Almeida Museum

Biography

Manuel Almeida was born in 1915 in Gualeguaychú and was an enthusiastic collector and researcher of our land. He was a teacher who graduated from Olegario Victor Andrade School in 1943 and taught Paleontology and Archaeology History for 20 years in Sedes Sapientae Institute and the “Arqueología de Entre Ríos” course in Mariano Moreno School in Concepcion del Uruguay in 1982. He was 88 years old, when he died on July 26, 2004. 

Museum

The Museum of Natural Sciences and Archeology ”Profesor Manuel Almeida”, which opened on October 12, 1992, is one of the most popular and oldest museums in our city. It has eight thousand pieces, such as spears, harpoons, arrows, vases, masks, which belonged to the native people like Charruas and Guaranies who inhabited this area, dinosaur bones, dissected animals like turtles and birds, some fossils of extinct animals that inhabited the area and many objects that people used to cook, hunt and defend themselves. This place tells the history of the land in Gualeguaychú and its surroundings and, despite not being very big, it is well organized and you can see all these relics. In fact, one of the rooms is Professor Manuel Almeida’s office, with the instruments he used in his work as well as details about his life. Mr. Almeida's grandson is the museum guide and he tells visitors interesting stories about his grandfather. The museum was completely remodelled in 2019 and is now a space dedicated to scientific investigation, the conservation of paleontological, biological and archaeological collections, education and culture. 

Visits and tours

Timetable: Wednesday to Friday: 9am-12am and 3pm-7pm. Saturday: 6pm-9pm. 

Sunday: it only opens for programmed activities.

By Manuela Gerling, Matías Padilla and Tatiana Mantchoff.