Museo de la Paz de Guernica — Attraction in Guernica

The Peace Museum is a must see for anyone visiting the historic Basque city of Gernika, which was immortalized in Pablo Picasso’s iconic painting denouncing the horrors of war. Hundreds of civilians were slaughtered and much of the city was leveled during the savage bombardment by Hitler’s Condor Legion during the Spanish Civil War. The museum is small but powerful. As its name implies, it features exhibits that focus on peace and reconciliation, two of the main themes that have emerged in the aftermath of the destruction of Gernika. But the most powerful exhibits are those that document the horror that ensued when Luftwaffe bombers swooped down on the city in April 1937 as people flocked to the weekly Monday open-air market, which I also visited before going to the museum. There are poignant historical photos and moving video recollections from survivors, all of which bring to life the carnage and destruction.The museum abuts a classic Spanish plaza, where banners featuring black-and-white photographs hang from the second floor balconies, depicting graphic scenes from the attack: an anguished mother lying in the street as she cradles her child amid the rubble; four Basque militiamen, armed and defiant as they guard the city; and a women, hysterical, being taken away by fascist soldiers . The admission fee of $6 is worth the price of touring this museum. The place is a perfect starting point for a walking tour of the city, which includes a mural replicating Picasso’s painting and the historic assembly building next to the Oak tree where Lords ruled the region during the...

Well worth the visit. Basque and Spanish; beginning placards are clearly numbered and have translations in a book they hand you English. Later texts are not numbered and become difficult to follow. Five QR codes I tried presumably to get more detailed info all had failing URLs. Artifact and photo captions are not translated, and I'd really love to know what I’m looking at. Much of museum feels like an extended poem on peace, anti-pollution, etc. The historical meat is the smaller section and made my visit by contextualizing the city and displaying insightful artifacts. Clearly much love was put into the presentations, but I'm surprised if the aspiration is to be a modern museum attracting foreigners why English wouldn't be baked in everywhere. Temporary exhibition of cartoons from 1936-7 really well-curated, all with English captions, definitely worth checking out. Bummer all museums in city seem to close 2-4pm. That makes it awfully tough on a day trip. Still, worth the stop for the historical section if not...

The museum is divided into 3 parts along with a special exhibit area. The first part is about peace and is very generic with some photos and display pieces that are not explained or labeled. All signage is in Spanish/Basque, and there is a notebook for translations one can use. The second section is on the history of Gernika - half of which predates the Spanish Civil War. There is a small area on the events in 1937 and afterwards with a few bomb shells and personal artefacts. There are more photos of the destruction. The third area is video testimony from survivors and a video from an author (which was hard to hear as the sound was drowned out by the other videos). The testimony is all in Spanish or Basque with the same subtitles. Overall - we learned very little at this museum. I found the special exhibit on the sounds of war to be most interesting, but this had little to do with the...