Medellín museums will start to reopen in July including Museo de Antioquia, Parque Explora, Jardín Botánico and the Modern Art Museum after four months of being closed.
Due to the coronavirus pandemic and national quarantine in Colombia, all the museums in Colombia closed back in March. But museums are now permitted to start opening.
In Medellín, Museo de Antioquia, Parque Explora, Jardín Botánico and Medellín’s Museo de Arte Moderno (Modern Art Museum) have announced plans to open early in July.
According to the instructions of the national Colombia government, only 30 percent of the capacity will be allowed in museums. So, the museums in Medellín are adjusting their infrastructure including entrances, flows, ticket offices, toilets, parking lots and signage to offer the appropriate levels of biosafety.
Several Medellin Guru readers have asked when the Medellín museums will reopen and museums will start to reopen in July 2020.
Medellín has over 20 museums and we previously looked at the best museums in Medellín. Three of the first museums to reopen in July in Medellín are Museo de Antioquia, Parque Explora, Jardín Botánico and the Modern Art Museum:
Museo de Antioquia
1. Museo de Antioquia
Museo de Antioquia is the most popular museum in Medellín. In addition, it’s considered one of the city’s top tourist attractions.
Inside the museum are about 100 pieces of artwork donated by World-renowned Colombian artist Fernando Botero. The museum also includes pre-Colombian, colonial and modern art collections.
Museo de Antioquia is located in El Centro next to Plaza Botero, which has 23 abstract bronze sculptures created by Fernando Botero. Most notably, we also included Museo de Antioquia along with Plaza Botero in our recommended tourist itinerary for a day in Medellín.
Museo de Antioquia plans to open if the first or second week of July. It will open starting with the second and third floors, which have many pieces of artwork. The museum does not plan to open the first floor and basement levels because they are rooms that don not allow adaptation to social distancing measures.
Museo de Antioquia is conveniently located a very short walk from the Parque Berrio metro station on Line A. In front of the museum is Plaza Botero and Rafael Uribe Palace of Culture.
Address: Carrera 52 # 52-43, El Centro
Website: https://www.museodeantioquia.co/
Terrace Views Fourth Floor: The fourth floor terrace of Medellín’s Museum of Modern Art includes the sculptural piece ‘Peel Twisted’ by Dutch artist Gabriel Lester
2. Museo de Arte Moderno (Modern Art Museum) – MAMM
Medellín’s Museo de Arte Moderno (Modern Art Museum) aka MAMM is definitely worth a visit with an intriguing mix of exhibitions located in a striking building.
The Medellín Museum of Modern Art was established in 1978 by a group of artists wanting to raise public interest in modern and contemporary art.
MAMM plans to open the first or second week of July. They plan only open the Robledo Workshop rooms with two exhibitions of Libia Posada and David Escobar Parra.
Museo de Arte Moderno de Medellín (Modern Art Museum) is conveniently located a short walk from the metro station Industriales on Metro Line A.
Address: Carrera 44 #19A-100, Ciudad del Rio, MedellÍn, Colombia
Website: www.elmamm.org
Jardín Botánico is near Universidad station, photo courtesy of Jardín Botánico
3. Jardín Botánico
Jardín Botánico is the popular Medellín botanical gardens, which offers many sights to see and activities to enjoy. The botanical gardens are set in about 34 acres of land (14 hectares). And it has over 1,000 different living plant species.
Jardín Botánico is also considered a museum by the city of Medellín with its living plants on display. And we included Jardín Botánico in our list of the 12 best Medellín museums.
The botanical gardens are free to enter. It is home to a tropical forest, a small lake, a desert garden, a butterfly farm and much more. And there is a decent variety of birds if you are into bird watching.
Jardín Botánico will reopen on Wednesday, July 1. The hours are Tuesday to Friday from 10 am to 3 pm and Saturdays and Sundays from 10 am to 4:00 pm. On Mondays it will not be open.
Face masks are required, keep 2 meters separation in lines, only go on Pico y Cedula days and do not bring food, as it is no longer permitted to bring food into the botanical gardens. The consumption of food sold on site will take place in demarcated areas.
Jardín Botánico is a popular tourist attraction in Medellín. And it is easy to get to, since it is located next to the Universidad metro station on Line A of the Medellín Metro.
Address: Calle 73 # 51D-14, Tel: 4 444 5500
Website: https://www.botanicomedellin.org/
Parque Explora, photo by Averpues
4. Parque Explora
Parque Explora is Medellín’s popular interactive science museum and aquarium with over 300 activities and the largest freshwater aquarium in South America.
While its name is Parque Explora, it isn’t really a park. It’s actually an interactive science museum with over 300 interactive activities. In addition, there is a large aquarium, a terrarium (with frogs, snakes, turtles and other reptiles), an outdoor dinosaur exhibition, a small television studio, a 3D movie auditorium, restaurants, cafes and a souvenir shop.
Parque Explora plans to open on July 1 and plans to open the aquarium, their large open room and area with dinosaurs.
Parque Explora will be open on Tuesday to Sunday from 9 am to 5 pm. Also, Pico y Cedula applies. The stay for children from 2 to 5 years is limited to 30 minutes; children and adolescents from 6 to 17 years old, 1 hour; over 70 years, 30 minutes.
Parque Explora is a popular tourist attraction in Medellín. And it is easy to get to, since it is located next to the Universidad metro station on Line A of the Medellín Metro.
Address: Carrera 52 # 73-74, Medellín
Website: http://www.parqueexplora.org/
Inside Museo de Antioquia, photo by Jenny Bojinova
The Bottom Line: Medellín Museums Reopen in July
Medellín has a total of over 25 museums and we previously looked at the 12 best Medellín museums. The museums in Medellín have been closed since March 2020 when the quarantine in Colombia started.
The four first museums to reopen in Medellín – Museo de Antioquia, Jardín Botánico, Parque Explora and the Modern Art Museum – are four of the best museums in the city.
Other museums in the city are exploring reopening according to their realities and needs. So, there is no fixed date for reopening all the museums in the city.
We believe that Museo El Castillo, Museo Casa de la Memoria and some of the other large museums are likely to reopen.
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Editors note: updated on June 30 to add Jardín Botánico to the list and added information that both Jardín Botánico and Parque Explora will open on July 1 with their new schedules.