Ermita de San Antonio de la Florida

San Antonio de la Florida is the most extraordinary free sight in Madrid, and after a closure for conservation works, it is open again. The building is a small neoclassical chapel on the western edge of the centre, near the Príncipe Pío station and the Manzanares river, built at the end of the eighteenth century for Charles IV. In 1798 the king commissioned Francisco de Goya to decorate it, and Goya produced one of the boldest works of his career. Instead of a heaven full of solemn saints, he painted the dome with the miracle of Saint Anthony of Padua, who raises a murdered man to life to clear his father of the crime, and he set the scene among an ordinary Madrid crowd: gossiping women, idle men, children climbing on the railing, beggars and gallants, all leaning over a painted balustrade that runs around the base of the dome. The angels, famously, are painted as beautiful, worldly women in the pendentives and around the arches. The effect is startlingly modern and human, and many visitors find it more moving than the larger, grander Goyas in the Prado because you are standing directly under it, in the space it was made for. Goya himself is buried here. He died in exile in Bordeaux in 1828, and in 1919 his remains were brought to the chapel, which effectively became his mausoleum. To protect the frescoes from candle smoke, an identical twin chapel was built next door in 1928, so that services could move there and the original could function as a museum. In 2026 Patrimonio Nacional, which owns the building, completed a major conservation and modernisation project, and the city refreshed the displays; the chapel reopened on 12 June 2026, with free admission from Tuesday to Sunday. A mirror now helps visitors see the dome without straining their necks.

How to visit: the chapel sits on the Glorieta de San Antonio de la Florida, a short walk from the Príncipe Pío metro and train station, and a pleasant walk downhill from the Temple of Debod and the Royal Palace area. Entry is free, and the chapel is open from Tuesday to Sunday from morning to early evening, closed on Mondays. It is small, so it rarely feels overwhelming, but groups can fill it briefly; go early in the day or late in the afternoon for the most peaceful visit. Guided visits are part of the chapel's programme, and the city's official page lists activities and any booking requirements. Allow thirty to forty-five minutes, enough to sit, look up and use the mirror to study the dome.

What to look for: start in the centre, under the dome, and follow the crowd around the balustrade. Look for the faces that seem to be portraits drawn from life, the figures whose backs are turned to the miracle, and the way the painter uses quick, loose brushstrokes that read clearly from below but are almost abstract close up. Then look at the angels in the apse and arches, painted as elegant women in luminous drapery. Goya's tomb lies in front of the altar. The building also has a cheerful side: every 13 June, the feast of Saint Anthony opens Madrid's summer festival season here, with crowds, music and the tradition in which young women drop pins into the holy water font and press their hand in, counting how many stick to predict how many suitors the year will bring.

Who it suits: art lovers above all, for whom this is an essential complement to the Goya rooms at the Prado and the Real Academia de San Fernando; couples who enjoy small, special places; first-time visitors with an interest in Spanish painting; and anyone looking for a free cultural visit off the main circuit. Pair it with the Temple of Debod and the Parque del Oeste above, the Madrid Río park along the river, or a traditional lunch at one of the long-established roast-chicken houses near the chapel. It is a short visit, but one of the most memorable in the city.