Museum of Arts and Traditions of Sevilla

The Museum of Arts and Traditions of Sevilla is a museum in Seville, Andalusia, Spain, located in the María Luisa Park, across the Plaza de América from the Provincial Archeological Museum. The museum had 84,496 visitors in 2007.HistoryThe museum occupies the Mudéjar Pavilion (Pabellón Mudéjar) designed by Aníbal González and built in 1914. It served as an art pavilion, the Pabellón de Arte Antiguo, for the Ibero-American Exposition of 1929, when Aníbal González had the opportunity to design several additional permanent buildings for the plaza. The exterior is ceramic over brick, and has three doors with archivolts adorned with glazed tiles (azulejos).The building originally consisted of two stories over an aeration chamber (necessary because of the humidity). In the 1960s, the main floor, originally over 12m high, was divided in two, with an intermediate level added by architect Delgado Roig. In 1972, as part of the preparations for the current museum, the various stories of the building were connected by a grand spiral staircase designed by José Galnares Sagastizábal.The museum was established by a decree of 23 March 1972, initially as a section of the Museum of Fine Arts of Seville. It opened its doors to the public 4 March 1973. For the next seven years, the museum fell under the responsibility of the Ministry of Education and Science, but the city government occupied more than half of the poorly maintained building. Neither institution took full responsibility. This situation led to a series of temporary closures. In 1976, the electric bill could not be paid, and the museum had to be shut until it could get power again. In 1979, heavy rains damaged the interior.