Museo de Cerralbo

This was interesting....how the "upper class" nobility lived rather than the Kings. We waited for about 30 min to get in as they only allow 60 people in the building at a time and you can see why.... alot of stuff that could be tipped over. Bonus is that seniors are free.The owner was a "Marqués ", which ranks second in the pecking order between a Duke and a Count; but he was wealthy enough to be quite a collector and have a pretty grand house with a ballroom for entertaining. The ballroom was interesting in the use of mirrors which made it appear twice as large...he had himself painted into the fresco of the ceiling.

The Cerralbo Museum is a state-owned museum that houses the art and historical object collections of Enrique de Aguilera y Gamboa, Marqués of Cerralbo who died in 1922. The museum is housed in a 19th-century palatial town house that features Neo-Baroque and Rococo elements, with a display of works of art and exquisite objects. It is one of the few palazzos that maintains its furnishing intact, so visitors can get a real sense of the splendor of the 1800s. The museum offers an authentic vision of how the aristocracy in Madrid lived at the end of the nineteenth century. The 17th Marquis of Cerralbo, descended from aristocratic lineage, the origins of which date back to the 8th century and is related by marriage to the House of Alba, the House of Osuna and of Medinaceli.Read more