1248 Travel Guide

The Museum of Art and Archaeology, formally the Institute of Civilizations - Museum of Art and Archaeology (IC-MAA), is attached to the University of Antananarivo. It was established by decree No. 70-078 of 27 January 1970 as a research institute and took its present name, opening progressively to the public, from 1990. The museum stands at 17 rue Dok Villette in the Isoraka district of Antananarivo and is Madagascar's most important repository of archaeology and ethnographic art, with about 7,000 objects gathered from every region and community of the island. The display leans on archaeological finds and ethnographic pieces: pottery, stone tools, funerary sculpture, traditional instruments, sorcery implements and amulets, with the funerary aloalo wooden sculptures the most distinctive category. Finds from medieval trading ports such as Mahilaka show Madagascar's historical links with the wider Indian Ocean world. The museum is compact and takes 30 to 60 minutes, entry is by donation, and it pairs easily with the Rova and Andafiavaratra Palace for a half-day cultural circuit.

The Queen's Palace (Palais de la Reine, the Rova / Manjakamiadana palace in Antananarivo) stands on the highest hilltop in Madagascar's capital, the seat of the royal palace complex of the Merina kingdom and now a national monument. A fire in 1995 almost destroyed the palace; after nearly thirty years of restoration it reopened to the public on 10 June 2023. From the hilltop one can look down over the whole city.