Bizarre museums in Madrid, Barcelona, Cordoba, and/or Seville
January 29, 2010 12:48 PM   Subscribe

I'm leaving for Spain tomorrow and going to Barcelona, Madrid, Seville, and Cordoba. Can anyone recommend any truly bizarre museums in any of these cities? I'm a big fan of things like deformed fetuses in jars and old medical instruments. Other types of off-beat, funny museum suggestions would be great too. Thanks!
posted by parakeetdog to Travel & Transportation (7 answers total) 11 users marked this as a favorite
 
Not at all a museum, but you should go to the candy shop Papabubble in Barcelona.

Not exactly museums, but churches are great places to find weird bones (relics of saints) and burial places of interesting people. For example, the cathedral in Seville is the burial place of Christopher Columbus. When I was in Italy, I went into every random church I could find to gawk at the bones and other various preserved body parts.
posted by purpleclover at 3:36 PM on January 29, 2010


Just go look at goya's black paintings and bosch's work at the prado. Mucho wierdo. Also, eat at el museo de jamon. Provided you eat ham.
posted by dortmunder at 3:40 PM on January 29, 2010


You can't go wrong with the Museu de l'Erotica in Barcelona, right on Las Ramblas.

One TripAdvisor review reads "This museum views more like one manĀ“s pervy collection of bad erotic memorabilia than a credible tourist attraction," and I couldn't have said it better myself.

If you're looking for classy, it's not here. If you are looking for modern sexuality stuff, it's not here. If you want kind of dated, international, weird, and yes, sometimes downright pervy, it's fun. There's also a free theater inside, showing classic porn. When I was there, it was silent movies. Who knew!?
posted by whatzit at 4:29 PM on January 29, 2010


If you've got the time, the Salvador Dali Museum in Figueres, two hours by train from Barcelona, is freaky and cool, even from the outside.
posted by stargell at 7:13 PM on January 29, 2010


Yeah, I was going to suggest Museu de l'Erotica, as well.

Also, Museu de la Xocolata, perhaps. Also Barcelona.
posted by Stewriffic at 9:44 AM on January 30, 2010


If you want to see a bit of Spain's history that Spain would just as soon forget, visit El Valle de los Caidos outside of Madrid (either a bus tour or go by car). It is the largest 'church' in Spain (and one of the largest in the word), carved out of solid granite in a mountian. When inside, you can look up at the enormous angels carrying swords.

Yes, this is classic fascist architecture, built by Fancisco Franco, or more accurately, built by his prisoners, and it now serves as his tomb.

I found a 1958 article from Time magazine from when it was first opened.
posted by eye of newt at 11:56 PM on January 30, 2010


I second the Museu de l'Erotica in Barcelona. It was very interesting...but very strange, too.
posted by emilyv at 7:38 PM on February 2, 2010


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