (groups of at least 8 people); free with proof for under-18s, over-65s, students aged 18 to 25, youth card holders, pensioners, jobseekers, large families and disabled visitors with one companion (prices checked in October 2026). Admission is free for everyone on Thursdays from 14:00, every Sunday, on 18 April, 12 October and 6 December. You pay at the ticket desk; entry closes 30 minutes before closing time and the galleries are cleared 15 minutes before. The museum is part of the "4 Museos de Madrid" pass (€8, valid 10 days) and the "8 Museos de Madrid" pass (€16, valid 15 days); audio guides are available in several languages.
How to get there
Avenida de los Reyes Católicos, 6, 28040 Madrid (University City). Metro Moncloa (lines 3 and 6) or Islas Filipinas (line 7). Buses 1, 12, 16, 44, 46, 61, 62, 82, 83, 132, 133, 138, 160, 161, 162, 164, C1 and C2.
Opening hours
Nearby
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