Museo Nacional y Centro de Investigación de Altamira

The Museo Nacional y Centro de Investigación de Altamira, located in Santillana del Mar, Spain, is dedicated to the conservation and study of the Altamira Cave, renowned for its Upper Palaeolithic cave paintings. The museum features a replica of the cave, known as the Neocave, allowing visitors to experience the art and environment of prehistoric times. Exhibits include artifacts from the cave and other Palaeolithic sites in Cantabria, providing insights into early human life and art. The museum also offers educational programs and workshops for all ages.

Planning your visit

The original Altamira cave is closed, and understanding why explains the museum. After its rediscovery in 1879 the painted ceiling — bison, horses and deer rendered in ochre and charcoal some 36,000 years ago, using the natural bulges of the rock to give the animals volume — was visited by hundreds of thousands of people, and the humidity and carbon dioxide they exhaled began growing microorganisms on pigment that had survived intact since the Palaeolithic. Access was halted. What the museum offers instead is the Neocueva, a full-scale replica reproducing the chamber's exact contours, colours and positions from photogrammetric survey, so the paintings sit where they actually sit, at the height they actually are — low, requiring you to imagine painting them lying down by lamplight.

The surrounding galleries cover Palaeolithic life across Cantabria more broadly: tools, portable art, and the archaeology of the people who made the ceiling. Workshops cover prehistoric techniques for all ages. Allow around ninety minutes.

The museum stands just outside Santillana del Mar, one of the best-preserved medieval villages in northern Spain, and bookable options generally take in both. Guided tours of the Neocueva with admission included explain the painting techniques and the conservation story properly. Private visits allow a slower pace. Historical walking tours combine the museum with Santillana's cobbled streets, seigneurial houses and Romanesque collegiate church. Day trips run from Santander for visitors based on the coast, roughly half an hour away. Current dates are listed below.