I left San Sebastián-Donostia early morning to drive to the National Museum & Research Center of Altamira. I read about these caves in my 1000 Places to See Before You Die. The museum is to the west of Bilboa and I was originally thinking I would see it on my way to Leon.

Unfortunately, the museum is closed on Mondays when I would be leaving Bilboa. I decided to see it Saturday morning. It was a lot of extra driving, a 2 1/2 hour drive from San Sebastián-Donostia, then another 1 1/2 hour drive back to Bilboa. I bought tickets in advance, they are only €3. There is a huge parking lot.

I had planned to visit the museum before the “neocave”, but the access to the museum is only allowed after the cave. I arrived too early for my tickets; admission is scheduled every 15 minutes with strict timing. I walked around the grounds until allowed in, visiting the area of the original cave entrance.

The visit starts with a video depiction of life 36000-18000 years ago, with people living and cooking and working inside the cave mouth moving forward to when the entrance was rediscovered in 1879. It has been a UNESCO site since 1985. It was initially studied by the man who owned the land and was an amateur archeologist, Marcelino Sanz de Sautuola.

The caves are famous for prehistoric cave art featuring drawings and paintings of animals including stags, bison, horses, bulls and goats, and human hands. Besides the well preserved, brightly colored paintings, I learned the site is famous because Sautuola was the first to suggest these were of prehistoric origin. His research was published in 1880. The paper caused a controversy among other experts; many did not believe that prehistoric humans had the ability for “abstract thought”. By 1902, similar prehistoric paintings had been found throughout the region proving him correct.

The actual cave is only open to researchers but the cave has been replicated for the museum, including the passages and main room.

After the video the doors open to the passage down to the caves. The exit from the caves is the entry to the museum. There are excellent displays of artifacts, pottery, stone tools, and more. There were signs documenting the history of the cave, its discovery, and early man.

Fortunately, the signs were in English, too, unlike many other museums I visited in Spain. Definitely worth the drive, in my opinion.

** All photos property of Lisa, not to be copied or reproduced **