Prado Museum

The Prado National Museum, which celebrated its bicentenary in 2019, is the centerpiece of one of the most popular tourist routes in the capital: the Art Walk. In addition to Velázquez's Las Meninas and Goya's The Third of May 1808, its galleries showcase masterpieces from the Spanish, Italian, and Flemish schools. The Prado boasts a valuable collection of 8,600 paintings and more than 700 sculptures. It is advisable to consult a guide and plan your visit before entering the museum.

The Prado Museum opened its doors for the first time on November 19, 1819. Thanks to the support of Maria Isabel of Braganza, wife of Ferdinand VII, the building that Juan de Villanueva had designed as a Cabinet of Natural History finally housed a significant part of the royal collections. Over the years, private donations and purchases expanded the art gallery's holdings. During the Spanish Civil War, the artworks were protected from potential bombings with sandbags on the museum's ground floor. Finally, on the recommendation of the League of Nations, the collection traveled first to Valencia and then to Geneva, from where they had to quickly return to Madrid after the outbreak of World War II. Temporary Exhibitions at the Prado Museum The former Villanueva building houses a large part of the painting, sculpture, and decorative arts collections. Just behind it, around the Cloister of Los Jerónimos, the architect Rafael Moneo has built a series of rooms dedicated to temporary exhibitions, restoration workshops, an auditorium, a cafeteria, a restaurant, and offices. Another building that forms part of the museum is El Casón, the former ballroom of the now-demolished Buen Retiro Palace. Today, this space houses the library and reading room for researchers.