Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando
Goya once ran this academy — his paintings now hang inside it.
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Chartered by royal decree in 1752 and housed in a baroque palace that Charles III had stripped down and rebuilt in neoclassical style, this Calle de Alcalá institution is where Picasso, Dalí, and Botero trained. Its collection runs from the 15th to the 20th century, with Velázquez, Rubens, Van Dyck, Zurbarán, and Murillo all represented.
What to look for
- Goya's works — he served as a director here, making the paintings personal
- The neoclassical interior imposed by Diego de Villanueva over Churriguera's original baroque design for the Goyeneche family
- The breadth of the Spanish holdings: Zurbarán, Murillo, and Velázquez alongside Flemish and Italian masters in one compact building
Located on Calle de Alcalá in central Madrid, walkable from the Prado district.
Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando is one of 31 sights worth the detour in Madrid, all bundled offline in Voyage GO — download the Madrid pack and it sits on your map with no signal, filling your travel passport the moment you walk past.
More to see in Madrid
- BernabéuThe only stadium on earth to host both a UEFA Champions League final and a Copa Libertadores final — and the first in Europe to crown both a World Cup and a Euro.
- Museo del PradoThe Spanish royal collection — 7,600 paintings accumulated over centuries — opened to the public in November 1819 and never looked back.
- Metropolitano StadiumThe pitch that staged the 2019 Champions League final will host another in 2027 — and is shortlisted for the 2030 World Cup.
- Royal Palace of MadridThe original Alcázar burned to the ground on Christmas Eve 1734 — what the Bourbons built in its place is the largest palace in Western Europe.
- Museo Reina SofíaGuernica — Picasso's 1937 painting of wartime devastation — hangs here at full scale, in person.
- Real Academia Española (Royal Spanish Academy)A duke's private library meeting in 1711 grew into the institution that still rules what counts as correct Spanish — for Spain and 22 other Spanish-speaking nations.