Alicante museum in Spain’s top ten
The MARQ continues to increase visitor numbers
THE MARQ in Alicante is now among the 10 most visited museums in Spain.
The museum of archaeology finished 2019 with a total of 190,206 visitors, almost 20,000 more than in 2018, according to data from the ministry for culture revealed by provincial deputy for culture Julia Parra.
She said the results were ‘principally due to the recognised dedication and continuous effort of all the staff, which have managed to offer an ample, attractive and top-flight cultural proposal which appeals to an increasingly demanding public’.
Of the total, 166,006 visits were to the museum itself (up 30,023), while the archaeological sites and monuments managed by the MARQ also proved popular.
Lucentum in Alicante city received 9,365 visits; the Illeta dels Banyets in El Campello –12,255; the sanctuary of Pla de Petracos in Castell de Castells – 1,312; and the tower of Almudaina – 1,268.
The highlights of the temporary exhibitions were the ones about cave paintings and ancient Iran, this last one attracting over 100,000 visitors.
The MARQ also produced exhibitions that have been put on show in various other venues around Alicante province and beyond, such as the one about its castles.
Furthermore, the exhibition of treasures from the MARQ is currently on show in the national museum of Iran until April 8, where it has been visited since September 22 by 16,577 people. The Llumiq children’s club now has 13,715 members and 473 took part in the theatre and workshops over the Christmas period.
Visitors to the website totalled almost 154,000 (up 14%), who were from 140 different countries and viewed 572,285 pages, while followers on Facebook increased by over 2,500 to 21,470, on Twitter to 17,701 and Instagram to 7,656.