Rural Ethnographic Museum of Huertas de Ánimas

About 5 km from Trujillo, in the hamlet of Huertas de Ánimas, the neighbours built a museum so that the way people lived in an Extremaduran village of the past would not be lost. It is a private museum, small and very handmade, visited by appointment, and it works especially well with children.

What you see

According to Turismo de Extremadura, the museum was built on the initiative of the parishioners of Huertas de Ánimas and brings together twenty-four spaces that recreate life in the region's villages in another age. There are recreations of typical homes, a rural school and a wine cellar, and along the way you take in the popular architecture of the period. The visit is completed by a large collection of farm implements, tools and instruments of the trades of old.

It is not a museum of display cases but of settings: you enter the rooms as if the family had just stepped out. For children, the school with its desks and the tools of the trades are what hook them most; for adults, often, a trip to their grandparents' house.

Hours, booking and price

The museum has no fixed hours: the visit is arranged. You must call the booking telephone first, 927 323 056; the information line is 927 320 468. Admission costs €2.50, and €1.50 for children. It offers guided tours. Allow about an hour.

If you are in a group, the company Turismo Trujillo organises guided visits to the museum only for groups of more than ten people and by reservation, at €6 per person; they are booked on 927 320 510.

Accessibility

The official listing indicates access ramps, accessible parking, assistance for people with reduced mobility, a guide for people with disabilities and admission of guide dogs. It is one of the most comfortable visits in the area if you are travelling with someone with reduced mobility or a pushchair.

Getting there

Huertas de Ánimas is about 5 km from the centre of Trujillo; the practical way is to go by car. When you arrange the appointment, ask them to tell you how to get there and where to leave the car.

What to combine it with

It is a good counterpoint to monumental Trujillo: in the morning, the guided tour of the medieval town or the Plaza Mayor and the castle; in the afternoon, the museum, to see how people in the villages lived while the palaces grew in the city. If you like the countryside, add the lesser kestrel walk. The tourist office in the Plaza Mayor can help you fit the day together.