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Key Attractions Museo del Prado (Prado Museum) The 213-year-old Prado Museum has undergone an extensive renovation to reclaim its position among Europe’s greatest galleries. Within its 4000-strong collection of 16th- to early 19th-century paintings, are masterpieces by Fra Angelico, Botticelli, El Bosco, Titian, Rembrandt and Velázquez, as well as evidence of the astonishing development of Goya – from his sun-soaked early paintings of dances and festivities to the grim madness of his black period. Paseo del Prado Tel: (91) 330 2800 or 2900. Fax: (91) 330 2856. E-mail: museo.nacional@prado.mcu.es Website: http://museoprado.mcu.es Transport: Metro Atocha or Banco de España; bus 9, 14, 27, 34 or 37. Opening hours: Tues-Sat 0900-1900 and Sun 0900-1400. Admission: €3 (concessions available); free Sat 1430-1900 and Sun. Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza (Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum) Madrid purchased the private collection of Hans-Heinrich Thyssen-Bornemisza after a nine-and-a-half-year loan, instantly enriching the city’s fund of art treasures. The Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza collection contains over 800 paintings, sculptures, carvings and tapestries, ranging from primitive Flemish works to contemporary pieces. Highlights include works by Fra Angelico, Van Eyck, Dürer, Caravaggio and Rubens. Palacio de Villahermosa, Paseo del Prado 8 Tel: (91) 369 0151. Fax: (91) 420 2780. E-mail: mtb@museothyssen.org Website: www.museothyssen.org Transport: Metro Banco de España; bus 1, 2, 5, 9, 14, 27, 34, 37, 51 or 52. Opening hours: Tues-Sun 1000-1900. Admission: €4.80 (permanent exhibitions); €3.60 (temporary exhibitions); €6.60 (combined ticket); concessions available. Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía (Reina Sofia National Art Centre Museum) This museum in the former Hospital de San Carlos is almost entirely dedicated to 20th-century Spanish art and was designed to give Spain a museum to equal France’s Pompidou Centre and London’s Tate Gallery. In 1986, Queen Sofía opened the museum, British architect Ian Ritchies’ glass lifts were installed in 1990 and, in 1992, the star attraction – Picasso’s Guernica – added the final flourish. The painting depicts the horrific Nazi bombing of the Basque country’s traditional capital in April 1937 (in support of Franco’s cause in the Spanish Civil War). Drawing hundreds of visitors daily, Guernica has not ceased to attract controversy. Dalí, Miró and Juan Gris are among the other artists on show. Calle Santa Isabel 52 Tel: (91) 467 5062. Fax: (91) 467 3163. Website: http://museoreinasofia.mcu.es Transport: Metro Atocha; bus 9, 14, 27, 34 or 37. Opening hours: Mon-Sat 1000-2100, Sun 1000-1430. Admission: €3 (concessions available); free Sat 1430-1900 and Sun. Palacio Real (Royal Palace) With the opulence of Versailles in mind, Philip V commissioned Italian architects Giambattista Sacchetti and Francesco Sabatina to build the Royal Palace. The present king, Juan Carlos, resides in the more subdued Zarzuela Palace outside Madrid, so Philip’s 3000-room extravaganza is now only used for state functions. The rest of the time, the startling white building in granite and Colmenar stone is open for tours and individual visits. Highlights include the Hall of Halberdiers and Hall of Columns (with their splendid frescoes), the Throne Room (with its 17th-century sculptures) and the lavish private apartments of Charles II. Just off the courtyard is the Royal Armoury and Pharmacy – among Europe’s oldest. Visits take about two hours – but for those who do not enter the palace, there are spectacular views over Madrid from the surrounding gardens. Plaza de Oriente and Calle Bailén Tel: (91) 542 0059. Website: www.patrimonionacional.es Transport: Metro Opera; bus 3, 25, 39 or 148. Opening hours: Mon-Sat 0930-1700 and Sun 0900-1400; closed during official ceremonies. Admission: €6 (concessions available). Plaza Mayor (Main Square) Once the location of an exotic marketplace, where Arab merchants came to sell their wares, this beautifully proportioned, cobbled courtyard was begun by Philip II and completed by Philip III in 1619 – his statue stands proudly in the middle. The plaza was intended to serve as a marketplace and showplace – heretics were burned at the stake, saints canonised and bread was sold. Today, tourists outnumber the locals but the Plaza Mayor is still lively as it was in the past. Plaza Mayor Transport: Metro Sol; any bus route to Sol. Opening hours: Daily 24 hours. Admission: Free. |
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