Grand opening of the National Archaeological Museum

Print published in issue 21 of the magazine La Ilustración Española y Americana, reporting on the grand opening of the National Archaeological Museum in the Queen’s Casino, decked out for the occasion, on 9 July 1871. Although Isabella II had officially created the National Archaeological Museum by royal decree in 1867, subsequent political events led to the queen's exile, and the institution was officially inaugurated by Amadeus I of Savoy.
The Queen’s Casino, located south of Madrid, had been a country estate owned by the royal family until it was handed over to the state in 1865. It temporarily housed the museum, divided into four sections: Primitive and Ancient Times, Middle Ages and Modern Era, Numismatics and Dactyliography, and Ethnography. From the beginning, the casino was plagued by a shortage of space, and its rooms were cluttered with objects. Finally, in 1894 the museum moved into its permanent home, the Palace of the National Library and Museums in Calle Serrano.