The Royal Palace of Madrid has added two new stops to its tour: at last, visitors will be able to explore two areas of the Royal Chapel that , until now, had been closed to the public due to renovation work: the Reliquary and the Anterrelicario. This renovation has restored them to their former splendor and also integrated both spaces into the tour route (included in the general ticket for the Royal Palace).
16 May 2026 14:00 + more dates
More than 365 relics in the Reliquary and the Anterrelicario
These two rooms are located near the Royal Chapel. Due to their small size, they are not accessible, but they can be viewed from inside the chapel itself (in the case of the Anterrelicario) and also through the windows of the entrance (located in the north wing of the Prince’s Courtyard Gallery).
Despite their small size, these rooms now house more than 365 relics, works of art, and silver pieces… An opportunity to view the items that were historically located here and others that have been relocated to, in the words of National Heritage, “offer a more attractive and coherent exhibition narrative.”
In this video,Mario Mateos, a curator with National Heritage, reveals some of the interesting facts about these rooms.
In the Reliquary, a large 18th-century mahogany cabinet in the Neoclassical style serves as a display case with glass doors to house altar sets, monstrances… and the centerpiece, the silver relief by Algardi (which is actually a large-scale copy of the original found in St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican) and which, until now, was on display in the Gallery of the Royal Collections.
As a point of interest, this relief was a gift from Francesco Barberini to Philip IV, and beneath its base, restorers discovered an authentic certificate of authenticity for the relic attributed to Saint Francis of Assisi, which is located on the altar and appears to have been gifted during the reign of Charles III.
The Anterrelicario has been redecorated with religious pieces from the Royal Collection (since the restorers had no clues or documents regarding the original layout of this room). Here we find works by Juan de Juanes, Luis de Morales, and Luis Tristán, as well as silverware… And an incredible reliquary that reconstructs, in miniature, St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican. Here is the great curiosity: the frame of the reliquary is, in turn, a calendar, with its 365 days and its 365 relics.
Royal Palace of Madrid
16 May 2026 14:00 + more dates