Bibat Museum, archaeology and playing cards.

Cuchilleria, one of the most emblematic streets of Vitoria-Gasteiz, houses in its number 54 the Bibat Museum, a space where the Archaeology Museum and the Fournier Playing Cards Museum coexist.

The themes of the Bibat Museum, Archaeology and Playing Cards, offer a beautiful, didactic and complete route around the permanent and temporary collection kept inside the Museum of Archaeology and the Fournier Playing Cards Museum. Four floors and two basements of the architectural complex of the Palacio de Bendaña have been necessary to store the more than 3,000 pieces that compose them. The collection of playing cards that we can admire in the Bibat Museum, is considered by many one of the most important in the world, and it is not for less, in the interior of this museum we have the opportunity to observe decks of different times and styles from the 5 continents. More than 1,500 cards that were part of the private collection of Felix Alfaro Fournier, heir of the great Basque firm Heraclio Fournier, who in 1986 sold his collection to the Diputación Foral. At the same time, the other museum that is part of this complex, the Museum of Archaeology, brings to this space more than 1,500 pieces of great value found in the soil of Alava, pieces of different kinds, dating from the Paleolithic period to the Middle Ages. As you can see, these museums of the Old Town of Vitoria-Gasteiz, do not have any waste.

The Bibat Museum and the two spaces it houses depend directly on the Provincial Council of Alava, thus forming part of the network of museums available to the Historical Territory of Alava. Currently, the pricing policy assumed by this organization is to liberalize culture, offering the services of all its museums free of charge. The main entrance to the Bibat Museum is located in the Archaeology Museum, in front of the main door, where we have the possibility of requesting audio guides and asking about any questions that may arise.

The Bibat Museum has educational programs, guided tours and didactic workshops, 3 axes, which are part of the strategy of education and dissemination around the history of the province of Araba and the Fournier family playing cards. The Bibat museum complex is located 400 meters from the Artium Museum, in the heart of the Old Town of Vitoria-Gasteiz, where the Fournier Playing Cards Museum (Palacio de Bendaña) and the Archaeology Museum (annex building of the Palacio de Bendaña, remodeled in 2008 by the architect Patxi Mengado), two museums of great interest that we recommend visiting, are grouped together.

The Bendaña Palace, a building built in the sixteenth century and acquired in 1985 by the Provincial Council, is responsible for housing the Fournier Playing Cards Museum since 1994. We can say that it was the first piece of what we know today as Bibat Museum, and it was in 2009 when the Museum of Archaeology of Araba was integrated into the museum complex BiBat, in the heart of the Medieval Almond (Historical Center) of Vitoria-Gasteiz. Since then, the Bibat Museum offers one of the highest quality and most varied cultural offerings in the city. The name of this museum, Bibat, alludes to the different spaces it houses, and its name is nothing more than the fusion of two words (numbers) in our language, “Bat” one and “Bi” two in Basque, indicating the two museums in one that we find inside. 2×1 and also free, to go crazy!

Archaeology Museum of Araba: The Archaeology Museum houses all kinds of materials found in the archaeological excavations carried out in the Historical Territory of Alava since the late nineteenth century. A great collection, which is presented before us as a perfect complement to the rest of the elements that show us the way of life of the Neolithic, Megalithic, Bronze Age and Iron Age among others.

The Museum of Archaeology of Araba occupies 3 of the floors of the Bibat Museum, one floor for each period of our history. The second floor covers from the Paleolithic to the Bronze Age, the second to the Iron Age and finally, on the third and last floor, we find the Middle Ages (this is where we find the great collection of Roman culture, very curious and interesting, certainly one of the ones we liked the most).

We must bear in mind that the settlement that gave rise to the current city of Vitoria-Gasteiz, the village of Gasteiz, and its subsequent stages, such as the town of Vitoria, have a great link with everything that this section of the Bibat Museum shows us. In addition to the value of the content of this museum, we must mention the architectural importance of the building that houses it, and is that the design of this structure was awarded the XIV European Copper Architecture Award in 2009, and no wonder, the building is worth admiring inside and outside, another reason to know this Basque space!

In addition to the free audio guides for individual use, along the route there are several videos, projections and reproductions that help us to understand in more detail the history of Araba.

Fournier Playing Cards Museum of Araba: The Playing Cards Museum is the space that adds a touch of color and joy to this space in Alava. Surrounded by small sculptures of playing cards, located in the building next to the Archaeology Museum, we find the incredible collection of playing cards of the Bibat Museum.

This museum, valued by many as one of the 5 best card museums in the world, not only has among its ranks with unique pieces of Heraclio Fournier (creator of the Spanish deck of cards) also has decks of cards from other continents, from the 5, collections of which we highlight its design, colorful, period and theme.

On the second floor of the Fournier Playing Card Museum of Araba we find historical collections of different themes such as history, music or tarot, a great collection that is accompanied by the machines that we find on the second floor and with which most of the decks that all Basques have played with were manufactured.

The contribution of Heraclio Fournier, great culprit of the existence of this museum and master lithographer of Burgos origin, is essential to understand why this Basque city has among its network of museums one of the most important in the world in this subject. Barajas, machinery and a lot of history, a temple for all lovers of playing cards and the Spanish deck, undoubtedly one of the most curious and interesting museums of the entire peninsula. This is the home of all players of Mus, brisca, tute and other card games that have marked an era in our history, and you? Do you know it?

Today, thanks to the different acquisitions and donations, the museum has more than 20,000 decks of cards, amazing isn’t it? The Bibat Museum offers quality culture for free in Vitoria-Gasteiz, what more can you ask from a museum?