Museums of Santa Marta

Location:
Santa Marta, Colombia

Museum Types:
Cultural, History, Art, Anthropology, ethnography

By Lorraine Caputo

Santa Marta has a growing number of museums, thanks in part to the Universidad del Magdalena. Whether your interests are history or art, you’ll have some place to escape the heat.

• Museo de Oro Tairona: Collections of Tayrona artifacts and explications of their society (Monday-Friday 8:30 a.m.-noon, 2-4 p.m., Saturday 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Calle 14 2-07. Entry: Free).

• Museo de Arte: Three galleries of regional and national artists, with special exhibits (Monday-Saturday 9:30 a.m.-noon, 3-7 p.m., Sunday and holidays 3-7 p.m. Carrera 2 16-44, Tel.: 5-438-2048, E-mail: centro.cultural@unimagdalena.edu.co, Web: www.unimagdalena.edu.co. Entry: $1.85 adults, $1.05 children and third-agers).

• Museo Etnográfico de la Universidad del Magdalena (MEUM): A people’s history of Santa Marta and the Sierra Nevada, from the founding of the city to the effects of armed conflicts on the indigenous nations of the mountains (Monday-Saturday 8 a.m.-6 p.m. Carrera 1, corner of Calle 22, Tel.: 5-431-7513 / 315-742-0176, E-mail: museoetnografico@unimagdalena.edu.co. Entry: Nationals—$1.05 children and students with ID, $1.85 adults; Foreigners—$1.60 children and students with ID, $2.65 adults).

• Quinta de San Pedro Alejandrino: The death place of the Great Libertor, Simón Bolívar (daily 9:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Entry: $5.30 adults, $4.20 students and third-agers, $3.20 children 6-12 years, free children under 6 years).

• Museo Bolivariano de Arte Contemporáneo: Special exhibits of modern Colombian and Latin American art (same hours as Quinta de San Pedro Alejandrino. Entry is included in that of the Quinta).

Relative price: Budget

Travel Skills: None

Free events and exhibits at the cultural centers; the museums in El Rodadero; a visit to Gabriel García Márquez’ hometown Aracataca; a stroll through Bananatown; Parque Nacional Natural Tayrona’s El Pueblito and Playa Brava’s ruins; trek to Ciudad Perdida.

Currencies accepted
Colombian Peso