Madrid off the tourist circuit: Goya's tomb, a ghost station and a weekend-only park
Goya's grave beneath his own dome, a metro station closed in 1966 and a park open only at weekends — with the address and the day.
- Free
- San Antonio de la Florida
- Which day
- Sunday: all five open
- Out of the centre
- El Capricho
Five places in Madrid off the tourist circuit, with the address and the days they open: Goya's grave at San Antonio de la Florida, a metro station closed in 1966, the Cerralbo palace, El Capricho park and Matadero. Here the day of the week sets the plan, not the district: on Sunday all five are open and the Cerralbo charges nothing, while on a Monday that is not a holiday only Matadero is.
San Antonio de la Florida
Glorieta de San Antonio de la Florida 5, metro Príncipe Pío. In 1798 Goya spent six months painting the dome of this small chapel: Saint Anthony raising a murdered man from the dead to clear his falsely accused father. Goya has been buried here since 1919, brought from Bordeaux, where he died in 1828 — without his skull, which was already missing when the remains were dug up. An identical chapel was built next door in 1928 for services, so this one stayed a museum only. It opens Tuesday to Sunday from 9.30am to 8pm, and from 15 June to 15 September from 9.30am to 2pm and 3pm to 7pm; it is shut on Mondays. Entry is free.
Chamberí station
Plaza de Chamberí, between Iglesia and Bilbao on line 1. The station closed on 22 May 1966 and kept its 1920s ceramic advertisements and a vault of white tiles designed by Antonio Palacios. It opens Thursday 10am to 1pm, Friday 11am to 7pm, and Saturday and Sunday 11am to 3pm; entry is free and needs no booking while there is room. If you only have weekdays in Madrid, go on a Friday: it is the one day the station stays open after 3pm.
The Cerralbo Museum
Calle Ventura Rodríguez 17, metro Ventura Rodríguez. The Marquis of Cerralbo died in 1922 and left the palace and his collection to the state; the museum opened in 1944, and the furniture, wall paintings and chandeliers largely stand where he put them. It opens Tuesday to Saturday from 9.30am to 3pm, on Thursdays also 5pm to 8pm, and on Sundays 10am to 3pm, with last entry an hour before closing. A ticket is €3 and is not sold in advance; on Thursdays from 5pm to 7pm and on Sundays entry is free.
El Capricho
Paseo de la Alameda de Osuna 25, El Capricho station on metro line 5. A garden the Duke and Duchess of Osuna began in 1784, in the years Goya was painting for their palace. It opens only on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays: October to March from 9am to 6.30pm, April to September from 9am to 9pm. Entry is free, but the park holds at most a thousand people at once — when it is full, you wait at the gate for someone to leave. Beneath it is a bunker from 1937, fifteen metres underground; at weekends it is shown free, with a guide, for half an hour, by booking.
Matadero
Plaza de Legazpi 8, metro Legazpi on lines 3 and 6. The city slaughterhouse from the early twentieth century, neo-Mudéjar pavilions by the Manzanares, a centre for contemporary work since 2006: stages, a cinema, design, dance. Entry is free, the open spaces run every day from 9am to 10pm, and the halls keep their own programme. That makes it the only one of the five for a Monday — and the only one you go to for what is on rather than for the building: check the week's programme before you set off.
Which day, what is open
Last entry to the Cerralbo is an hour before closing. From 15 June to 15 September San Antonio de la Florida closes at 7pm, with a break from 2pm to 3pm.
Before you go
Short answers to what people ask most before setting out.
What is free in Madrid off the tourist circuit?
San Antonio de la Florida with Goya's frescoes, Chamberí station, El Capricho park and Matadero charge nothing. The Cerralbo is free on Thursdays from 5pm to 7pm and on Sundays.
Can you visit a closed metro station?
Yes: Chamberí, closed in 1966, opens on Thursdays, Fridays and at weekends, free and with no booking while there is room. Only on Fridays does it stay open until 7pm.
When is El Capricho park open?
Only on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays, from 9am to 6.30pm October to March and until 9pm April to September. It holds at most a thousand people at once.
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