Poets and Intellectuals

All through its permanent collection, the museum highlights links

Reina Sofía between intellectuals with a heavy focus on literature, ranging from
Museum Gutiérrez Solana’s The Gathering in the Café del Pombo, presided over by El Retiro Park
Ramón Gómez de la Serna – a great promoter of the avant-garde in Spain El Retiro Park is a historic
– to the counter culture of the 1970s and 1980s, to the La Barraca theatre
company directed by the charismatic Federico García Lorca, where many
garden associated with the
artists of his time worked. former Buen Retiro Palace.
Since the late 19th century
the monuments that adorn
Santa Isabel, 52
its paths have made it an
91 774 10 00 outdoor sculpture museum.
museoreinasofia.es In addition, the Glass Palace
Monday to Saturday and Velázquez Palace host
10am until 9pm exhibitions organised by the
Sunday Reina Sofía Museum.
10am until 7pm
Closed Tuesday

Study of
Ramón Gómez
de la Serna
The Museum of Contemporary Art
houses the study of writer Ramón
Gómez de la Serna. Its walls are
covered with countless pictures
cut out of books and magazines,
turning the space into a work
of art in itself.

Glass Palace in El Retiro Park

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 Royal Palace
Iconography of Power
In addition to the painted ceilings – those of the
Throne Room were done by Tiepolo and those of the
Royal Chapel by Corrado Giaquinto – the palace boasts
This majestic building, constructed by architects Filippo various portraits by Goya and a painting by Caravaggio,
Juvarra and Giambattista Sacchetti on the same lot where the entitled Salome with the Head of John the Baptist. Juan
Royal Alcázar of the Hapsburgs once stood, opens its doors de Flandes, Rubens and Winterhalter are a few more of
every day as a museum, except when state ceremonies are the endless list of painters present in the collection.
being held. Its extensive collection of paintings, sculptures,
weapons and decorative arts is unique in the world. Although it Musical Instruments and Weapons
is the official residence of Spain’s king and queen, they actually Of particular note in the palace’s extraordinary
live in Zarzuela Palace on the outskirts of Madrid. collections are Royal Quartet, comprising two violins,
one viola and one violoncello made by Stradivarius
for Charles III. The Armoury also houses pieces of
Decorative Arts enormous value, such as an ear dagger from a Nasrid
Despite the vicissitudes of history, Madrid’s Royal Palace has reached workshop in Granada – an outstanding example of
our current times with much of its original furniture. Particularly Hispano-Islamic refinement – and a parade helmet
striking in their magnificence are Gasparini Hall, a masterpiece of that belonged to Charles V, the Holy Roman Emperor.
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Rococo art that was used as a dressing room by King Charles III; and the
1. Royal Palace
Gala Dining Hall, decorated during the reign of Alfonso XII with delicate
2. Gasparini Hall
tapestries by Guillermo Pannemaker, woven in the 16th century. The
3. Burgonet of Charles V
clocks, commodes, chairs and lamps in this palace have borne witness 1470-1532.Kolman Helmschmid
to conversations of great political importance, and continue to do so 4. Queen María Luisa Wearing
during solemn ceremonies. a Mantilla. 1799. (Close-up)
Francisco de Goya
5. The Apotheosis of Aeneas
1762-1766. (Close-up)
Giovanni Battista Tiepolo
6. Atlas. 1800
Royal Abraham Louis Breguet
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Palace © Patrimonio Nacional

Bailén, s/n

91 454 88 00

patrimonio
nacional.es
San
Every day 10am until Francisco
6pm in winter and 1 “El Grande”
10am until 8pm in A short distance from the
summer palace you’ll find a church that
is undoubtedly one of the most
monumental in Madrid, the Basilica
of San Francisco “El Grande”. The
church is nicknamed “The Large”
due to the colossal dimensions
of itsdome: 33 metres in
diameter.

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