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Don Enrique de Aguilera y Gamboa, Marqués de Cerralbo (1845–1922) was a poet, a politician and a compulsive collector, searching the world for artistic treasures that would adorn his palatial home. Highlights include an exquisite majolica Nativity by Renaissance artist Andrea della Robbia (Porcelain Room) and El Greco’s Ecstasy of St Francis (Sacristy), but the pièce de résistance is Juderías Caballero’s History of Dance in the dome of the glittering ballroom (see Museo Cerralbo).

“The best bar in Spain, certainly” was Ernest Hemingway’s verdict on this cocktail bar. It was in the 1950s and 1960s however that Chicote became really famous, thanks to visiting Hollywood celebrities such as Frank Sinatra. The bar, which preserves its 1930s decor, is at its best late evening (see Museo Chicote).

It was Ernest Hemingway who put this cocktail bar on the map in the 1930s; other famous visitors include Frank Sinatra and Orson Welles. The Art Deco trappings are best appreciated at night (see Museo Chicote).

While the fabled treasures shipped back to Spain by Cortés, Columbus and Pizarro were exhibited as early as 1519, most of the items disappeared or were melted down. These fascinating ethnological and ethnographical exhibits originate from Carlos III’s “cabinet of natural history”, founded in the 18th century, and now embrace the entire American continent (see Museo de América).

Spain’s links with the American continent have a long history, and this wonderful museum displays artifacts from all eras (see Museo de América).

Spain’s fascination with America began with Columbus’s voyages in the 15th century, but this museum casts its net wider than the former Spanish colonies to embrace the entire continent (see Museo de América).

Romantically housed in a disused station, the railway museum has a wonderful collection of old steam locomotives on display.

Not a museum exactly; the exhibits are the hams suspended on hooks from the ceiling. Also sells sandwiches. Other branches across the city.