Museum of San Isidro. The origins of Madrid

The Museum of San Isidro. The origins of Madrid is the municipal institution in charge of safeguarding and disseminating the archaeological heritage collected by the Madrid City Council and its collection ranges from Prehistory to the transfer of the Court to Madrid in 1561 by order of Philip II.

Erected in the year 2000 on the place where, according to tradition, the Casa de los Vargas, patron saints of San Isidro , was located, the original preserved elements have been integrated into the new building: the chapel from the 17th and 18th centuries, the Well del Milagro and the Renaissance courtyard from the 16th century.

It preserves a valuable archaeological and paleontological collection , an archaeobotanical garden and an interesting iconographic representation of San Isidro , patron saint of Madrid. The elephant of Orcasitas, the golden bracelet of the Torrecilla, the Roman mosaic of Carabanchel and the magnificent cenotaph of Beatriz Galindo, la Latina stand out.

The Museum's permanent exhibition is divided into three thematic areas:

"Antes de Madrid" brings the visitor closer to the successive cultures that, through the Paleolithic, the age of metals, the Roman and Visigothic world, will gradually configure that previous space on which the city will emerge.

«Mayrit-Madrid» presents the history of the city from its foundation until the middle of the 16th century with that duality of Islamic medina and Christian city that, in reality, were mixed and mixed throughout the Middle Ages.

“San Isidro” : it is entirely dedicated to the saint from Madrid and his wife, Santa María de la Cabeza.