Museo Arqueológico y Paleontológico de la Comunidad de Madrid

The Museo Arqueológico y Paleontológico de la Comunidad de Madrid (MARPA), formerly known as the Museo Arqueológico Regional de la Comunidad de Madrid, is an archaeological and paleontological museum located in Alcalá de Henares, Spain. Dependent on the regional administration of the Community of Madrid, the museum was officially created by government decree on 27 November 1997 and inaugurated on 25 May 1999. It occupies a historic former Dominican convent in the city's Plaza de las Bernardas and serves as the primary regional institution for the conservation, research, and public display of Madrid's archaeological and paleontological heritage, filling a gap that had existed since the province previously lacked a dedicated provincial museum despite hosting the national collections in the capital.

The museum's origins trace to the creation of the Community of Madrid in 1983 and the transfer of cultural policy powers to the autonomous community in 1985, which prompted the need for a regional museum to complement the existing National Archaeological Museum. The old convent of La Madre de Dios in Alcalá de Henares was selected as the site in 1985. Construction and rehabilitation works began in 1987 under architect D. Jaime Lorenzo, as the building was in an advanced state of ruin in several areas. The museum was formally established by Decree 163/1997 on 27 November 1997, inaugurated on 25 May 1999 initially for temporary exhibitions only, with the permanent exhibition opening on 6 June 2003. The Patio de cristales, a glazed cloister space for conferences and events with capacity for approximately 200 people, opened on 7 May 2007. An expansion project awarded in December 2010 was halted in 2011 due to the economic crisis, but works resumed in January 2018 and concluded in 2020, adding a new building on an adjacent plot formerly occupied by the local National Police headquarters. This expansion, increasing the museum's surface area by 46% to approximately 3,300 square meters, enabled the opening of a new paleontology hall.

The permanent collection follows a chronological and didactic itinerary spanning from deep prehistory through to the industrial era. It encompasses paleontological fossils, Paleolithic and Neolithic tools, Bronze Age and Iron Age remains, and a significant Roman period collection. The holdings also include material culture from the Ancient, Medieval, and Modern periods. The collection continues to grow through new archaeological discoveries made within the Community of Madrid. The museum maintains research and conservation functions alongside its public exhibition role, supported by specialized facilities for archaeology, restoration, and photography. Its library, the Biblioteca Emeterio Cuadrado, is a restricted-access specialist collection focused on archaeology, cartography of the Community of Madrid, museology, and restoration. The museum also produces an institutional publication program including the Colección Zona Arqueológica for archaeological studies, exhibition catalogues, and professional training manuals.

Among the museum's signature pieces is a cave bear skull discovered in Patones in 1971, the largest ever found in the Iberian Peninsula. The Roman period galleries are particularly notable for their epigraphic pieces and an important collection of Roman mosaics from Complutum, the Roman-era settlement on which Alcalá de Henares was founded. In 2012, the museum acquired more than fifty pieces from recent excavations, including a mesomphalos phiale, known as the Pátera de Titulcia, a significant addition to its classical holdings.

The museum occupies the former Colegio Convento dominico de la Madre de Dios on the Plaza de las Bernardas, a square also flanked by the Palacio Arzobispal and the Convento de San Bernardo. The convent was founded in 1565 by María de Mendoza, daughter of the Counts of Mélito, as part of Alcalá de Henares' university city, though the present building dates primarily from the 17th and 18th centuries. The site had earlier been a morería, a Muslim quarter, with a mosque that stood until its destruction in the 16th century. During the French invasion, on 2 December 1808, the Dominicans were expelled and the building converted to a cavalry barracks; Napoleonic troops reportedly destroyed the high altar and looted valuables. The friars returned in 1815, but the convent was disentailed in 1835-1836, passing to the Alcalá de Henares municipality. It subsequently served as a prison until 1951, while the church housed law courts, undergoing substantial modifications including the relocation of the church portal from the plaza to Calle de Santiago. The building was transferred to the Community of Madrid in 1985 and transferred again on 27 November 1987. The rehabilitation revealed 16th-century arcades from the original convent, which were integrated into the museum. The ground floor contains the permanent exhibitions, a seminar room dedicated to archaeologist Manuel Fernández-Miranda, and the central hall accessing the cloister and former church. The basement houses 400 square meters of climate-controlled storage. The Patio de cristales provides an additional event space through the glazing of the former cloister.