The National Museum of Natural Sciences (Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales, MNCN) descends from the Royal Cabinet of Natural History founded by Charles III in 1771 and opened to the public in 1776. Since 1910 it has occupied the Palace of the Arts and Industry, a long brick building put up in the 1880s beside the Paseo de la Castellana, in the Chamartín district. It now belongs to the CSIC, Spain's main public research body, and its collections hold around 11 million specimens. The visit is split between two wings: Geology, with the dinosaurs, fossils, minerals and human evolution, and Biology, with the large Biodiversity hall. Other permanent exhibitions are devoted to the Mediterranean, the Royal Cabinet of Natural History and Santiago Ramón y Cajal. It is one of the museums families like best in Madrid: allow two hours for both wings.
Highlights
The Diplodocus and the dinosaurs
In the Geology wing, the "Minerals, fossils and human evolution" exhibition opens with the dinosaur skeletons. The longest is the replica of Diplodocus carnegii given by the industrialist Andrew Carnegie to King Alfonso XIII, which arrived at the museum in 1913; casts of the American original were sent to the world's great natural history museums. At a tactile station, children can touch 3D models of the skulls of five dinosaur species.
Bru's Megatherium
The museum's most precious fossil is the skeleton of a giant ground sloth the size of an elephant, found in 1787 on the banks of the Luján River, near Buenos Aires, and brought to Madrid the following year. Juan Bautista Bru, a preparator at the Royal Cabinet, spent several years mounting it: it is the first fossil vertebrate displayed in the posture it had in life. Georges Cuvier described the species, Megatherium americanum, from his drawings.
The Biodiversity hall
Opened in 2012 in the Biology wing, it brings together more than 1,000 restored specimens from the collections over about 1,000 m². Look out for the mounted African elephant, a museum favourite, the diorama of 37 bee-eaters prepared in the early 20th century by the taxidermist José María Benedito, and the thylacine and great auk, two extinct species.
The fin whale skeleton
Hanging above the Biodiversity hall, the skeleton of a fin whale is 21 metres long. It is the second-largest whale species after the blue whale.
Infos pratiques
Tips
Admission costs €7; the reduced rate of €3.50 applies to children aged 4 to 18, students aged 18 to 25, jobseekers and holders of the carné joven youth card. Admission is free for children under 4, visitors over 65 and disabled visitors, and for everyone on Tuesdays from 15:00 to 17:00 and Sundays from 18:30 to 20:00, except in August (prices checked in October 2026). The museum recommends buying tickets online; the ticket desk closes 30 minutes before the museum. Children under 14 must be accompanied by an adult.
How to get there
Calle de José Gutiérrez Abascal, 2, 28006 Madrid: Metro Gregorio Marañón (lines 7 and 10), Nuevos Ministerios (lines 6, 8 and 10) Cercanías: Nuevos Ministerios station Bus: lines 7, 12, 14, 27, 40, 45, 147 and 150
Opening hours
Nearby
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