Museums and Galleries in Madrid
Madrid-Uno's brief guide to the plethora of museum and gallery attractions in the capital city.
Web links are shown where available. For prices and latest exhibitions news you should follow the links - most locations have an English section or make the directions and prices clear.
The Big 3
The Prado is huge and you'll never see everything in a day. Don't go on a Monday - it's closed. The Thyssen feels quite post-modernist, although the paintings housed cover all periods. A more accessible museum in that you don't feel so overwhelmed as you do at Prado. The 'Centro de Arte' Reina Sofia is for all you modern art buffs and also houses an extensive art library and a concert auditorium. It's mostly 20th century Spanish art and includes Picasso's famous Guernica.
- Museo del Prado: museoprado.mcu.es
- Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza: www.museothyssen.org/
- Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia: www.museoreinasofia.es
The National Collections
One of the best is the Natural Science Museum - (MNCN) which is excellently set-up with some top exhibits, but be warned, if you're taking the kids there's not so much English language information.
- Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales: www.museoreinasofia.es
- Museo Nacional de Arte Decorativo: www.mnad.org
- Museo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología: www.mec.es/mnct/
- Museo Nacional de Antropología: http://mnantropologia.mcu.es/
- Museo del Traje (Costume Museum): http://museodeltraje.mcu.es/
Other Museums and Galleries worth exploring
The Royal Palace is impressive (particularly its gardens and the views over the city due to its position) and the Museo de América is good for anyone interested in the history of Spanish speaking America and the colonial legacy. The Museo Romántico (showing aristocratic life in the 19th century) is closed as we write (August 2006) but is a neat little place. For a fuller exploration of that most warped of painters, Goya, then a trip to the Goya Pantheon is worthwhile. Museo de Ferrocarril is for train enthusiasts and has a useful English section on its web pages. The Museo Tiflológico is Madrid's Blind Museum and is managed by ONCE the Spanish blind association. It is set-up for blind people so if you're sighted you might not 'get' all the exhibits.
- Museo de América: museodeamerica.mcu.es/
- Museo Arqueológico: man.mcu.es/
- Museo de la Biblioteca Nacional: www.bne.es/
- Museo Cerralbo: museocerralbo.mcu.es/
- Museo de Ferrocarril: http://www.museodelferrocarril.org
- Museo Romántico: museoromantico.mcu.es/
- Museo Tiflológico: http://museo.once.es/
- Palacio Real (Royal Palace): www.patrimonionacional.es/preal/preal.htm
- Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando: www.rabasf.insde.es
San Antonio de la Florida
This is a church, not a museum or gallery, but it houses some of the most beautiful frescoes to be found in all Spain, a series painted by Francisco de Goya during the year 1798 on the ceilings and upper parts of the building. The most intense piece of work was done on the dome of the chapel - The Miracle of Saint Anthony - which was a great struggle for the painter who suffered from vertigo. He also painted a series of angels in opulent dresses of black, ochre and gold that cover the walls surrounding the dome. The church, one of the most elegant temples of neo-classical art in Madrid together with Caballero de Gracia chapel, was made a national monument in 1905. Open Tuesdays to Friday from 10.00am to 8.00pm and Saturday to Sunday when it closes at 2.00pm.