Spanish Civil War 1936–1939
Gernika Peace Museum (Museo de la Paz)
Gernika-Lumo · Museum
The story
On the afternoon of Monday 26 April 1937 – market day – aircraft of the German Condor Legion, with Italian Aviazione Legionaria bombers, attacked Gernika for about three hours in support of the Nationalist advance on Bilbao. Explosive and incendiary bombs destroyed most of the town centre, while the Rentería bridge and the arms factories on the edge of town survived. The raid, reported worldwide by journalists including George Steer and painted by Picasso, became the defining image of the bombing of civilians. The Peace Museum, on the main square, tells the story of the raid through survivors' testimony and places it in a wider history of war and reconciliation, including Germany's 1997 apology.
What you can see today
A modern museum with a reconstructed 1937 house interior, survivor testimony, audiovisuals and a section on peace and reconciliation.
Plan your visit
Foru Plaza 1, opposite the town hall. Closed on Mondays from mid-October to mid-March; entry €6.50 (reduced €4.50); English group tours can be booked in advance.
- Open
- Mar 16–Oct 18: Tue–Sat 10:00–19:00, Sun–Mon 10:00–14:30. Oct 19–Mar 15: Tue–Fri 10:00–18:00, Sat 10:00–14:30 & 16:00–18:00, Sun 10:00–14:30, closed Mon
- Price
- €6.50 adults; reduced €4.50; under-12s free; free on Saturday afternoons
- Booking
- Group visits and guided visits booked through the museum
- Access
- Accessible entrance, lift, accessible toilets
- Notice
- Closed most of January (1–26 Jan in 2026) and 24–25 & 29–31 Dec
Checked September 2026 from official sources: museodelapaz.eus, gernikainfo.eus. Things change, so check before you travel.
Sources
- tracesofwar.com/sights/90553/
- museodelapaz.eus/en/
- dark-tourism.com/index.php/1070-gernika-museum
- es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bombardeo_de_Guernica
Nearby sites
- Pasealekua air-raid shelter, Gernika · under 1 km
- Casa de Juntas & Tree of Gernika · under 1 km
- Astra factory air-raid shelter, Gernika · under 1 km
- Monte Sollube battlefield · 9 km
- Gaztelumendi breach – Larrabetzu Iron Belt bunker · 12 km
- Iron Belt trail, Zamudio (Berreaga–Gaztelumendi ridge) · 16 km
All 158 sites in Spanish Civil War 1936–1939 →
The Spanish Civil War 1936–1939
A free field guide for your phone: the route, the maps and the stories built in, even with no signal. The battlefields, trenches, ruined villages, shelters, museums and memorials of the Spanish Civil War across the whole of Spain, told fairly from both sides.
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