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Date Published: 14/02/2024

MARQ, Alicante Provincial Archaeological Museum

Immerse yourself in an exciting and interactive historic journey from the Palaeolithic through to the Modern Age

Alicante is a city full of life, contrasts, beauty and history and is an exciting destination with more than 3,000 years of history and home to the magnificent Santa Bárbara Castle, Carbonell House and of course the Provincial Archaeological Museum MARQ.

Imagine being able to travel from the Palaeolithic to the Modern Age without leaving Alicante? Well, the MARQ, located in the shadow of Alicante's emblematic castle, allows you to do just that.

Visitors to the impressive museum can immerse themselves in a historic journey through its different rooms. You can explore Iberian and Roman cUlture as well as the Middle Ages and the Modern and Contemporary Ages all under one roof.

What can you see at the Alicante Archeological Museum?

The MARQ is an interactive, educational and, at the same time, fun museum. It has three rooms with a hyper-realistic scenography with audiovisuals and interactive panels so that visitors can learn about the techniques used by archaeologists to reveal the secrets of the past. MARQ, Alicante Provincial Archaeological Museum

The MARQ bills itself as the “first archaeological museum of the 21st century", and housed within the former San Juan de Dios Hospital, is full of prehistoric treasures; Iberian, Roman, and medieval artifacts; and even relatively modern items from the local area.

The ‘must visit’ attraction, created in 1932, won the title of European Museum of the Year in 2004, and cleverly marries both modern and traditional techniques when crafting its displays.

It also became the first museum in Spain to be awarded the Q certificate for Tourist Quality in 2018.

In three of its rooms – Field, Urban, and Underwater Archaeology – a muiltitude of displays are shown in five separate galleries, where traditional glass cases are accompanied by informative boards, many in English, with impressive projection effects, which even include a handful of holograms.

One of the most fascinating exhibits is the Tresor de la Marina Alta that consists of four gold torques and a pendant discovered walled up in a site called Pic De L’aguila, which experts have confirmed are either Iberian or Roman jewellery.

An additional three display zones recreate archaeological digs for prehistoric artificats and visitors can walk across glass floors to get a close-up of the finds below.

A multimedia exhibiton shows a marine archaeological endeavour to examine a sunken Roman ship, accompanied by video screens.

In addition to its normal activities and guided tours, the MARQ Board of Trustees also puts together an array of summer activities, including open days, historical reenactments and Roman wrestling shows.

There are also ‘after hours’ visits when visitors can explore the musem until 11pm from July to September, with parking nearby.

Opening hours

The museum is closed on Mondays.

Summer (From June 16 to September 15)

Tuesday to Saturday: 10am to 8pm
Sundays and public holidays: 10am to 2pm

Guided tours

Tuesday to Saturday: 12pm, 4pm (in English) and 5.30pm
Sundays and public holidays: 11am (in English) 12 pm

Winter (From September 16 to June 15)

Tuesday to Saturday: 10am to 7pm
Sundays and public holidays: 10am to 2pm

General admission costs 3 euros and 1.50 euros for students and over 65s. Children under 8, unemployed, teaching staff and people with disabilities can enter for free.

You can find out more at the MARQ Alicante website.

Images: MARQ. Archaeological Museum of Alicante

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