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This museum is a vast archive given over to the discovery and conquest of the New World; four centuries of Spanish empire are painstakingly catalogued. The museum is housed in an 18thcentury edifice that was built as the merchants’ exchange (see La Lonja). It has been closed for five years but is expected to open in the summer of 2005.

A small 16th-century Renaissance mansion is home to this excellent collection, essential for understanding the city’s importance in Roman times. In fact, the mansion was built over a Roman structure and there is an ancient patio to prove it. A sculpture of the Persian god Mithras, from a mithraeum found at Cabra, is particularly fine. Other parts of the collection focus on Iberian finds and Moorish artifacts.

Housed in an exquisite former convent, this art museum is second only to Madrid’s famed Prado. Paintings include early works by Velázquez, important works by Zurbarán, Ribera, El Greco, Murillo, Valdés Leal and Vásquez.

A Neo-Classical mansion houses Cádiz’s main museum, a rich juxtaposition of archaeological treasures and fine art. In Europe’s oldest city there are naturally artifacts from ancient cultures, including jewellery, pottery and small bronzes, but most notably a pair of 5th-century BC marble sarcophagi. Among the art are works by Zurbarán, Rubens, Murillo and Cano. An ethnological collection features artisanal pieces that highlight aspects of the city’s culture.

One of the corridors of what is perhaps Spain’s most famous bullring is devoted to a Museo Taurino (Museum of the Bullfight). In addition to stacks of posters and other memorabilia, you can see the trajes de luces (suits of lights) – brightly coloured silk outfits embroidered with gold sequins – worn by many a celebrated toreador, along with portraits of some of the greats. There are also the inevitable stuffed remains of various noble animals (see La Maestranza).

This museum is located in a striking 18th-century ducal palace, which means that many of the exhibits simply cannot compete with the context. Two that do, however, are the life-size 1st-century AD Roman bronze representing a naked young man, possibly Ganymede, cupbearer to the gods, and a life-like carving of St Francis of Assisi, executed in wood by Pedro de Mena, a 17th-century Andalucían master (see Antequera).

Newly opened, after years of planning and several setbacks, this is the world’s third largest museum dedicated to the modern master. It was endowed by his daughter-in-law, Christine Ruiz-Picasso, and her son Bernard with some 187 paintings, including some major canvases, that give an idea of the breadth and depth of his career (see Málaga).

The archaeological lower floor has an interesting assortment of finds, but the 5th-century BC Iberian stone sculptures are truly extraordinary. Found near the town of Porcuna, in the western part of the province, they show clear influences from Greek works. Upstairs, the fine arts museum has some fine medieval wood sculpture and a Picasso drawing (see Jaén City).