The museums of Madrid are a fundamental part of the attractiveness of the city, a cultural lung of the capital and a clear stop for every visitor. If you only had two days to visit Madrid, spending a whole morning seeing one of these museums would be quite advisable and understandable. Which of them would be the main one can be debated, depending on interests and tastes, but if we take into account data such as age, number of visitors and relevance of the artists, the order of the list is based on this criterion.
Prado Museum
The Prado Museum is the most visited museum in Spain, and is ranked 13th in the world. It is located on Paseo del Prado, an avenue recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2021 for the concentration of exceptional institutions it houses.
Initially, the building ordered by Charles III and designed by Juan de Villanueva in 1785 was to be the Cabinet of Natural Sciences. Years later, Queen Maria Isabel de Braganza decided to dedicate this building to the creation of a Royal Museum of Paintings and Sculptures, which opened its doors in 1819.
Its vast collection focuses on European art, especially from the 16th to the 19th centuries. Among the masterpieces kept within its walls are some iconic paintings such as Las Meninas by Velázquez, The Garden of Earthly Delights by Bosch or The 3rd of May in Madrid by Goya. In addition to great Spanish artists, the museum has a wide variety of Flemish and Italian art, including Raphael, Rubens and Rembrandt, offering an exceptional insight into the art and history of the period.
The museum also organizes temporary exhibitions that explore various aspects of European and world art, attracting visitors from all over the world.
📍 Calle de Ruiz de Alarcón, 23 (Retiro)
Reina Sofia Museum
The Reina Sofia Museum is one of the most important art galleries in the country, and has some key works to understand the art of the 20th century. Housed in a remodeled former 18th century hospital, the museum is famous for housing emblematic works by Spanish and international artists of the last century and contemporary art. Its most prominent piece is Pablo Picasso’s Guernica, a masterpiece symbolizing human suffering during the Spanish Civil War. In addition, the museum exhibits works by Salvador Dalí, Joan Miró, Juan Gris, and other Spanish artists, as well as international figures such as Francis Bacon and Yves Klein.
It has more than 23,000 works, of which a selection of approximately 5% is exhibited, including all types of artistic techniques: paintings, sculptures, drawings, graphic art, photographs, installations, video, film, decorative arts and architecture.
It has four different sites: the main headquarters, consisting of the Sabatini and Nouvel buildings, and the sites in the Retiro Park, the Velázquez Palace and the Crystal Palace.
📍 Headquarters: Calle de Sta. Isabel, 52 (Center)
Thyssen-Bornemisza National Museum
The Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza is also located on the Paseo del Prado in Madrid, just a few meters from the Prado, so the nickname of Art Walk is at least justified.
The difference of this museum with the rest is its private character, because its collection belongs to the family that gives its name to the gallery. Here you can see primarily European art from the Renaissance to the 20th century.
Its rooms exhibit masterpieces by artists such as van Gogh, Degas, Monet, Rubens and Caravaggio, among others. In addition to its permanent collection, the museum organizes temporary exhibitions covering different periods and artistic styles, which are usually a great cultural attraction of the city.
📍 Paseo del Prado, 8 (Center)
National Archaeological Museum
Located in a majestic neoclassical building of the salamanca neighborhood, The National Archaeological Museum (MAN) houses an extensive collection of archaeological pieces ranging from prehistoric times to the Modern Age. The museum exhibits significant pieces from the history of Spain, as well as from other cultures and civilizations of the world.
Among its outstanding collections are Iberian, Roman, Visigothic, Islamic and medieval art, along with Egyptian, Greek and Mesoamerican art objects, among others. Among the unpredictable pieces in the MAN, two key works of Iberian art stand out: The Lady of Elche and the Lady of Baza.
📍 Calle Serrano, 13 (Salamanca district)
Museum-Casa Sorolla
Away from the museum epicenter, is the Museum-House of Sorolla, who despite being a Valencian painter had his residence in Madrid. This palace surrounded by gardens in the middle of the Chamberí not only keeps the Encanto of the works of one of the most recognized Spanish painters, but also the grace of visiting his home, which refreshes the idea of museum that is usually had and can be even more entertaining for the visitor children and adolescents.
From the ticket it’s already catching. It is divided into several gardens: one inspired by the Alcazar of Seville, another in homage to the Alhambra in Granada and a third, more Italian, which culminates with a pergola and the “fountain of confidences”.
Inside, the space takes you behind the scenes of the artist’s inspiration, his studio, the kitchens, the rooms… And, of course, great works such as Self-Portrait (dedicated to his wife, Clotilde, and in which he appears dressed in street clothes) or Under the Awning (portrait of the entire Sorolla family in Zarauz, with a very different light to the Mediterranean to which we are accustomed).
📍 Paseo del General Martínez Campos, 37 (Chamberí)