La Casa de la Ciencia
La Casa de la Ciencia (the House of Science) in Seville is both a museum and a centre for scientific study and research.
The Peruvian Pavilion for the 1929 Expo now houses the Andalucian regional headquarters of the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC, or Spanish National Research Council), the third-largest public research institution in Europe. The organisation aims to be a bridge between the scientific research community and the public.
La Casa de la Ciencia was opened to the public in 2008, and the museum contains three permanent exhibitions, one temporary exhibit and a planetarium. The museum also holds regular events, including conferences, seminars and workshops. It receives 65,000 visitors a year.
The modern telemetric exhibition stands seem a little out of place in the grand marble floor and columned hall, decorated by ornate Mayan decorations.
History of the building
The building was designed by the renowned architect Manuel Piqueras Cotolí (1885 - 1937) as the Peruvian pavilion for the Ibero-American Exposition (World Fair) of 1929. Cotoli was born in Lucena (Cordoba) but moved to Peru to study architecture and became known for buildings which blended indigenous and colonial architecture.
From the 1980s the building was the headquarters of the Biological Station of Doñana. The building also house the Peruvian Consulate. In July 2008 Seville City Council refurbished the building and assigned it for 75 years to the Republic of Peru and to the CSIC, who provide 3,000m2 of public exhibition space.
Permanent exhibitions
The museum has three permanent exhibitions: A Sea of Cetaceans in Andalucia, Geo Seville, and World of Molluscs.
Additionally in the main hall you will find various educational scientific exhibits.
The exhibition titled 'A Sea of Cetaceans in Andalucia' features life-size mobiles and skeletons of the whales and dolphins that inhabit the Straits of Gibraltaroff the Andalucia coast. This exhibition has been relocated from, to the closed Marine World in the seaside town of Matalascañas (Huelva).
Fittingly located down in the basement is an exhibition 'Geo Sevilla', with rock samples from Seville and Huelva provinces, the Guadalquivir basin and the Baetic mountain ranges which straddle Andalucia from the Huelva coast in the west, to the northern Almeria coast in the east, including the Sierra Nevada, Serrania de Ronda, and Sierra de Cazorla. These mountain ranges were formed by the pushing together of the European and African plates. Two hundred minerals, fossils and rocks from the University of Seville's 150-year-old Geology Museum, make up this exhibition.
The museum also contains a planetarium which is visited by guided tour at allocated times.
On the first floor,balconies and rooms house temporary exhibitions.
The opening scene in Lawrence of Arabia was filmed in the basement of the building.
The museum has a welcome area, café and souvenir shop. In this area is a small permanent exhibition called "Hola Caracola" (Hello Snail)with a dozen molluscs taken from a collection of more than 2000 specimens.
Opening times
Tuesday to Sunday. From 10:00 - 21:00 hrs.
Closed Mondays except public holidays.
Christmas opening hours: 24, 31 December, 5 January 10:00 -14:00 hrs.
Closed 25 December, 1 January, 6 January.
Entrance
General Ticket 3€
Planetarium (single entry)3€
Combined ticket (General + planetarium ticket) 5€
Avenida de Maria Luisa (corner with Avenida de Chile), 41013 Sevilla. Tel 954 232 349
