The College of San Gregorio

Our flagship collection is on display at the College of San Gregorio, a distinctive 15th century building of extraordinary historical importance, located in the monumental heart of the city and completely refurbished in 2009. Founded at the end of the 15th century by the Dominican friar Alonso de Burgos, a figure closely linked to the Catholic Monarchs, the College became a centre for theological studies of the Dominican order.

Particularly notable is the preciousness of its façade, whose ornamentation takes the form of an independent tapestry in which contemporary figures, saints and pontiffs coexist with allegories, grotesque beings and wild men around the Tree of Life and Knowledge, all alongside the repeated symbolism of power.

The 19th century, with the occupation by Napoleon's troops and Mendizábal's secularisation programme of 1835, marked the end of the institution. Until it became the Museum's headquarters in 1933, the building was used for a wide variety of purposes without essentially losing its formal structure.

The complex is completed with an antique garden.