In the Bolívar Park in the centre of the walled city of Cartagena de Indias, the Banco de la República Zenú Gold Museum exhibition awaits you in a carefully-restored, centuries-old house containing extraordinary objects that relate to contemporary issues from a viewpoint stretching back thousands of years.
Open from Saturday 18 February 2023
Cra 4 # 33-26, Parque Bolívar
On Saturday 18 February 2023, to mark the start of its centenary celebrations, Banco de la República inaugurated the new Zenú Gold Museum in Cartagena for the enjoyment of the city's inhabitants and all the visitors from around the world who come to the walled city.
Cartagena and the whole region boasts a 21st-century museum to reflect on the rich diversity that exists today and to explore extraordinary objects and attractive stories from a history dating back thousands of years.
Opening times:
Opening times at the Zenú Gold Museum are as follows.
- Tuesday to Saturday, 9.00 a.m. to 5.00 p.m.
- Sunday, 9:00 a.m. to 2.00 p.m.
- Closed on Mondays (including public holidays). Other closures may occur due to other specific circumstances in the city or at the Museum, in which case details will be published on this page.
Admission free
Your visit to the Museum
Discover the different ways of life on the plains and the Caribbean coast and the adaptability of the inhabitants, amphibious beings whose existence changes in a natural cycle. You will see how ancient communities used traditional practices, techniques and trades to brilliantly develop their creative and sensory skills, and you will be able to discover the sounds, and imagine the sound languages, used by pre-Hispanic societies for communicating with the environment.
The free services offered by the Museum include guided tours at fixed times, workshops for delving into the cultural riches of Colombia's Caribbean region, and WIFI.
The Zenú Gold Museum occupies three floors
Floor 1:
- Audio and video gallery The blowing of the universe.
- Main courtyard
- Well
Floor 2:
- Gallery: 6,000 years amid land and water, which includes content relating to amphibious life, the region's wildlife, the Zenú waterway system, depictions of women in clay, and the golden filigree earrings that have been produced for nearly two thousand years by societies living on the Caribbean plains, the San Jacinto range, and in the lower Magdalena region.
- Gallery: The transformative power of blowing, with subjects that connect two arts: metalwork and playing wind instruments. Metalsmiths used to fan the fire using pottery blowers attached to canes, in order to melt the metal. Players of wind instruments created sound languages by blowing into flutes, flageolets, ocarinas, horns and marrows.
- Gallery: Hands that braid and filigree, which provides an overview of such trades as filigree work and plaiting caña flecha fibre.
- Balcony over main courtyard.
- Toilets for men and women.
Floor 3:
- Exploratorium.
- Toilets for boys and girls
The tour will take you at least one hour, but you will find enough of interest looking to object's details to warrant spending two hours, or even to return for many different visits. Don’t forget to visit the shop and to have a break in the main courtyard (1st floor).
Guided tours
The texts for the permanent exhibition are bilingual, in Spanish and English.
We offer free guided tours in Spanish and English at the following times (no need to book in advance. Not for commercial guided tours):
- Spanish: 10.00 a.m., 11.00 a.m., 3.00 p.m. and 4.00 p.m.
- English: 11.00 a.m. and 3.00 p.m.
Commercial guides may offer their services at the museum entrance, they are not affiliated to the museum.
Accessibility
The Zenú Gold Museum has a lift, at the back of the first floor. The permanent exhibition and the universal-access toilet are on the second floor.
Free WIFI
You will find information about connecting to the WIFI network at the Museum entrance on the first floor.
How to get to the Museum
The Zenú Gold Museum is in the centre of the walled city of Cartagena de Indias, in Bolívar Park, next to the former Provincial Government building ant the cathedral.
To get to the Museum by Transcaribe, alight at Centro or La Bodeguita station and proceed toward Bolívar Park; the Museum will be in front of you.
Parking is not available at the Museum.
Photographs, Video and Press
Photographing and video recording the exhibitions is permitted for private, but not for professional or commercial, use. Neither flash nor a tripod may be used. You may publish your images on social media, for non-commercial purposes. #museodeloro #hoyenelmuseodeloro
For professional photography or video recording, or if you are a journalist, prior authorisation is required from prensacultural@banrep.gov.co or by telephone at (571) 3432396 or (571) 3431377. Authorisations should be applied for at least two days in advance.
Contact
(57) 605 660 0808 - extensión: 5323
Address: Cra 4 # 33-26, Parque Bolívar
