The museums in El Salvador are a fantastic tool available to learn about the culture of this beautiful Central American nation. El Salvador has many museums that encourage the study of science, history, and contemporary cultural arts.
The best museums in El Salvador to explore are the Salvadoran art museum MARTE, the National Museum of Anthropology MUNA, the El Salvador Museum of Popular Art, and the Salvadoran revolution museum.
El Salvador has museums with impressive Mayan sculptures and other historical and cultural pieces. In its exhibitions, visitors can learn about the cultural and political history of El Salvador.
- 1. The Art Museum – MARTE
- 2. National Museum of Anthropology – MUNA
- 3. Museum of Popular Art
- 4. Word and Image Museum – MUPI
- 5. Museum of the Salvadoran Revolution
- 6. The Natural History Museum – MUHNES
- 7. Museum of Military History
- 8. Stephen Hawking Science Museum
- 9. Tin Marin Children’s Museum
- 10. El Salvador Railway Museum
- Other Museums in El Salvador
The following are some of the best museums in El Salvador worth exploring. They offer a fun way of learning about the historical culture of the smallest nation in Central America.
1. The Art Museum (MARTE)
The El Salvador Art Museum MARTE is a private, non-profit institution inaugurated in May 2003. The El Salvador Art Museum Association is responsible for the museum’s operations.
The MARTE museums contribute to the educational and cultural development of the country through the conservation and dissemination of the country’s artistic heritage. It reinforces historical knowledge, reaffirming the cultural values that form El Salvador’s identity.
The El Salvador Art Museum exhibits displays of Salvadoran art from its collection. It also displays private collections and those on loan from artists.
The MARTE exhibitions provide a broad overview of Salvadoran art from the mid-19th century to contemporary times.
2. National Museum of Anthropology (MUNA)
The National Museum of Anthropology MUNA promotes the reflection of Salvadorans to their identity and cultural diversity through permanent, itinerant, and temporary exhibitions.
The museum has permanent thematic expositions that include migration and rooting, farming, craft production, religion, and Pre-Hispanic Burials sites.
The National Museum of Anthropology (MUNA) was founded by executive decree in February 1883. The museum began in the facilities of the old National University building in October of the same year.
In 1927, the museum was moved to the pavilions previously used by the Military Hospital, and, in 1942, the museum moved to its current location on Avenida La Revolución.
The MUNA museum was called the National Museum of El Salvador originally. However, in 1945, the museum’s name was changed after its founder, David Joaquin Guzman.
3. Museum of Popular Art
The El Salvador Museum of Popular Art offers a collection of objects of deep-rooted popular tradition. As well as expressions from emerging artists.
This museum was founded by the Asociación Iniciativa Pro Arte Popular (INAR) in 2001, a private non-profit institution made up of Salvadoran professionals.
These founding professionals were united by the interest of documenting, studying, and preserving the different expressions of the arts and popular traditions of El Salvador.
More than 1,100 objects and documents have been collected for permanent or temporary exhibitions throughout the eight rooms that make up the facilities.
Within the collection, the museum display sculptures, embroidery, jewelry, pottery, textiles, masks, confetti; in its principal exhibition, the museum displays clay miniatures.
4. Word and Image Museum – MUPI
The El Salvador Museum of Word and Image is a non-profit institution dedicated to the investigation, rescue, preservation, and dissemination of the historical and cultural heritage of El Salvador.
The MUPI museum contributes to the educational and cultural development of the country through the conservation of the national heritage, refereed by values of solidarity, respect for diversity, equity, and justice.
The museum, with its expositions, offers a journey through the history of the country. The El Salvador Word and Image Museum is worth visiting.
5. Museum of the Salvadoran Revolution
The Museum of the Salvadoran Revolution is in the town of Perquin in the Morazan department. It tells the story of the Salvadoran armed conflict that lasted 12 years.
The museum has a collection of objects, documents, images, information, and testimonies of historical events related to the Salvadoran civil war.
The Museum of the Salvadoran Revolution tells the history of the armed conflict from the perspective of the guerrillas; it has hundreds of photos, weapons, and documents.
Some of the rooms in the museum are dedicated to the causes that originated the war, the international solidarity, and the life in the guerilla camps; it also displays the conventional weapons used during the war, the peace agreements, and Radio Venceremos.
The museum also shows the remains of the helicopter in which Colonel Domingo Monterrosa, commander of the Atlacatl Battalion, died. Monterroza is considered the mastermind of the horrific El Mozote massacre.
6. The Natural History Museum – MUHNES
The El Salvador Natural History Museum (MUHNES) is a scientific institution whose purpose is to investigate the biological and paleontological diversity of the country.
The preservation of El Salvador’s natural ecosystems is a significant part of the nation’s cultural development. The Natural History Museum was created to be the scientific center on Salvadoran wildlife and its history.
The museum is open to those who wish to admire and learn about paleontology, mineral rocks, and the Salvadoran fauna and flora. As well as how it has evolved over the years.
The museum manages the National Collections of Natural History, which protects samples, specimens, and pieces that become the registry of the Salvadoran natural heritage.
7. Museum of Military History
The El Salvador Military Museum is located in the city of San Salvador. It occupies the facilities of the old El Zapote Barracks, a building dating back to the 1920s.
The Military Museum shows the entire history of the Armed Forces of El Salvador, its relics, and historical pieces. It displays the general documentation of how this entity has defended the Salvadoran state over the years.
The Military Museum has many exhibition rooms, some of which refer to prominent military figures from the past.
8. Stephen Hawking Science Museum
This unique museum began operating in 1997 and handles everything related to the world of scientific work and the universe.
The science museum emerged as the Salvadoran scientific initiative to expose various creations that explain how the world works.
It offers from the theoretical bases of the Big Bang to various data related to the creation and evolution of life and the human species.
9. Tin Marin Children’s Museum
The Tin Marin Museum’s objective is to stimulate children’s learning while having fun. This museum is ideal for children to train their motor and mental skills.
Each Museum exhibition aims at showing, with a child’s language, how the world works. It prepares kids by applying entertaining strategies to improve retention capacity.
It is a creative and very functional way to involve children in the life, culture, and knowledge of El Salvador.
10. El Salvador Railway Museum
At El Salvador Railway Museum, visitors can travel back in time to see another side of the history of San Salvador. This museum was open to the public in 2015.
In this museum, visitors will have the opportunity to learn about the evolution of El Salvador’s railway system. These exhibits show old train cars and other objects related to the fascinating world of railways.
El Salvador Railroad Museum is located in San Salvador, the nation’s capital. The museum’s vision is to rescue cultural assets to boost the country’s artistic programs and activities.
Other Museums in El Salvador
The museums listed above are not the only ones the country has. There are many other smaller museums found in small colorful towns as well in the popular archaeological sites. The following are other Museums in El Salvador worth visiting.
- Eastern regional museum in San Miguel
- Western regional museum in Santa Ana
- Enrique Salaverria Sculpture Museum
- Archaeological sites museums
- Aviation museum in Ilopango
Each archaeological site in El Salvador has its own unique museum displaying pre-Columbian art pieces.
