Museum History

Foundation and fist era (1771-1814)

The history of the National Museum of Natural Sciences started in October 17th, 1771, when the King Charles III founded the Royal Cabinet of Natural History. [See more]

Second era (1815-1900)

Finished the Independence War in 1814, the King Ferdinand VII regained the Spanish throne. In 1815, with the aim of unify the natural science teachings, the Royal Museum of Natural Sciences was founded. It was an institution composed by the Royal Cabinet of Natural History, The Royal Botanic Garden, the Mineralogy Studio and the Chemistry Laboratory. [See more]

Third era (1901-1939)

The XX Century started to the Museum with it's collection in the floor and in some rooms of the building that now correspondes to the Spanish National Library, in the Madrid's Paseo de Recoletos. A place that is not suitable for the exhibition of their collections, their care and research. [See more]

Fourth era (1939-1984)

The Saturday, March 18th, 1939, the Museum received the notification of the destitution of it's provisional director, Antonio de Zuleta, who, together with a few employees, had managed and defended the institution during the war period. [See more]

Fifth era (1985-nowadays)

In 1985, after the restructuring that led to the recovery of the sections that had become independent years earlier, the Museum returned to being a centre that combined research and conservation of scientific collections, and which exhibited and disseminated its heritage collections, as it was in the first third of the 20th century. [See more]

The Building

The National Museum of Natural Science of Madrid is currently housed in the Palace of Arts and Industry. Construction began in 1882 on the Altos del Hipódromo under the direction of the architect Fernando de la Torriente, assisted by Emilio Boix y Merino, who continued the work after the former's death in 1886. [See more]