Visitors and Replicas
During the 1960s and 1970s, the paintings were being damaged by the carbon dioxide in the breath of the large number of visitors. Altamira was completely closed to the public in 1977, and reopened to limited access in 1982. Very few visitors were allowed in per day, resulting in a three-year waiting list. A replica cave and museum were built nearby and completed in 2001 by Manuel Franquelo and Sven Nebel, reproducing the cave and its art. The replica allows a more comfortable view of the polychrome paintings of the main hall of the cave, as well as a selection of minor works. It also includes some sculptures of human faces that are not visitable in the real cave.
As well as the adjacent National Museum and Research Center of Altamira there are reproductions in the National Archaeological Museum of Spain (Madrid), in the Deutsches Museum in Munich (completed 1964) and in Japan (completed 1993).
During 2010 there were plans to reopen access to the cave towards the end of that year. In December 2010 however, the Spanish Ministry of Culture decided that the cave would remain closed to the public. This decision was based on the advice from a group of experts who had found that the conservation conditions inside the cave had become much more stable since the closure.
Read more about this topic: Cave Of Altamira
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