The Cerralbo Museum fills the palace that the 17th Marquis of Cerralbo, Enrique de Aguilera y Gamboa, a politician, collector and pioneer of Spanish archaeology, had built from 1883 to live in and to house his collections. On his death in 1922 he left his collections and part of the building to the State, and the house has been kept with its original furniture and hanging. You visit a late 19th-century aristocratic home packed with paintings, armour, porcelain and works of art, a short walk from Plaza de España and the Temple of Debod. A national museum run by the Ministry of Culture, it costs 3 € and is free on Sundays and on Thursday late afternoons.
Highlights
The ballroom
The most spectacular room in the palace: a state room covered in gilding, mirrors and painted ceilings, where the family entertained Madrid high society. It shows the lifestyle of a great aristocratic family at the end of the 19th century.
The palace on Calle Ventura Rodríguez
Built from 1883 by the architects Alejandro Sureda, Luis Cabelló Asó and Luis Cabello Lapiedra, the palace was opened by the family in 1893, who lived there until 1927, when Amelia del Valle, the Marquis's stepdaughter and the last of the family, died. Its brick and stone façade, with slate-roofed corner pavilions, contrasts with the modern towers of Plaza de España.
The painting collection
The fine arts holdings number about 1,100 paintings and sculptures, with a preference for 17th-century Baroque. The Spanish school is represented by El Greco, Alonso Cano, Zurbarán and Antonio de Pereda, the Italian school by Tintoretto, Palma the Younger and Bronzino, and the Flemish school by Frans Snyders, Paul de Vos and Van Dyck.
The armoury and archaeology collections
The Marquis led more than a hundred excavations in the Jalón valley, and the museum also holds arms and armour, coins, textiles and decorative arts from around the world, displayed as in a collector's house rather than a modern museum.
Infos pratiques
Tips
General admission 3 €, reduced 1.50 € (groups of at least 8 people with booking, Renfe long-distance travellers); free with proof for under-18s, students up to 25, Carné Joven holders, over-65s, pensioners, jobseekers and people with disabilities plus a companion (prices checked in October 2026). Entry is free for everyone on Thursdays from 17:00 to 19:00, every Sunday, on 18 April, 23 May (Museum Night), 12 October and 6 December. Tickets are not sold in advance: you pay on site, and entry closes 1 hour before closing time. The museum is included in the "4 Museos de Madrid" (8 €) and "8 Museos de Madrid" (16 €) passes.
How to get there
Calle de Ventura Rodríguez, 17, 28008 Madrid. Metro Ventura Rodríguez (line 3), Plaza de España (lines 3 and 10), Noviciado (line 2) or Príncipe Pío (lines 6 and 10). Cercanías trains: Príncipe Pío (lines C1, C7 and C10). Buses 1, 2, 3, 44, 46, 74, 75, 133, 147, 148, C1 and C2. BiciMAD stations no. 14, 115 and 116.
Opening hours
Nearby
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