National Museum of Natural Sciences (Madrid)

The National Museum of Natural Sciences (MNCN) is a centre belonging to the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) and is dedicated to the study and dissemination of natural sciences. Together with National Library of Spain it’s located in the National Library and Museums Palace on Paseo de la Castellana in Madrid, Community of MadridSpain.

Its origins date back to October 17, 1771, when Charles III of Spain founded the Real Gabinete de Historia Natural, the predecessor of the current MNCN, by Royal Order. The Real Gabinete was born largely from the acquisition of the private collection of a Spanish merchant, Pedro Franco Dávila, a native of Guayaquil, in the Viceroyalty of Peru, now Ecuador. The agreement for this acquisition included Dávila being the first director of this newly created institution.

Exhibitions

In terms of its exhibition layout, the MNCN is divided into two large areas: the Biology area and the Geology area. Each area has an independent access door and they are not connected by the interior of the building. The Biology area is structured into four large rooms:

Room 1: Mediterranean landscapes. This room displays the biological diversity of the Mediterranean basin, the functioning of its ecosystems, its landscapes and its evolution. It is structured around the following areas: Civilization and terrestrial biodiversity, Mediterranean landscapes, Marine biodiversity and the Giant Squid. A large part of this room is dedicated to the Fauna of the Sierra de Guadarrama National Park.

Room 2 and 3: Space reserved for temporary exhibitions.

Room 4: Biodiversity. This room is divided into four areas: the first explains what Biodiversity is, how it manifests itself in nature and how scientists order and classify it. The second area presents the theory of evolution through natural and sexual selection. The third area explains the extinctions of species in the remote past and in the present time, and displays extinct specimens such as the marsupial wolf or the great auk. The fourth area is a space reserved for the work carried out by MNCN researchers to improve the conservation of different species with different degrees of threat.

The Geology Area is made up of a single room – room 5 – divided into two floors: the first floor displays fossils from all geological eras and they are accompanied by information on the fossilisation process and historical aspects of palaeontological research.

Address: C. de José Gutiérrez Abascal, 2, Chamartín, 28006 Madrid, Spain.

Working hours:

Thursday 10 AM–5 PM
Friday 10 AM–5 PM
Saturday 10 AM–8 PM
Sunday 10 AM–8 PM
Monday Closed
Tuesday 10 AM–5 PM
Wednesday 10 AM–5 PM

Madrid: full guide

See here Pyrenees travel guide

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