ADAMA 

The Association of Friends of the America Museum (link below).
Added on: 08-Dec-2004 | hits: 185
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Casa de la Moneda 

This Museum of the Spanish Mint was completely renovated in the nineties and is now almost completely admirable (plus, it will appeal to the casually interested and numismatically expert alike, and is unmonetarily priced, i.e., free). Its collection of coins, banknotes and other objects such as lottery tickets is enormous, claimed to be the most important of its kind in the world, and nearly impeccably presented, everything being placed faultlessly in context. The visit begins with pre-coin currencies: shells, pressed tea leaves, cereals... and continues through Greek, Carthaginian, Roman, indeed, all the great eras of Spanish and world history, ending, naturally, with plastic money and the euro.
Added on: 08-Dec-2004 | hits: 149
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Casa de Lope de Vega 

The house where the sixteenth-century poet-playwright lived, curiously located in Calle Cervantes, which many analysts find symbolic. It has been so restored that many of the rooms are as they would have been when Lope de Vega lived there, and the "patio" (garden) is faithful to the gardening concepts of the time.
Added on: 08-Dec-2004 | hits: 195
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Casa/Museo Sorolla 

The work of the Spanish impressionist painter Joaquín Sorolla is much used for greetings cards and the like but is much better than that. The Madrid residence of his family has been made into this delightful museum, which both shows off his works and reflects the home life of the early twentieth-century Spanish better-to-do bourgeouisie.
Added on: 08-Dec-2004 | hits: 172
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Convento de Las Descalzas Reales 

Just to confuse, "convento" in Spanish often means "monastery" (and it can be disconcerting to come across a whole bunch of hairy monks when you were expecting to see demure nuns) but in this case really does mean "convent." The establishment in question is easy to miss, being right in the commercial centre of Madrid, but is well worth taking the trouble to see. It belongs to the order of the "Barefoot Royals" (actually the "Poor Clares" in English, a Franciscan order of nuns), was founded in 1557, and is quite fascinating to visit. Plan ahead a little: it can be dicky to visit, as it is still a working convent and its visiting hours are limited.
Added on: 08-Dec-2004 | hits: 229
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El Palacio Real, from Ars Virtual 

A splendid initiative of the Fundación Telefónica brings you this highly enjoyable virtual tour of Madrid's Royal Palace (you will need a plug-in, which didn't do any damage to my computer).
Added on: 08-Dec-2004 | hits: 298
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Madrid's Great Museums 

The golden triangle configured by the Museo del Prado, Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza and the Centro de Arte Reina Sofia. Plus many of Madrid's smaller museums, such as the Museo de San Isidro or the House/Museum of the painter Joaquín Sorolla.
Added on: 12-Aug-2004 | hits: 166
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Museo Arqueológico Nacional 

One of the main reasons for visiting the Spanish National Archaeological Museum would be to see the replica of the Altamira cave in Santander, as you cannot see the real cave without applying at least a year ahead, and even the neocueva, the reproduction next to it, attracts enormous queues. This website used to be well constructed, though more than a little dull, but it has now been assimilated by the Ministry of Culture's site and the English version has now disappeared altogether. Could be something to do with the major renovations in progress.
Added on: 08-Dec-2004 | hits: 237
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Museo Cerralbo 

The late nineteenth century palace/town house of the Marquis of Cerralbo, evidently built with an eye to keeping within court circles: the Royal Palace is just around the corner. The Marquis and his offspring were great collectors in the unfocused Victorian tradition, and this museum makes a most enjoyable visit, which I thoroughly recommend.
Added on: 08-Dec-2004 | hits: 162
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Museo de América 

Almost anywhere else, this would be considered a major attraction. To Spaniards, of course, "America" mainly means Central and South America, though North America is covered as well, and a visit here is both entertaining and educational. The museum has three groups of collections: precolumbine, ethnographic and colonial, each of which would deserve a building to itself, and is also often the location for scholarly or political events.
Added on: 08-Dec-2004 | hits: 158
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Museo de Arte Público (former Museo al Aire Libre) 

Modern sculpture museum which is, frankly, easy not to recognize as such, being situated in the middle of the Paseo de la Castellana, Madrid's most important north-south thoroughfare. Spanish-only website.
Added on: 08-Dec-2004 | hits: 186
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Museo de Cera 

The wax museum. As is to be expected, aimed mainly at younger visitors, though it is possible to learn quite a lot about a country's popular culture in such places.
Added on: 08-Dec-2004 | hits: 145
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Museo de San Isidro 

San Isidro - Saint Isidore - is half of Madrid's married couple of patron saints, the other being the sinisterly headless María de la Cabeza. They are supposed to have lived on the spot where this most interesting museum is, and it contains the well from which their child was miraculously expelled, saving him from certain death by drowning.
Added on: 07-Dec-2004 | hits: 190
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Museo del Ferrocarril 

To be honest, this railway museum is not one of Madrid's great attractions, but train enthusiasts will love it. It is housed in a disused station and is inexplicably undiscovered: you are quite likely to have the whole place to yourself.
Added on: 08-Dec-2004 | hits: 169
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Museo Imaginado 

Sweet idea: a virtual musem based in a non-existent building, which, since the construction in question is (or isn't) in Madrid, belongs on this page. The central idea is a collection of Spanish painting which cannot be found in Spain because they are in museums in other parts of the world. The Real Alcázar, which no longer exists on the site of the present Palacio Real, has suitably been chosen to house the collection.
Added on: 08-Dec-2004 | hits: 128
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Museo Lázaro-Galdiano 

A turn-of-the-century (nineteenth to twentieth century, that is) mansion housing a number of important collections of the kind popular with leisurely Victorian/Edwardian gentlemen: art, jewels, archeological artefacts...
Added on: 08-Dec-2004 | hits: 144
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Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales 

The website of Spain's Natural Science Museum is a little chaotic and not all that informative, but at least an English-language version is now in place.
Added on: 08-Dec-2004 | hits: 113
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Museo Romántico 

Furniture, objects, but above all pictures from the Romantic period. The link goes to the Spanish-only official website.
Added on: 08-Dec-2004 | hits: 164
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Museo Tiflológico 

The museum of the ONCE, the Spanish foundation for the blind, is designed to be "seen" with the fingers.
Added on: 08-Dec-2004 | hits: 190
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Palacio Real 

The Royal Palace was built in the middle of the eighteenth century on the site of the old Alcázar, Arab fortress. It is now a purely state affair, as the modern royal family resides in the non-visitable Palacio de la Zarzuela in the outskirts of Madrid. The Palacio Real is enormous, and well worth the visit, though there tends to be a generally musty feeling in the air: the Throne Room is especially impressive. Its outhouses are also open to the public when they are not being restored, and contain the Royal Armoury, the Royal Library and a curious, eighteenth-century Pharmacy (royal, of course).
Added on: 08-Dec-2004 | hits: 184
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Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando 

Institution corresponding to the British Royal Academy of Arts which has had many of the most illustrious names in Spanish art as members. Unfortunately, this web site is more dedicated to internal matters and does not reflect how enjoyable it is to visit, but some of its most interesting works are included in the "Historia de la Academia."
Added on: 08-Dec-2004 | hits: 119
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