Museum of Antioquia

The Museo de Antioquia (also known as Museo y Biblioteca de Zea ) is a natural and cultural museum in the second largest Colombian city of Medellín.

History

The Museum of Antioquia was founded on 29 November 1881 by the government of the then sovereign Departamento de Antioquia with the name Museo y Biblioteca de Zea, in honor of the botanist and diplomat Francisco Antonio Zea. On July 20, 1882 The official opening took place in the " Parque Berrio " at the first site. In 1905, the Zea Museum and the Library of the University of Antioquia has been allocated in the Annex to Decree 513 and Tulio Ospina, then President and Director of the institution carried out the scientific classification of the mineral collection.

Due to the continuous expansion of the collections and the library was in the late 1970s the premises too small. In 1988, the Banco de Colombia Hipotecario gave a historic building complex with a built-up area of ​​9,840 m² and two courtyards (patio) with botanical gardens of the museum. The complex now houses beside the numerous exhibition rooms in three floors, a library, a restaurant, two cafes and sanitation.

April 2012 on the occasion of the 80th birthday of Fernando Botero 's works have been exhibited at the Museum of Antioquia. The artist Botero decided out the entire series of paintings and drawings of his numerous sculptures to donate to the museum.