8 unmissable museums to visit in Latin America

Gold Museum | Bogotá, Colombia

The most famous of Colombian museums and one of the most popular in South America and the world, the Gold Museum, as the name suggests, contains more than 55 thousand pieces of gold and other materials from different peoples who lived in Colombia before the arrival of the Spanish. It's the largest exhibition of gold items in the world — and you'll need a good few hours to appreciate it all.

Larco Museum | Lima, Peru

The Rafael Larco Herrera Archaeological Museum, or just Museo Larco, in Lima, is an important archaeological museum opened in 1926 and which brings together artifacts dating back more than five thousand years. The space, which operates in a former 18th century government mansion, is divided into galleries, with one dedicated to gold and silver pieces, and another dedicated to the famous huacos — ceramic pieces, usually vases, made by Native American people ( photo) —, for example. It's one of the best places in Latin America to learn more about pre-Columbian culture and art.

National Museum of Anthropology | Mexico City, Mexico

Founded in 1964 to investigate, conserve, exhibit and disseminate the most important archaeological and ethnographic collections in the country, the Museo Nacional de Antropología, in Mexico City, has 22 rooms spread over more than 45 thousand square meters that make it the largest museum of Mexico and one of the most important in the world. The building, despite being a sign of 20th century urban architecture, holds important pieces of pre-Columbian history and is, above all, a tribute to the indigenous peoples who were already in America before the arrival of Europeans.

Museum of Memory and Human Rights | Santiago, Chile

Opened in 2010, the modern Museum of Memory and Human Rights was founded with the aim of recording and remembering the events that occurred in Chile during the military dictatorship, between 1973 and 1990. The space, which is already worth a visit in itself, tells with three floors of exhibitions that make use of interactive resources and audiovisual media that address everyday issues from that time, as well as important moments and details about the restriction of human rights. The aim of the museum is to always remember so that the horrors of that period do not happen again.

Buenos Aires Museum of Latin American Art (MALBA) | Buenos Aires, Argentina

Located in the famous neighborhood of Palermo, in Buenos Aires, the Museo de Arte Latinoamericano de Buenos Aires or just MALBA, for those more familiar with it, is one of the most important museums in Latin America, collecting and exhibiting pieces from all over Ibero-America. In total, there are around 400 works, dating from the beginning of the 20th century, by 160 modern and contemporary artists from the region, including works from Uruguay, Ecuador, Mexico, Cuba, Venezuela and Brazil, in addition to Argentina itself and others. This is the official residence, for example, of the famous Abaporu, by Tarsila do Amaral.

Botero Museum | Bogotá, Colombia

In the heart of La Candelaria, the historic and cultural center of Bogotá, you will find the Botero Museum. Its name pays homage to the most famous Colombian artist, Fernando Botero, known for his paintings with round figures and unmistakable aesthetics. In addition to more than 100 works by the artist, 85 works from his private collection are also displayed, which includes paintings by Picasso, Matisse, Monet and Klimt, for example, making this one of the most important museums of modern and contemporary art in America Latin.

Soumaya | Mexico City, Mexico

This museum with unusual architecture that is already impressive from the outside was founded in 2011 and is one of the main museums in Mexico. The museum is named after its founder's wife, Soumaya Domit. The space is no less impressive inside and holds a collection of around 60 thousand works that include plastic arts, historical documents, coins, religious relics and much more. The collection's focus is on Mexican, Latin American and European works. Something that deserves to be highlighted is the collection of works by the renowned Auguste Rodin, the largest outside of France.

National Museum of Fine Arts | Santiago, Chile

Considered one of the best and oldest art museums in Latin America, the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, in the Chilean capital, preserves and disseminates the largest collection of national art in the country. There, it is possible to find works dating from the colonial period to today, including many foreign works. The museum was founded in 1880 and today has a collection of more than three thousand pieces, including European paintings, engravings, collections of drawings and photographs and even African sculptures. It also has a library specializing in visual arts.