Museo del Prado

Why go

The Museo del Prado opened on 10 November 1819 in a building designed by Juan de Villanueva, according to esMADRID, Madrid City Council's tourism site, which describes collections of Spanish, Italian and Flemish painting that include Velázquez's Las Meninas and Goya's Third of May, 1808. The same page says the Villanueva building holds a large part of the painting and sculpture collection, while the extension by Rafael Moneo behind it, next to the Cloister of Los Jerónimos, hosts temporary exhibitions, and the nearby Casón del Buen Retiro, which also belongs to the museum, holds its library and reading room. The museum sets its own opening times and ticketing, so check museodelprado.es before you go. Madrid's tourism site says the Paseo del Prado and El Retiro were declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Landscape of Light, on 25 July 2021; that designation covers the area and is not this record.