If something abounds in European cities, it is museums, of all kinds and prestige. But when we talk about Madrid there really is something unique in its museums and art galleries. And best of all, many are close to each other, so you can take a very comfortable cultural tour.
Today Actualidad Viajes, which museums to visit in Madrid.
Reina Sofía National Museum of Art
Without a doubt, this museum deserves to be at the top of the list of museums in Madrid. this institution specializes in XNUMXth century Spanish art and it works in the building that was an old hospital founded by King Felipe II and designed by Francisco Sabatini.
With its stark façade and white walls, it's a good place to display modern art. The collection is divided into three sections: Collection I includes works from 1900 to 1945, Collection II works from 1945 to 1968 and finally Collection 3 with works from 1962 to 1982.
It is here that you will see the famous Guernica by Pablo Picasso, works by Joan Miró and Salvador Dalí. But beyond its permanent collection there are also exhibitions that vary. It is best to check their website to know what to see before going.
There are also exhibits in its satellite galleries in Parque del Retiro, just a 15-minute walk from the museum. And of course, do not leave out of the visit the two annexes of the museum that can be visited without paying extra.
- Location: C. de Sta. Isabel, 52
- Schedule: Open Monday from 10 am to 9 pm, Wednesday to Saturday from 10 am to 9 pm and Sunday from 10 am to 2:30 pm.
- Appetizers: they can be purchased at the box office or online, for 12 euros. There are general passes, the Paseo del Arte Card Box that costs 32 euros and includes other museums. Admission is free at certain times, every day.
Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum
It works in what was once a very aristocratic mansion on the Paseo del Prado. It could be said that his collection, acquired mostly by the baron throughout his life, is located between that of the Reina Sofía and that of the Prado Museum.
His large collection includes a lot of european art of great masters of the continent. You will see works of Dali, by El Greco, Monet, Picasso and not fat rembranddt. But there are also some works from the Middle Ages and the XNUMXth century. Or XNUMXth century American paintings and some other examples of the more modern pop art. The collection began far away, in the 20s of the last century, and you have to know it if you like all art.
Over two generations the collection grew. In 1993 it was acquired by the Spanish state so that the public could appreciate it: more than a thousand paintings from the XNUMXth century to date with works by Dürer, Van Eyck, Titian, Rubens, Caravaggio, Rembrandt, Degas, Monet, Canaletto, Van Gogh, Picasso, Pollock and Cézanne, For example.
Do not forget to go to the basement that today houses a new installation with around 180 works from the Carmen Thyssen Collection, including the artwork the Eden's garden by Jan Brueghel and Young Woman, by Fragonard.
- Location: Paseo del Prado, 8.
- Opening hours: it opens on Mondays from 12 pm to 4 pm and from Tuesday to Sunday from 10 am to 7 pm.
- Appetizers: there is a full access ticket for 13 euros, another with an audio guide for 5 euros.
Museo del Prado
It is one of the most popular museums in Madrid and one of the most prestigious among the Spanish museums. It is over 200 years old and is the main art museum nationwide. 3 million people go to visit it per year.
The museum works in a neoclassical building commissioned by King Carlos III, designed by the architect Juan de Villanueva in 1785. Today its large collection it houses drawings, paintings, prints and sculptures.
You will see works by El Greco, Francisco de Goya, Valzquez, Pablo Picasso and Rembrandt, among others and distributed throughout its four floors. Here are classics like Las Meninas, by Diego Velázquez, The Naked Maja, by Goya, and Noble with his hand on his chest, by El Greco.
- Location: C. de Ruíz de Alarcón, 23.
- Opening hours: open Monday to Saturday from 10 am to 8 pm. Sundays and holidays from 10 am to 7 pm.
- Appetizers: general admission costs 15 euros. Admission is free from Monday to Saturday from 6 to 8 pm and Sundays and holidays from 5 pm to 7 pm.
National Archaeological Museum
If you like the remote past, then this archeology museum is your choice. The MAN houses one of the best collections in the world with objects and artifacts from Mediterranean cultures from prehistory to the XNUMXth century.
There are findings from the terraces of the Manzanares river from the Paleolithic, Mudejar art that represents the Muslim presence in Spain, bronzes from Mesopotamia and Persia, Greek vessels from the Mycenaean and Hellenic Periods...
Also in this museum there is a numismatics collection dating from the XNUMXth century BC to the XNUMXst century.
- Location: Serrano Street, 13
- Opening hours: It opens from Tuesday to Saturday from 9:30 a.m. to 8 p.m., Sundays and holidays from 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Sorolla Museum
This museum works in a very elegant house, the home of the artist Joaquin Sorolla, in the Chamberi neighborhood, in Madrid. Here he lived with his wife and muse, Clotilde García del Castillo. The museum opened to the public after the death of the artist's widow and has a beautiful collection of objects.
The walk through the interior of the house-museum will allow you to discover Rococo mirrors, Spanish ceramics, sculptures, jewelry, a XNUMXth century bed and other relics that belonged to the Valencian artist.
In addition there is an art collection of more than 1200 paintings and drawings by Sorolla himself, famous artist when it comes to representing the Spanish people and their landscapes under the beautiful light of the Mediterranean.
In addition to the museum, you can then walk through the garden that the same artist designed, a mixture of an Italian garden and an Andalusian garden.
- Location: Fr. del Gran Martínez Campos, 37
- Opening hours: Open from Tuesday to Saturday from 9:30 a.m. to 8 p.m., Sundays and holidays from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
- Entrada: admission is only 3 euros.
Lázaro Galdiano Museum
This museum works in what was the home of a very prolific collector named Jose Lazaro Galdiano: the Parque Florido mansion, in Madrid. Galdiano was known as one of the great cultural patrons of the 11th century and when he died his personal collection had more than XNUMX pieces, mainly from the Old Master and Romantic periods.
The mansion is in the Neo-Renaissance style and when the dream was alive it hosted many gatherings and parties. After his death in 1947 it became the Lázaro Galdiano Museum and inside there are spectacular works by El Greco, Goya, Zurbarán, Bosch and collections of coins, weapons, medals, ivory, bronze, ceramics and more.
- Location: C. Serrano, 122
- Opening hours: Open Tuesday through Sunday from 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.
- Appetizers: general admission costs 7 euros.
Cerralbo Museum
I like mansions so this museum works within the XNUMXth century mansion of the Marquis of Cerralbo. It is a Madrid treasure, as it is impeccable, as if time had not passed, all decorated with rococo and neo-baroque elements.
The mansion turned into a museum it has four floors along which the marquis's collection is exhibited, a collection that he was able to make in his travels through Europe and Spain, There is a marble bust of a Roman woman, a XNUMXth century German helmet made of steel, an opium smoking set from China of the Qing Dynasty and many more antiquities.
- Location: C. de Ventura Rodriguez, 17
- Opening hours: open from Tuesday to Saturday from 9:30 am to 3 pm. On Thursdays it opens from 5 pm to 8 pm, on Sundays and holidays from 10 am to 3 pm.
- Tickets: General admission costs 3 euros. Admission is free on Saturdays from 2 pm and on Thursdays from 5 to 8 pm. Also every Sunday.
Finally, although we do not include them in our selection of which museum to visit in Madrid, you can visit the Museum of Romanticism, the National Museum of Decorative Arts, the CaixaForum, the Museum of the Americas...