The Museo Nacional de Nicaragua is housed within the National Palace of Culture and is the principal archaeology and history museum in the country. Its collection covers pre-Columbian cultures of Nicaragua — the Chorotega, Nicarao, and other indigenous peoples — with ceramics, stone carvings, jade jewellery, and figurines from sites across the country.
The colonial and modern history sections cover the Spanish conquest, the pirate raids on the Pacific coast, the Somoza years, and the Sandinista revolution. The exhibition on the revolution includes photographs, weapons, and documents from the insurrection period that are presented with understandable partisanship but are nonetheless informative. The museum is small enough to be seen in a couple of hours and provides good context for understanding Nicaragua before heading to other parts of the country. Signage is mostly in Spanish.