Velázquez Palace


Madrid is a city rich in historical and architectural monuments. Many tourists, arriving in the capital of Spain, hasten to visit not only world-famous museums , objects of culture and art (for example, the Prado Museum , the Royal Palace , the Descalzas Reales Monastery , etc.), but also modest and younger architectural monuments, such as Palace of Velasquez.

History of the palace

The palace was built in the territory of the huge Retiro Park by the progressive architect of his time Riccardo Velasquez Bosco in 1893 and named in his honor. In those days, the industrial boom continued, year after year, various exhibitions were held in Europe, the organization of which raised the reputation of the host country. And the Palace of Velasquez was intended to become the main exhibition building for the National Exhibition of Mining.

Palace Velasquez is made in a similar style with the Crystal Palace , it has cast-iron arched ceilings, which are designed to keep a transparent glass dome. Thanks to this, the building has constant natural lighting and it is very convenient to consider the contents of any exhibition under the warm rays of the Spanish sun.

The building has average dimensions: length - 73.8 meters, width - 28.75 meters, it is constructed of two kinds of high-quality red brick made at the Royal production in La Moncloa. The facade of the building is additionally decorated with ceramic tiles in the eastern ornament of the same production by talented specialist Daniel Zuluaga. The walls of the palace are neatly painted with colorful paintings of mythological content and decorated with intricate moldings. At the end of the image along the entire perimeter, well-groomed bushes and trees are planted in the form of a fence. The entrance to the museum is guarded by two stone griffins.

After the international exhibition, Velasquez Palace was used for various temporary exhibitions, such as "The Image of the Vietnam War" from the artist Anthony Merald, various kinds of photo exhibitions and others.

Currently, the palace is inaugurated after a long restoration and is the property of the Ministry of Culture. It hosts various thematic exhibitions, but the main ones are exhibitions of contemporary Spanish artists from the Queen Sofia Arts Center .

How to get there and visit?

The palace is open to visitors from 10:00 to 18:00 during the period from October to March, in summer it works for two hours longer. Free admission.

You can reach the palace by public transport :

  1. Nearby metro stations near the Retiro Park: Retiro, Ibiza and Atocha.
  2. Stops of the city bus No. 1, 2, 9, 15, 19, 20, 51, 52, 74, 146 and 202.