Other Museums in Madrid - Madrid City Guide-Madrid Apartments for Rent

Madrid's interesting museums are not limited to the three of the Golden Triangle. Certainly we would suggest that a visitor who is short of time visit the big three first but if you can make time you'll find many treasures in the museums listed below, which in turn may offer refreshingly uncrowded and charming environments.


                
If you've heard of an exhibition or museum not listed here, make sure you check that it isn't listed under; also, if you've a yearning to see (even if you can't afford to buy) the avant-garde or art you might purchase, you should take a look at the pages on. Most of this museums/galleries have websites so make sure you look up the opening hours before headingh towards them. Many art spaces close their doors on Mondays.

The History Museum

The History Museum (the former Hospice of San Fernando) is  one of the best examples of Madrid's Baroque style, with its superb  main facade (1721-1726) by Pedro de Ribera. It offers a global vision of the arts, industries and common life of the inhabitants of the city since it was elected the capital of Spain in 1561 until nowadays. The museum holds around 60,000 pieces, including paintings, sculptures, drawings, prints, porcelain, coins and postcards.
Fuencarral 78
Metro: Tribunal
Area: Chueca-Malasaña


Palacio-Museo Lázaro Galdiano

c/ Serrano, 122
Metro: Rubén Darío (L5), Gregorio Marañón (L7,L10) Google Maps
Located in a beautiful palace, it is considered to be one of the Spain's finest private musems. The collection, built up by the Spanish entrepreneur José Lázaro Galdiano (1862-1947), comprises over 15,000 works of art and a librabry containing more than 20,000 books. The museum first opened its doors in 1951 and, after closing for refurbishment in 2001, reopened. Artists on show include: Goya, Velázquez, El Greco, Murillo, Zubaran, Constable, Reynolds and Gainsborough. You will also find a good collection of porcelain, clocks, bronzes and many other art pieces.

Fundación Juan March

c/ Castelló 77
Metro: Lista (L4), Núñez de Balboa (L5) Google maps
Established in 1955 by the Spanish financier Juan March Ordinas, the Fundación Juan March is a family-run institution that dedicates its resources and activities to the fields of science and the humanities. It organizes art exhibitions, concerts, lecture series, and seminars in Madrid and also it administers the Spanish Library of Contemporary Music and Theater in its Madrid headquarters and directs the Museo de Arte Abstracto Español in Cuenca, and the Museu d'Art Espanyol Contemporani in Palma de Mallorca.

Lope de Vega House

It is house where Lope Félix de Vega Carpio lived (1562-1635) during the last 25 years of his life, declared to be an Historic-Artistic Monument in 1935, the building is an example of a restored Madrid family dwelling from the end of the 16th century, with large scale alterations in the 17th century.


Ateneo de Madrid

On Calle del Prado, number 21 is El Ateneo de Madrid, a cultural society founded in 1835, still going strong with a wonderful library and calendar of events.

Calle del Prado leaves you out on Plaza de las Cortes, right across the street from Spain's Parliament, el Congreso de Diputados. Follow
Calle de San Jerónimo northwest and you hit Puerta del Sol; follow it southeast and arrive at Paseo del Prado & Plaza de Neptuno, where is the Thyssen Bornemisza Museum stands right on Plaza de Neptuno.

The eastern border of Huertas is Paseo del Prado, also known as Paseo de los Artes or "Boulevard of the Arts," which lies between the emblematic Plaza de Cibeles (see Las Cortes zone) and Puerta de Atocha. The southern border is calle Atocha, which runs all the way from the train station to Plaza Mayor, and the northern border is Carrera de San Jerónimo, which ends at Puerta del Sol.

Cerralbo Museum

The museum is located between the Plaza de España and the Debod Egyptian temple. It presents the Cerralbos family house just as it was left by the Marquis in 1922. Among the collections are The Ecstasy of Saint Francis of Assisi by El Greco, displays of ancient weaponry, and Iberian pottery. A visit to the Cerralbo Museum gives one a peek at what life was like for a wealthy Spaniard aristocrat of the 19th century.

C/ Ventura Rodríguez, 17
Metro: Ventura Rodriguez, Plaza de España (Lines 2 and 10)



Museo del Traje

Inside the Ciudad Universitaria, the building of the Museum was built in 1975 as the Spanish Museum of Contemporary Art, and the project was awarded the National Prize for Architecture in 1969. Today this National Museum aims to promote the understanding of the historical development of costume and it shows the ethnological heritage representative of the different cultures of the peoples of Spain. There is a good tapas bar and excellent Restaurant, better with good weather to enjoy the garden.

