Naval Museum of Madrid

The Naval Museum is a cultural entity owned by the State, located on the first floor of the Headquarters of the Navy on Paseo del Prado in Madrid, Community of Madrid, Spain, and managed by the Ministry of Defense through the General Directorate of Institutional Relations of Defense: General Subdirectorate of Historical-Artistic Heritage; and organic dependency of the Admiral Chief of the Navy Staff, governed by a Royal Board of Trustees to which the provisions of Royal Decree 620/1987, of April 10, which approves the Regulations of State-Owned Museums, apply.

The mission of the Museum is to acquire, conserve, research, communicate and exhibit for purposes of study, education and contemplation, pieces, sets and collections of historical, artistic, scientific and technical value related to naval activity, in order to disseminate the maritime history of Spain, contribute to illustrating, highlighting and safeguarding its traditions and promoting national maritime awareness.

In accordance with the provisions of Royal Decree 1305/2009, of July 31, which created the Network of Museums of Spain, the Naval Museum is one of the National Museums owned and managed by the state, attached to the Ministry of Defense.

Its origins date back to a royal decree issued on 28 September 1792, yet it was not until 1843 when the Museum was inaugurated in Madrid by Ramon de Romay y Jimenez-Cisneros, initially housed in the Palacio de los Consejos. It was soon moved to the Casa del Platero and then to the Palacio de los Ministerios, where it remained until 1932.

The Ministry of the Navy (there used to be a standalone ministerial department for the Navy, fused with those for the Army and the Air Forces in 1977) was provided with a new headquarters in the 1920s, and the museum moved there in 1932. The architects were José Espelius Anduaga and Francisco Javier de Luque y López.

Visitors enter the museum through a modernist facade on the Paseo del Prado, and pass to the first floor where former courtyards (now exhibition halls of the Naval Museum) are covered by spectacular stained-glass roofs with naval and decorative motifs made by Maumejean (a family glass-making business which had a branch in Spain). At weekends a doorway onto the grand staircase of Navy Headquarters is opened to allow visitors to appreciate the architecture.

Collections

The map of Juan de la Cosa, the earliest preserved map of the Americas, is on permanent display in this museum.

Since 2007, the museum has hosted a specimen of Moon rock. One of two such samples given to Spain, it was collected on the 1972 Apollo 17 mission. The rock, which weighs one gram, was put on display in 2009, to mark the 40th anniversary of the first Moon landing. The museum also displays a collection of Ming ceramics rescued from the shipwreck of the San Diego.

Address: P.º del Prado, 3, Retiro, 28014 Madrid, Spain.

Working hours:

Thursday 10 AM–7 PM
Friday 10 AM–7 PM
Saturday 10 AM–7 PM
Sunday 10 AM–7 PM
Monday Closed
Tuesday 10 AM–7 PM
Wednesday 10 AM–7 PM