The Museum and Its Homes

From the outset, the site designated for the National Archaeological Museum was the Palace of the National Library and Museums, a large new building conceived in 1860 and located on the Prado de Recoletos. It was completed in 1892, over 30 years and three architectural projects later.

Between 1867 and 1893, the museum was provisionally housed in the Casino de la Reina, a former country estate near what is now the Embajadores roundabout in Madrid, which the city council had presented to the Queen Consort, Maria Isabel of Portugal, in 1817.