Description of the attraction
The Military Museum, located in the surviving wing of the Buen Retiro Palace, built between 1630 and 1635, is rightly considered one of the most interesting and informative museums in Madrid. The museum shows us the path of development of Spanish weapons, tells about the military history of Spain.
The idea of creating a museum of Spanish weapons was put forward by the favorite of Queen Marie-Louise, wife of Charles IV, Manuel Godoy. Initially, separate fragments of the collection of weapons were located in different places, and only in 1841 the museum was assigned its permanent place of residence - the Buen Retiro Palace.
The first museum collection was represented only by artillery weapons. Then other types of weapons began to join it. At the moment, the museum's collections include a huge number of exhibits, ranging from weapons of the Paleolithic era, and ending with weapons and military uniforms dating back to the first half of the 20th century.
The museum consists of several thematic halls. In the Spanish Hall, the sword of the national hero El Cid is exhibited; in the Arab Hall, you will see the tunic and sword of the last ruler of Granada, Boabdil. There is a Francoist Hall, a Colonial Hall, a Hall dedicated to the Spanish Civil War.
The interior of the museum amazes with its splendor. The Hall of the Kingdoms - Salon de la Reynos deserves special attention. Here are exhibits relating to the military history of the kingdoms that have ever been part of Spain. The ceiling is painted with symbolic images of 24 kingdoms, which at different times were part of the Spanish kingdom, the walls of the hall are decorated with their coats of arms. The outstanding Spanish artist Velazquez took part in the design of the luxurious interior of the Hall of the Kingdoms.
