Palacio de Velázquez occupies a central place in the Parque del Buen Retiro.

The Palacio de Velázquez, also known as the Velázquez Palace or the Palacio de Exposiciones and now mainly used for art exhibitions. It occupies a central place in the Parque del Buen Retiro.

The building is an impressive and large neoclassical, red-brick-and-tile building. Iron vaults and glass covers the building to provide natural light.

Ricardo Velázquez built this building between 1881 and 1883 for National Exhibitions. The aim to display the achievements in the field of mining, metallurgy, ceramics, glass-making, and mineral water industries.

Historic museum exhibiting contemporary art.

We visited the Palacio de Cristal and the Parque del Buen Retiro and decided to go inside the Palacio de Velázquez. A good choice because it was very hot outside and nice and cool inside. The museum itself is spacious and light. The art exhibition did not impress at all.

The art we saw would not be to everyone’s taste, but it was good to wander around. We saw a modern art exhibition and some of the art was, how shall I put it, strange!

Palacio de Velázquez in Madrid Spain — © Nelieta | Art exhibition inside the museum

To visit or not to visit the
Palacio de Velázquez?

The Palacio de Velázquez draws mixed emotions. Some travellers recommend to give it a miss. I guess a lot depends on the exhibition itself. The building is airconditioned and nice and cool inside. We had an opportunity to cool down before we continued with the rest of our journey in Madrid.

Entrance is free and the building from the outside is beautiful. Interesting statues can be seen in front of the building. My suggestion is to take a couple of photos outside, see what exhibition is on display and then decide. Going back to Madrid, I would give this building a miss.