Museums come to life in the province of Burgos
In order to promote its rich heritage, Burgos is part of 'Museos Vivos', an initiative to revitalize nature interpretation centers, ethnographic museums and rural areas.
A land of unique landscapes with its own personality, where diversity and crossroads such as Santiago reign, the province of Burgos is a well-kept treasure in the north of the peninsula. A place to get lost in historical territories where even today you can hear the whisper of a thousand battles and the passing of authentic legends such as El Cid Campeador.
Combining culture, art, gastronomy and nature in its purest form, the region is part of the 'Living Museums' initiative, an innovative cooperation project that has been created to promote the wealth of ethnographic museums, nature interpretation centres and cultural spaces in some corners of Castile and Leon. A measure for the opening of elements of tourist and cultural dynamization that emerges in perfect harmony with the Action of the European Commission called Smart Villages.
When museums come to life
Living Museums' is part of the union of six Rural Development Associations of Castile and Leon with the aim of promoting the cultural, natural and ethnographic heritage of their territories, specifically in the provinces of Valladolid, Segovia and Burgos. To this end, 17 interpretation centres and small museums located in rural areas with a lot to offer have been revitalised through joint work.
With the incorporation of new technologies in their opening and self-guiding systems, these spaces have become true 'Living Museums' that can be visited 365 days a year and, in some cases, even 24 hours a day. An access code that accompanies the reservation allows access to its interior and to start the installations that later are automatically suspended coinciding with the end of the visit.
A new life for rural areas
The implementation of this reservation system in 2018, designated by the European Commission as the International Year of Cultural Heritage, means that various territories can have other elements of tourist attraction. In addition, once in operation, has been disseminated among the various tourist offices, accommodation, restaurants and bars in the areas, where it has shown a greater number of visits since then.
Following in the footsteps of history
The first stop on our journey through Burgos' heritage begins in Mecerreyes, where on Carnival Sunday the Corrida del Gallo takes place, a pagan festival that, although it was forbidden for some years, is lost in time. For this reason, the town has a museum that brings a little piece of this celebration every day through the characteristic costumes and festive elements, as well as an audiovisual projection.
Comic books and silent films have special importance in Solarana, which has a relevant Comic Museum. Located in an old manor house, this space tells the history of these genres and their evolution in Spain.
To the west of the Sierra de Lerma, at the foot of the Valdosa peak and the Cervera rocks, the passage of time over the landscape can best be observed in Tejada, where important collections of fossils and remains from the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods have been donated by the local people and are now on display in the Fossil Museum.
In Sasamón, in the western part of the province, is the Angel Miguel de Arce Municipal Museum of Contemporary Art, inaugurated in 2000, the first of its kind in Castile and Leon. Located in what was once the Barracks House and Hospital for pilgrims on the Camino de Santiago de la Orden de Los Templarios, it has some 150 paintings by modernist and contemporary artists.
In the region of La Demanda, Hacinas and its fossil trees which are over 120 million years old make this corner of Burgos geography a focus of special interest for lovers of nature and history. Its Fossil Tree Visitor Centre recreates the paleoenvironment in which these discoveries were made.
The last station of our itinerary through the 'Living Museums' of Burgos ends in the Burgos Ribera del Duero. A territory that pays homage to its rich heritage in spaces such as the Torresandino Nature Interpretation Centre and its interpretative exhibition on the peculiar flora and fauna of the area; the Museum of the Lagar de Valedeande, a place to discover how the history of wine has run parallel to that of the region; or the Ethnographic Museum School Day and Marzas, in Ciruelos de Cervera, a passport to childhood life in any of these rural villages throughout the 20th century, through songs, games of yesteryear and testimonial stories.