The 7 Museums of Bilbao.

Get to know the museums of Bilbao by visiting two of the most emblematic areas of the capital of Bizkaia.

Bilbao offers a wide variety of museums to choose from, spaces in which the culture, history and way of being of its inhabitants is spread. Within the museum offer of Bilbao, we find all kinds of museums, from the most international museum, the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, to the Basque Museum, a space dedicated entirely to the secrets and history of our people.

The Guggenheim Museum, one of the great museums of Bilbao, leads the list of museums in the capital of Bizkaia, a list that has no waste. Do you want to know all the museums of Bilbao? Let’s start. The “botxo” (affectionate appellative with which Bilbao is known), proposes two routes to visit all its museums: the route of the museums of the Old Helmet and the route of the museums of the Bilbao widening.

On the other hand, totally complementary to these routes, the river of Bilbao offers us the possibility of contemplating the city from a different angle, from a boat. That is why we recommend you to merge these two routes to get to know the capital of Bizkaia in depth. In case you are interested in this type of experience, we recommend you to take a look at our catalog of maritime routes by clicking on the “book” button that you will find below these lines.

Reserve

The Casco Viejo, the seven streets, the historical core of Greater Bilbao, keeps among its streets 4 dynamic and interesting museums: the Museum of Easter Steps (the smallest), the Basque Museum (the oldest), Arkeologi Museoa (archaeology museum, recently created) and the Diocesan Museum of Sacred Art (the most unknown).

Museum of Easter StepsThis small museum located at the beginning of the street Iturribide, next to the Plaza Miguel de Unamuno, is one of the most unknown museums of Bilbao, even for the own bilbaínos. A space, in which the Brotherhood of Penitential Brotherhoods of the Villa de Bilbao, brings together a heritage that surprises locals and strangers. A place where you can feel and live the deep roots that religion has in Bilbao.

Arkeologi Museoa – Archaeological Museum of BizkaiaThe Archaeological Museum of Bizkaia is located just 2 minutes walking from the Museum of Easter Steps, in the middle of Miguel de Unamuno Square. The museum occupies the building where the old Lezama Station was located, next to the Calzadas de Mallona, the station from where the bodies of the deceased were transported to the cemetery of Derio. Today, the building houses a large collection of archaeological remains found throughout Bizkaia, from the Paleolithic to the Modern Age.

Basque MuseumLocated in the building of the old School of San Andrés, next to the Church of the Santos Juanes, we find the oldest and most important museum of the Old Helmet, the Basque Museum. This museum, collects the ethnographic and cultural legacy of the Basque people, a museum in which we discover the “Idol of Mikeldi”, a sculpture found in Durango, in which we can appreciate a strange animal holding a disc by means of its belly and legs, a sculpture, that still today hides a great mystery.

Diocesan Museum of Sacred Art: On the edge of the Old Town of Bilbao, next to the San Antón Bridge, is located the Convent of the Incarnation, the building that houses the Diocesan Museum of Sacred Art. The permanent exhibition houses a large collection of religious art, a sample that is allied with the structure that guards it to create a binomial worth seeing and enjoying.

Bilbao’s Ensanche district houses two of the most important art museums in the Basque Country, the Bilbao Fine Arts Museum and the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, a duo that together with the Ría de Bilbao Maritime Museum create a trident worthy of note.

Museum of Fine ArtsMore than a century ago, in 1914, when Bilbao was one of the most powerful iron and steel markets in Europe, the Bilbao Fine Arts Museum was created. Today, this museum houses works of outstanding contemporary artists such as Jorge Oteiza or Eduardo Chillida.

Guggenheim Museum BilbaoNext to one of the most important arteries of the city, next to the Bilbao estuary, on the other side of the Plaza Euskadi, we find the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, a building that, simulating a ship anchored in the middle of the Bilbao estuary, shows us some of the most important works of art in the world. Frank Gehry, the author of this jewel, did not hesitate to collaborate in the urban transformation of the city, providing Bilbao with a museum in which art is contemplated inside and outside, a building that pays tribute to the history of Bilbao.

We must not forget our beloved Puppy, the incredible work by Jeff Koons that brings to life the faithful puppy kept by the Guggenheim Museum.

Ría de Bilbao Maritime MuseumIn the middle of the Bilbao estuary, in the same location where we once found the Euskalduna shipyard, between the Abandoibarra docks and the Athletic Club de Bilbao soccer stadium, under the Euskalduna bridge, is located the Bilbao Estuary Maritime Museum. A museum inaugurated in 2003 that takes us back in time to understand the evolution of the estuary and the importance of this connection in the development of domestic and foreign trade in Bilbao.

In the old dry dock of the Euskalduna shipyard, we find a small collection of emblematic vessels that are part of the history of Bilbao, including wooden fishing boats, the legendary barge of Athletic Club de Bilbao or the BBK sailing boat that sailed around the world. Unfortunately, many of these small jewels are in a state of abandonment.

We must emphasize the presence of the Carola Crane and the Pump House, two elements that have been preserved in honor of Bilbao’s golden age.

Although Bilbao offers a wide range of museums to visit, we must not forget the other museums of Bizkaia, museums that complement perfectly with those mentioned above.

As you can see, Bilbao’s museums offer us a wide range of options to enjoy throughout the year, tell us which one is your favorite!