Trips Places Foods Stories Newsletters
Loading...
Loading...
Loading...
Loading...

No search results found for
“”

Make sure words are spelled correctly.

Try searching for a travel destination.

Places near me Random place

Popular Destinations

  • Paris
  • London
  • New York
  • Berlin
  • Rome
  • Los Angeles
Trips Places Foods Stories Newsletters
Sign In Join
Places near me Random place
All Peru Nazca Museo Antonini

Museo Antonini

This archaeological museum in one of Peru’s most intriguing regions exhibits ancient artifacts from the Nazca civilization.

Nazca, Peru

Added By
Rachel Gould
Email
Been Here
Want to go
Added to list
CAPTION
Antonini Museum.   Shoestring de wts wikiviajes/cc by-sa 1.0
Skulls uncovered at a Nazca excavation site in Cahuachi.   Marie Thérèse Hébert & Jean Robert Thibault/cc by-sa 2.0
Pottery of the Nazca culture found at the Cahuachi site.   Marie Thérèse Hébert & Jean Robert Thibault/cc by-sa 2.0
Nazca ceramics at Museo Antonini.   Marie Thérèse Hébert & Jean Robert Thibault/cc by-sa 2.0
The pre-Columbian Bisambra aqueduct behind Museo Antonini.   Marie Thérèse Hébert & Jean Robert Thibault/cc by-sa 2.0
The pre-Columbian Bisambra aqueduct behind Museo Antonini.   Marie Thérèse Hébert & Jean Robert Thibault/cc by-sa 2.0
Been Here
Want to go
Added to list

About

Located in the Peruvian city of Nazca, the Museo Antonini consists of six gallery spaces exhibiting priceless art and artifacts from the ancient Nazca civilization. The Nazca people inhabited the region sometime between 200 BC and 600 AD, and left behind the ever-mysterious Nazca Lines, a group of monumental geoglyphs in the desert.

The archaeological collection at Museo Antonini preserves and provides a fascinating insight into the Nazca culture. The museum was founded in 1999 following a series of excavations that yielded an impressive collection of ancient instruments, textiles, tools, and ceramics. Today, it displays some 300 artifacts and art objects, as well as a scale model of the Nazca Lines and replicas of Nazca tombs. 

Visitors are initially guided into a room that gives an overview of principal archaeological sites in the region, with local plants and excavated objects accompanied by photographs, maps, and information about how the Nazca people may have created and used each artifact. One highlight of the museum is a gallery dedicated to human skulls, which were likely the result of human sacrifice rituals to Inti, the Nazca sun god. The skulls were unearthed in an excavation site approximately 20 miles west of Nazca in the neighboring city of Cahuachi.

And of course, no mention of the Nazca people would be complete without investigation into the Nazca Lines, the most remarkable legacy of this ancient civilization. Spanning some 385 square miles in the Nazca Desert, located about 250 miles south of the Peruvian capital of Lima, the Nazca Lines are a sequence of over 300 gigantic depictions of flora, fauna, and symbols, comprised of more than 10,000 lines. The geoglyphs, some of which stretch out over 5 miles, are best seen from above, which has long begged the question of why they were created, what they were intended to communicate, and to whom.

Behind Museo Antonini is another example of advanced Nazca engineering, the Bisambra aqueduct, an ancient hydraulic system that directed water from the Bisambra canal to nearby Nazca settlements.

Related Tags

Archaeology Cultures And Civilizations Ancient Mystery Geoglyphs Museums Museums And Collections

Know Before You Go

Museo Antonini (also referred to as Museo Didáctico Antonini and Museo Arqueológico Antonini) is located on the east side of Nazca within building number 600 on Avenida La Cultura. The museum is open from Monday through Sunday, 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Exhibition labels at Museo Antonini are written in Spanish, but translation booklets are available at the museum’s front desk. Prospective visitors can reach the museum by taxi.

Atlas Obscura Adventures

Peru: Machu Picchu & the Last Incan Bridges

Discover Inca Wonders.

Book Now

Community Contributors

Added By

Rachel Gould

Edited By

Meg

  • Meg

Published

February 7, 2019

Edit this listing

Make an Edit
Add Photos
Sources
  • https://www.lonelyplanet.com/peru/attractions/museo-didactico-antonini/a/poi-sig/465864/363383
  • https://www.peru-top10.com/peru-guide/nazca-antonini-museum.htm
  • http://www.inkanatura.com/blog/antonini-museum
  • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nazca_Lines
Museo Antonini
1021 Paraiso
Nazca
Peru
-14.825428, -74.929194
Get Directions

Nearby Places

Puquios

Nazca, Peru

miles away

The Paredones

Nazca, Peru

miles away

Cerro Blanco

Nazca, Peru

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Nazca

Nazca

Peru

Places 9
Stories 1

Nearby Places

Puquios

Nazca, Peru

miles away

The Paredones

Nazca, Peru

miles away

Cerro Blanco

Nazca, Peru

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Nazca

Nazca

Peru

Places 9
Stories 1

Related Places

  • The museum entrance.

    Madrid, Spain

    Museo de América

    This fascinating and poignant museum chronicles every imaginable aspect of Spanish colonialism in the Americas.

  • Silchester Eagle

    Reading, England

    Silchester Eagle

    Once believed to be a sacred Roman legionary symbol, this bronze figure inspired the 1954 novel 'The Eagle of the Ninth.'

  • The museum entrance.

    Mexico City, Mexico

    Museo Dolores Olmedo

    This extraordinary art museum is like a secret world on the edge of Mexico City.

  • One of the Olmec stone heads believed to depict ancient kings.

    Xalapa, Mexico

    Xalapa Museum of Anthropology

    The largest collection of artifacts from the Olmec civilization, the mother culture of Mesoamerica.

  • A detail of the mural of the Great Goddess.

    San Juan Teotihuacan de Arista, Mexico

    Mural of the Great Goddess

    A striking depiction of Teotihuacan's mysterious "Spider Woman."

  • The museum exterior.

    Puebla, Mexico

    Amparo Museum

    This beautiful and unmissable little museum is full of fascinating artifacts from Mesoamerica's great civilizations.

  • The stele.

    Cáceres, Spain

    The 'Astronaut' of Casar

    A strange anthropomorphic stele with a mysterious inscription that has never been deciphered.

  • Timbers from Seahenge on display at the Lynn Museum.

    King's Lynn, England

    Seahenge

    This captivating Bronze Age timber circle spent centuries concealed by the tides.

Aerial image of Vietnam, displaying the picturesque rice terraces, characterized by their layered, verdant fields.
Atlas Obscura Membership

Become an Atlas Obscura Member


Join our community of curious explorers.

Become a Member

Get Our Email Newsletter

Follow Us

Facebook YouTube TikTok Instagram Pinterest RSS Feed

Get the app

Download the App
Download on the Apple App Store Get it on Google Play
  • All Places
  • Latest Places
  • Most Popular
  • Places to Eat
  • Random
  • Nearby
  • Add a Place
  • Stories
  • Food & Drink
  • Itineraries
  • Lists
  • Video
  • Podcast
  • Newsletters
  • All Trips
  • Family Trip
  • Food & Drink
  • History & Culture
  • Wildlife & Nature
  • FAQ
  • Membership
  • Feedback & Ideas
  • Community Guidelines
  • Product Blog
  • Unique Gifts
  • Work With Us
  • About
  • FAQ
  • Advertise With Us
  • Advertising Guidelines
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookie Policy
  • Terms of Use
Atlas Obscura

© 2025 Atlas Obscura. All Rights Reserved.