National Museum of Anthropology

The museum aims to offer visitors a global perspective on the culture of different peoples of the world, as well as to establish the cultural similarities and differences that unite or separate them, highlighting cultural diversity. It is the first Spanish museum dedicated to this field.

On April 29, 1875, King Alfonso XII inaugurated the "Anatomical Museum," although it would become popularly known as the Anthropological Museum. Its founding was due to the personal initiative of the Segovian physician Pedro González Velasco, who invested all his savings in the construction of the building, whose architect was the Marquis of Cubas. At that time, the collections consisted of objects belonging to the three "kingdoms" of nature—mineral, vegetable, and animal—specimens of physical anthropology and teratology, as well as antiquities and ethnographic objects, so it could be considered a typical "cabinet of curiosities."

Upon his death, the State purchased the building and all its collections, which over time have been enriched with examples of the material culture of different peoples of Africa, America, Asia, Europe, and Oceania. In 2004, the National Museum of Anthropology began the renovation of its permanent exhibition, first in the Africa gallery, and in 2005, in the Americas and Physical Anthropology galleries. The current renovation reflects a new exhibition approach, more in line with current scientific criteria, both museological and anthropological, focusing on themes and grouping the collections into areas such as clothing and adornment, music and recreational activities, beliefs, housing and household goods, preceded by an introduction and brief geographical and historical notes. The final phase of the renovation was completed in October 2008, with the inauguration of the new Asia gallery (Philippines and Oriental Religions), located on the ground floor of the building.

The museum is divided into three floors, on which its four exhibition rooms are distributed:

- Philippines Room

- Oriental Religions Room

- Africa Room

- America Room