Basque History and Ethnography Museum

The Basque Museum of Bilbao is located in the heart of the Old Town of the city, occupying the 17th-century building that once housed the Church and College of San Andrés of the Society of Jesus.

The museum, spread over three floors, is organized around a sober cloister which, at its center, houses one of the most emblematic works of the institution: the Mikeldi, a zoomorphic sandstone sculpture dating from the Second Iron Age (5th–1st centuries BC).

 The museum’s collections cover a broad spectrum of Basque cultural reality and its historical development, although they are dominated by elements considered “traditional.” Following the guidelines set since the museum’s inception, they are divided into two main sections: Basque history and ethnography. In short, objects that bear witness to the daily life of the Basque community throughout its history.