page_title: Bilbao
section_title: Museums
hierarchical_section_title: Bilbao / Culture / Museums
caption_attribution_description: Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao
context_page_description: Bilbao is a city in northern Spain, the largest city in the province of Biscay and in the Basque Country as a whole. It is also the largest city proper in northern Spain. Bilbao is the tenth largest city in Spain, with a population of 345,141 as of 2015. The Bilbao metropolitan area has 1,037,847 inhabitants, making it one of the most populous metropolitan areas in northern Spain; with a population of 875,552 the comarca of Greater Bilbao is the fifth-largest urban area in Spain. Bilbao is also the main urban area in what is defined as the Greater Basque region.
  Bilbao is situated in the north-central part of Spain, some 16 kilometres south of the Bay of Biscay, where the economic social development is located, where the estuary of Bilbao is formed. Its main urban core is surrounded by two small mountain ranges with an average elevation of 400 metres. Its climate is shaped by the Bay of Biscay low-pressure systems and mild air, moderating summer temperatures by Iberian standards, with low sunshine and high rainfall. The annual temperature range is low for its latitude.
context_section_description: Bilbao has more than a dozen museums covering a range of fields including art, science, and sport, which have played a central role in Bilbao being named one of the most creative cities in the world.
  The Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, part of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, was inaugurated on 19 October 1997 and is work of the Canadian architect Frank Gehry. The museum's permanent collection is centered in the visual arts of the second half of the 20th century and the present, with relevant artworks from Richard Serra and Jeff Koons, although including as well temporary exhibitions with a more varied nature, like Russian art or engravings from Albrecht Dürer.
  Another important museum is the Bilbao Fine Arts Museum, first established in 1908 and housing a notable collection of Spanish and European work from the 12th century to present times. The collection from before the 20th century is centered mainly around Spanish and Flemish artists such as El Greco, Francisco de Zurbarán, Bartolomé Esteban Murillo, Francisco Goya and Anthony van Dyck. The museum also holds one of the best collections of Basque art, with works from the 19th century to present times. It has an eye-catching collection of Avant-garde art, from the Post-Impressionism of Paul Gauguin to Pop art and the expressionism of Francis Bacon.
  The Basque Museum showcases Basque archaeology and ethnography, and holds frequent exhibitions in the area of Basque history. The museum building itself is part of the heritage listing Conjunto histórico. The city also has several specialised museums, like the Maritime Museum Estuary of Bilbao (Bilboko Itsasadarra Itsas Museoa), located next to the Estuary of Bilbao, which holds ships and other collection related to the region's fishing and shipbuilding culture, being particularly relevant the Carola crane, last remaining element of the Euskalduna shipyard that existed where the museum now stands.
  Other relevant museums are the Biscayan Archeological Museum (Arkeologi Museoa) which holds important collections related to the region's prehistory, and the Diocesan Museum of Religious Art (Eleiz Museoa), both located in the Casco Viejo quarter.
caption: The Guggenheim Museum Bilbao
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