The Madrid History Museum was founded in 1929 in the old San Fernando Hospice , an 18th century building designed by Pedro de Ribera . Its valuable collection contains paintings, drawings, prints, photographs, postcards, porcelain, fans, projects, coins, medals and countless pieces on Madrid from its capital status in 1561 to the 20th century.

The Madrid History Museum tells, through its collections, the history of the city from its election as the capital of the monarchy by Felipe II in 1561 until the first decades of the 20th century. In accordance with these chronological limits, the expository discourse is divided into four major thematic areas.

Madrid, Villa, court and capital of the two worlds , 1561 - 1700: shows the city of the Ancient Regime as the decision-making center of the Habsburg empire.

Madrid, illuminated power center , 1700 - 1814. It covers the entire 18th century up to the War of Independence.

Madrid, the dream of a new city , 1814 - 1914. It welcomes the nineteenth century until the outbreak of the First World War. It focuses on the changes that occur with the arrival of the industrial revolution.

Madrid, Cartography and models.

Its collection has reached about forty thousand pieces of various types: prints, paintings, porcelain, coins, medals, photographs, postcards , among others, which illustrate and evoke life in the city of Madrid. Among these, there are exceptional pieces such as the paintings The Virgin and Child by Pedro Berruguete, Allegory of Madrid by Francisco de Goya, or the Model of Madrid model, by León Gil de Palacio , from 1830. This model is one of the most in the Museum of History of Madrid and one of the oldest historical models in Europe.