San Telmo Museoa

Setting of San Telmo Museoa at the foot of the hill Urgull by the ocean
Location within the city of Donostia-San Sebastián
Established	5 October 1902
Location	Zuloaga plaza, 1 20003 San Sebastián Basque Country, Spain
Coordinates	43°19′30″N 1°59′06″W / 43.324922°N 1.984917°W / 43.324922; -1.984917Coordinates: 43°19′30″N 1°59′06″W / 43.324922°N 1.984917°W / 43.324922; -1.984917
Type	Art museum History museum Ethnography Photography Archeology
Collection size	26,000
Visitors	261.880 (2015)
Director	Susana Soto
Owner	City of Donostia-San Sebastián
Website	San Telmo Museoa

San Telmo Museoa, or STM is a Basque society museum located in Donostia-San Sebastián, addressing old and contemporary Basque culture, arts and history in a European, global context. Since 1932, it is located at the Zuloaga plaza in the old town, at the foot of the hill Urgull.

San Telmo is presented as a museum and, at the same time, a place to disseminate knowledge and create thought; it is an instrument to understand the present and build the future from encounters with the past and with our roots. In 2011, a major makeover of its facilities took place by adding an extension to the convent and reshaping its facilities along the lines of its new conceptual approach as a museum of the Basque society and citizenship. The museum received a Special Mention in the 2013 best European museum contest organized annually by the Museum Forum.

The Basque Society of Friends of the Country showed an interest in opening a museum for the city following the success received by the exhibitions arranged in the city during the late 19th century, so the society addressed a formal request to the Municipal Council to found a Municipal Museum. At the moment of its establishment in 1902, the San Telmo Museoa was located on the corner between calle Andia and Garibai, but it soon became too small to hold its collection, so in 1905 a new location was chosen in a new building, shared with the Municipal Library and the School of Arts and Professions.

In 1932, it further moved to its present-day location at the San Telmo monastery, purchased and fitted out by the City. The new museum featured for the inauguration event in its new location a concert conducted by Manuel de Falla in a church decorated with the accomplished canvases designed by the Catalan Josep Maria Sert, himself the author of the canvases showing in the Palace of Nations in Geneva.

After serving for decades as an ethnographic museum, in 2009 the Museum was revamped and updated with new works under way. Two years of reforms led to the museum's reopening in 2011 with new modern facilities as museum of Basque society and citizenship. This oldest museum in the Basque Country brings its rich intellectual and patrimonial legacy right into the 21st century, as well as acting as the parental centre for the network of local museums spreading over Gipuzkoa. The museum received a Special Mention in the 2013 museum contest organized by the Museum Forum.