Centro Cultural del Bicentenario, Northern Argentina, Argentina

4mariucha 5:00 PM Jan 9, 2012

All in one
Bicentenary Cultural Centre is a museum complex that combines History Museum “Dr. Orestes Di Lullo”, Natural Science Museum “Emilio & Duncan Wagner” and Fine Arts Museum “Ramón Gómez Cornet”. The former “Cabildo” (government house during colonial times) has been recently refurbished and partially rebuilt and extended to bring together these three main institutions of the history of Santiago under one roof. The idea is not a bad one, and the pieces you find inside are diverse and many. From prehistoric animals bones to medals; from pre-Columbian pottery to contemporary paintings. The display techniques are appealing and contemporary, the building itself is spotless and smartly merges these three different areas. But.... the information is scarce (not a single map, nor a sign, nothing) and, which is even worse, originals and replicas are displayed without making any distinction. As an example, the back access to the building is an imitation of the “Colegio de San Gerónimo” Portico (Santiago de Compostela, Spain) and even when they do not say otherwise, they also choose to refer to it as “Romanic Portico”, which obviously is not. African sculptures are also imitations, as many other objects of the History Museum are. All in all the place is worth visiting because even when it will leave you in want of more information, the pre-Columbian urns, pots, vases, figures are absolutely magnificent. There is a very small fee for this attraction and is open from 9 am to 9 pm. There is also a cafeteria on the ground floor, food is not bad and service is excellent.

5Gene R J 5:00 PM Mar 7, 2018

Outstanding museum inside the new center
We walked 3 blocks southeast to this part old and part new cultural center. Entering at the new part, we passed the 15 ton meteorite to enter the atrium with its active cafe. Here we purchased our 5 AP each ticket and entered the museum at the display of artful ovens. After taking the elevator to the 3rd floor, we walked through the Modern Art Museum, descended to the 2nd floor Anthropology Museum with its Stegomastodon, then artifacts from the area's 1st culture back to 6,000 BC, pottery to 800 AD, then Jesuit(native carved stone), Revolutionary(gun collection), Governmental(Governor Rooms), and descended to the 1st floor Modern(musical instruments and buildings) Period. We spent 1 hour and could have spent longer in this wonderful Provincial museum.