The Archaeological Museum of Banyoles is located in the Gothic building of the Pia Almoina, in the heart of the Old Town, and houses an extensive collection of paleontological and archaeological materials and pieces from various excavations in the region, such as the sites of the Serinyà Caves, the Roman villa of Vilauba, the Neolithic village of La Draga.

At the end of 2025, the Regional Archaeological Museum of Banyoles reopened with a renewed discourse, an accessible route and more than 1,600 pieces on display (some for the first time) that explain the relationship between humans and the territory of the Pla de l'Estany.

With the new Archaeological Museum, Banyoles is consolidated as a cultural reference and central point for understanding human evolution in Catalonia, explaining how humans have adapted, transformed and coexisted with the natural environment of the Pla de l'Estany.

The origins of the Archaeological Museum

The embryo of the museum was the School of Arts and Trades of Banyoles, which opened its doors in 1928. So that the students could practise live drawing, two Romanesque capitals from the cloister of the monastery of Sant Esteve de Banyoles were brought to the building in 1931. One year later, in 1932, the Roman Villa of Vilauba (Camós) was discovered when building a road. Given the significance of the finding, it was decided to found a small museum, known at that time as the Museum of Local Antiquities. 

Initially, the Museum had just one room on the first floor. It was not until 1949 that a new room was opened, the Prehistory room, with palaeolithic era objects found at the caves of Serinyà.

In 1954, the building’s ground floor was renovated and expanded with a new History room, which exhibited materials from the Iberian, Roman, medieval and also modern periods. 

On 1 March 1962, it was declared a Historic-Artistic Monument by the Ministry of National Education. Thus, the institution now officially became the place for safekeeping material from the archaeological and palaeontological excavations in the Pla de l’Estany. With the advent of democracy, this status was ratified by the Government of Catalonia in 1982.
 

For more information, www.museusdebanyoles.cat

Address:
Plaça de la Font, 11
17820 Banyoles
Tel. (0034) 972 572 361
macb@ajbanyoles.org