Costume Museum,
Juan de Herrera 2


Spain's National Library


Across the street from well known Café Gijón you'll find the Biblioteca Nacional & Museo del Libro, Spain's National Library. This neoclassical giant used to be accessible to researchers only, but now it's open to the public for free.

Paseo de Recoletos, 22
Metro: Colón (L4)

Archeological National Museum


Right behind the Library stands its architectural sibling the Museo Arqueológico with outstanding pieces ranging from the first inhabitants of the iberian peninsula to 19th century pieces, as well as Greek and Egyptian collections.

Adjacent to both of these is Plaza de Colón, with a garden and a place for skating, and of course, the enormous Spanish flag flapping in the wind and neo-gothic monument to Christopher Columbus.
Beneath the square's waterfall sits Centro Cultural de la Villa, a fine cultural center with a theatre and exhibition center run by the local government.

Serrano, 13
Metro: Colón (L4) - Google Maps

La Casa Encendida


It is a cultural, social and educational center founded by the bank Caja Madrid. They have exhibitions, library, workshops at reduced prices, activities for children, contemporary dance and theater performances. Now, they even have an "Isla Encendida" in Second Life. The first big project in Spanish in Second Life, the virtual House on Fire lets you tour the house, meet people, attend poetry readings, attend a workshop, watch some theater, and listen to a virtual DJ.

Ronda de Valencia, 2
Metro: Embajadores (L3)



Circo Price
Ronda de Atocha, 35
Metro: Lavapiés, Embajadores (L3)

Thomas Price was an English ecuestre acrobat pertaining to the "Price Brothers", contemporaries of Philip Astley, creator of the first modern circus in London, in 1768. In 1880 they opened the "Circus Theater of Price", becoming from the beginning a preeminent show, not only of the circus arts but, of cultural manifestations in general. The implantation of a new circus with permanent character in Madrid is one old vindication raised by the circus world and the public in general. In 1999 the City council of Madrid decided to take ahead to the project of the construction of the stable Theater Price Circus, with capacity for almost 2,000 spectators. Its denomination wants to be a tribute to the professionals and lovers of the circus for whom "the Price" means the collective memory of the circus.

Matadero de Madrid
Paseo de la Chopera 10
Metro: Legazpi

The former slaughterhouse complex in Madrid, one of the most unique and interesting industrial buildings in 20th century Madrid architecture is today a large space for contemporary creation. The 148.300 m2 of the complex, with free access, offer activities, and studios for creative projects.
In 1910, it was decided to build the slaughterhouse in the Arganzuela meadow. It comprises 13 neo-mudéjar buildings made of brick. Each building housed a different activity, to cover all the industrial process. The activity in the complex began to decrease in 1973, and after several attempts to renovate the installations, it was closed totally on 1996. In recent years the different warehouses in the complex have been under renovation in order to house this great project. The lines of action of the new Matadero include training and production, exhibition and education with particular emphasis on experimental and innovative projects at international level.



IMAX Madrid

c/Meneses s/n
Metro: Méndez Alvaro
IMAX are well known for their enormous screens and 3D effects. The IMAX incorporates 3 different types of experience. There’s the IMAX 600m2 screen equivalent to 3 tennis courts in size, and has to be seen to be believed.
The Omnimax dome, which is 900m2 and 30m in diameter. The fish eye screen gives a feeling of total immersion in the film.
The IMAX 3D screen with the special glasses provided. You feel like you can reach out and touch the images.
You can book in advance your ticket from Telentrada

Museum of the City

For those curious about Madrid, and equally for those already in love with the Spanish capital, the Museum of the City traces the development of Madrid through its infrastructures and history, beginning with the origins of the city and leading up to the present day. The Museum has five circular floors, which thematically group together its artefacts. The ground floor is home to the assembly room, as well as housing a gallery containing images of the majority of the city’s Mayors, starting with Carlos III. On the first floor we can find temporary exhibitions, whereas the second, third and fourth floors hold the Museum’s permanent exhibits.
The Museum of the City was opened in December 1992. Madrid City Council department of Housing, Urbanism and Infrastructures was the driving force behind the project, which was inspired by the Museum of London, and aimed to put on display those elements which have made our city an important urban centre worldwide.

The Museum of the City hold a collection of models and reconstructions, particularly noteworthy for their realistic appearances. The section includes various reproductions, including buildings and archaeological models, such as the Roman or Moslem house; statues, such as those of Felipe IV and Carlos III; and urban spaces, such as Habsburg Madrid or the Castellana, Madrid’s great axis. This group also includes a reproduction of Plaza de la Villa, considered the most valuable because of the painstaking care with which it was created, as well as the tradition and symbolism held by this area in Madrid.

Príncipe de Vergara, 140
Metro: Cruz del rayo (L9)