HALLS
PREHISTORIC ROOM
THE FIRST EVIDENCE of human occupation in the territory of Alicante dates back to the Middle Palaeolithic, some 10,000 years ago.
The Prehistoric Hall begins its tour in this stage and ends with the Orientalising Period (8th century BC) when the indigenous peoples strengthened their relations with the Phoenicians to give way to the Iberian Culture.
The wide range of time covered by the Prehistoric Hall is resolved with the exhibition of a thousand pieces distributed in three themes:
- Hunters and gatherers
- Farmers and herders
- First metallurgists
HALL OF IBERIAN CULTURE
THE CONTESTANIA. The exhibition begins by situating the Iberian area chronologically and geographically. It highlights the region of the Contestanos, a people who, according to ancient writers, inhabited the lands of Alicante. An interactive application shows us the great wealth of its archaeological sites.
The central space of the room, presided over by the Lady of Cabezo Lucero, is dedicated to the most relevant aspects of the Iberian world of Alicante. An audiovisual is projected on it that animates scenes of Iberian ceramics so that its iconographic richness can be appreciated.
The room includes other interesting topics such as:
- Settlement and the economic, craft and social aspects of settlement
- Religion and the funerary space
- The Iberians and Rome
HALL OF ROMAN CULTURE
AROUND THE MARE NOSTRUM. The exhibition dedicated to the Roman world in the province of Alicante is divided into three blocks:
- Romanisation
- Roman culture during the Roman Empire
- Christianity and the late Roman world
In this room you can enjoy the synchronised projection on two 18-metre screens of an audiovisual that recreates scenes of daily life in the Roman city of Lucentum, today known as Tossal de Manises, Albufereta.
MIDDLE AGES ROOM
EIGHT CENTURIES OF COEXISTENCE.
The coexistence of different peoples, with different religions (Islam, Christianity and Judaism) and opposing socio-economic models, determines the eight centuries of our medieval past.
The exhibition gives us a real vision of the Middle Ages, far removed from the traditional and clichéd definition of this historical period as a time of "dark centuries", a time of ignorance and economic withdrawal.
On the contrary, the archaeological remains we see here are evidence that these lands were fully incorporated into the development process of Medieval Europe.
HALL OF MODERN AND CONTEMPORARY CULTURE
FOUR CENTURIES OF CHANGE.
The Modern and Contemporary Culture Room covers a very broad and complex chronological period (1500-1931).
The room is structured in two large blocks. The first is subdivided into two stages that are shown simultaneously, The Power of the Crown (1500-1808) and the Constitutional regime (1808-1874). The second section, From the Monarchy to the Republic, begins in 1874 with the Monarchical Restoration and culminates with the proclamation of the Second Spanish Republic. The tour ends with the inauguration of the Provincial Archaeological Museum in its former location on the ground floor of the Palacio de la Diputación Provincial.
More than 300 pieces on display bring us closer to the political, economic, social and cultural aspects of the lives of the men and women who made up the Alicante that is closest to us, the origin of the Alicante we know today.
