Visiting the Manacor History Museum

Originally known as the Archaeological museum, it was started when a Christian Basilica was discovered at Son Pereto a nearby town and a museum fund was started up in order to showcase the archaeological findings from that site. Since then the Museums collections have broadened and the name has changed to encompass the new role of the museum however it still engages in archaeology projects including the continuing excavation of the Basilica in Son Pereto which is also currently undergoing work to turn it into a tourist site.

Today the Museum of History in Manacor has five main rooms which house permanent collections; the Prehistoric room which shows weapons and domestic items from the very first instances of a population living in Mallorca. The room deals primarily with items dating from the Naviform era 1200/1100bc and the Talayotic era that followed. Evidence of Talayotic settlers can be found all over Mallorca in the form of ancient settlements and necropolises.

The Roman room deals with findings from the Roman era which actually predates the Roman conquest of Mallorca in 123bc by as much as two centuries since their influence had already found it’s way onto the island. The room exhibits items such bronze and ceramic tools, and domestic items, a roman coin collection and a stone head depicting the Roman god Bacchus.

In the Late Antiquity exhibition also called the Early Christian room we find the items from the Christian Basilica at Son Pereto. The Basilica was built and used between the 5th and 7th centuries and archaeologists have found areas of the site that were used for worship, baptism, funeral rites and burial. The exhibition in the museum is made up of altarpieces and mosaics uncovered in the Basilica.

Another permanent exhibition is the Islamic room, which houses items and information relating to the time of the Muslim occupation of Mallorca which occurred between the 9th and 13th centuries, this rooms houses items from that time including domestic items, lamps and farming tools.

The last of the permanent exhibitions is the Miniature Hall which houses a collection of miniature furniture, tools, boats and machinery from various eras of Mallorcan history. The majority of it was made by Manacor inhabitant Antonio Sancho Comas who used wood, metal, leather and canvas to create his pieces. The miniature collection at one time made up a museum of its own before becoming a permanent exhibit at the History Museum.

In addition to these permanent exhibits the History Museum has an ethnographic section which displays tools and machinery showing how life in Mallorca has changed dramatically in recent years and the museum occasionally also hosts temporary exhibits of art, archaeology and documents of importance to Mallorca’s past.

Finding the Museum is easy enough it is well sign posted along all the main roads in Manacor and from the surrounding towns. If you’re walking you can find tourist information signs pointing the way from the old town. It is about a 20-30 minute walk from the centre of town and it does look as though you are walking towards nothing but building sites but persevere and you will find it just over the rise of the hill and opposite it is a friendly cafe and bar with large outdoor area at which you can get a drink or ice cream to recover from your walk.

The museum is open in the summer months; 9.30am – 2pm and 6pm -8.30pm, it is closed Sundays and Tuesdays. In the winter opening hours are; 10am-2pm and 5pm-7pm, Sunday 10.30am-1pm and again closed Tuesdays. The museum is free to enter.