Many European capitals are known for their remarkable scale of museums and galleries, but when it comes to Madrid, there is something notably unique. Madrid is a city that offers its visitors endless opportunities to enjoy its vibrant character. Whether you are culturally curious, love arts and passionate about discovering under the radar attractions, Madrid offers all that and much more. We have created a list of the coolest museums in Madrid for those looking to escape from the ordinary while visiting this incredible city.
5 Cool museums in Madrid Worth A Visit
1. Lope de Vega museum
The Lope de Vega Museum is the former house of the most important Spanish writer and key figure in the Spanish Golden Age of Baroque literature. The house was built in the sixteenth century and bought by the writer in 1610, where he lived until he died in 1935. After his death, the house passed from various different owners who refurbished and renovated the building according to their taste and modern trends. However, in the 1930s the Royal Academy of the Spanish Language bought the house and went through renovations to reform the house as when the writer lived in it, added rescued personal items of the writer, such as furniture and manuscripts which are on display, to open the house as a museum. Visitors today can stroll around Lope’s back garden which he called “mi güertecillo” and the oratory he had built before he was ordained.
2. Museo del Romanticismo
The Museum of Romanticism is housed in the fairytale former place of the Marquis of Matallana, featuring a fascinating collection of the late 18th and 19th-century paintings, furniture, decorative art, jewelry, and textiles among other items, which captures the essence of the cultural, political and everyday life of Madrid during those ages.
Works by Raimundo de Madrazo, Francisco Goya, the Becquer brothers can be admired in this exquisite museum which also houses a collection of porcelain dolls, jewelry from ebonite, 15 pianos, imperial furniture in gold, and even the very own pistol that the Spanish writer Mariano José de Larra used for his infamous suicide. The Magnolia Garden is amongst the most impressive areas of the museum, which is blossomed with magnolia trees and fountains, where visitors can enjoy coffee, tea, and cakes in the Museum’s Garden Cafe.
Admission is €3 and reduced prices apply for people holding passes.
3. Espacio Fundación Telefónica
Not only one of the coolest, but also one of the best museums in Madrid, is the Espacio Fundacion Telefonica, which showcases the history and evolution of telecommunications. In the museum’s exhibits, visitors can examine the first phones to ever be used, understand how communication systems have evolved from telephone operators to wireless phones, learn about the company and its founders through photographs and audiovisual elements. The symbolic building located in Madrid’s Gran Vía, the heart of the city, was constructed between 1926 and 1929 to house the headquarters of the first national telephone company in Spain and was the first skyscraper to be built in Europe. The Espacio also works to collect art in various forms from the new culture of the 21st century, showcased in the buildings modern and high-technology quarters, which combine the old with the new in harmony. Additionally, the Espacio also aims to unite people to talk about art, technology, and new forms of communication through workshops, auditoriums, and exhibition spaces.
Admission is Free.
4. Museo del Traje
The Museo del Traje, translated to The Museum of Garment, is a museum with collections devoted to the history of costume and fashion in Spain. The museum possesses an outstanding collection of 160,000 pieces, all related to fashion, including modern and contemporary dresses, textiles, jewels, shoes, and accessories as well as documents, magazines and photographs. The collection dates from the Middle Ages up to Spain’s modern fashion designers, like Cristobal Balenciaga and Paco Rabanne, to name a few. The Museo del Traje offers workshops for kids and adults, guided tours, and phenomenal temporary exhibitions.
Admission is €3.
5. Tabacalera Art Promotion
Amongst the coolest museums in Madrid is the Tabacalera Art Promotion, which is a cultural and art center that holds temporary exhibitions related to photography, visual arts, and contemporary arts, and other activities as theater performances, painting workshops and craft markets. The Tabacalera building, which houses the ongoing changing exhibitions, is the old Tobacco Factory of Madrid which was built in 1780 for the Royal Brandy to manufacture the famous whiskey and at the beginning of the 19th century, it was turned into a Tobacco and Snuff Factory, which was in business until the end of the 20th century. Today the former tobacco factory has been renewed and rehabilitated into the National Center for Visual Art of Spain.
Admissions vary depending on the current exhibitions.
