Spain’s Best City Museums

Spain is a country rich in history, traditions and culture. It boasts of four amazing museums located in cities like Bilboa, Madrid, Barcelona and Figueres which are worth a visit when you are there.

These famous city museums house some of the famous art and culture in the world which have put Spain on the map for a legacy that is comparable to no other. You will find the works of Picasso, Dali and Miro at these museums taking your breath away.

Guggenheim, Bilbao

The Guggenheim itself is a work of art as the most recognizable European building. It is located in the city of Bilbao, having been established since 1997. Its wonderful design was the work of Frank O. Gehry, an American architect. The building kick started the city’s programme for redevelopment to put the museum as the symbol for new and modern Bilbao.

It is located right in the heart of the city by the riverside on 11,000 square meters of land housing three galleries. The museum contains a collection of permanent work displays with huge exhibitions that go on for months like the “Aztec Empire” which is a showcase of pre-Columbian civilization. Other exhibitions included works of art and culture from Michelangelo, Matisse, Warhol and Reubens.

Dali Theatre-Museum, Figueres

The Dali Theatre-Museum contains the widest of works by Dali since his first artistic works to the surrealist period and some last works prior to his death. This city of Figueres is also Dali’s hometown; hence, it was not difficult to decide on building the museum from the town’s ruins of a damaged theatre during the Civil War.

Dali personally supervised the building of the museum while turning it into a large surrealist playground. He also designed specific works that can be found in various rooms in the museum, which are breathtakingly impressive that reflect Dali’s expressive imagination.

Reina Sofia, Madrid

Reina Sofia museum in Madrid showcases a great contemporary art collection. It was transformed from the city hospital in 1986 but had a huge renovation done by Ian Ritchie, a British architect, in 1990. The vision was to rival London’s Tate and Paris’ Pompidou centre with 36,000 square meters of space.

That makes it a major museum in the world with an impressive collection that includes Picasso’s Guernica. There are also many preliminary art sketches Picasso did. The museum also displays the works of Dali, Orteiz, Miro and other contemporary artists.

Fundacio Joan Miro, Barcelona

This museum honors the works of Miro; it is located in Barcelona’s Montjuic area. Its white building with a typical Mediterranean courtyard gives plenty of natural light to favor Miro’s works of art, sculptures and ceramic pieces. A permanent display space showcases Spain’s upcoming artists.