Gernika Peace Museum

The Gernika Peace Museum, Gernikako Bakearen Museoa, stands on Foru Plaza in Gernika-Lumo, Biscay, in the Basque Country of Spain. It is devoted to the bombing of Gernika on 26 April 1937, during the Spanish Civil War, when German Condor Legion and Italian aircraft attacked the town in support of Franco's forces, killing many civilians and destroying much of the centre. The attack became a global symbol of the horror of aerial bombardment on civilians and inspired Pablo Picasso's painting Guernica, completed in 1937. The museum opened in 1998 in a building near the Casa de Juntas and the Tree of Gernika, and its mission is to explain the events and to promote peace and reconciliation. Its permanent exhibition is immersive and chronological, leading visitors through the history of the town, the lead-up to the war, the bombing itself and its aftermath. An audiovisual sequence recreates the sounds and conditions of the day, including a darkened room with air raid effects, and testimony from survivors adds a human voice. Documents, photographs, objects and a model of the town illustrate the scale of destruction and the political context of the Basque Country in the war. The museum also addresses the role of the bombing in international memory and the arguments over responsibility, and it includes spaces on peace culture and conflict resolution. Displays are presented in Spanish, Basque and English. The building is modern, and the museum has been updated over time to keep its displays current. Visitors typically allow about an hour, and the experience is emotional, so families should consider the age of children. The museum is a few minutes on foot from the Casa de Juntas, and the two together give a rounded view of the town's symbolic role. Gernika is reachable from Bilbao by train in about an hour.