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Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia vs Monasterio de las Descalzas Reales

Both are endorsed by reviewers writing for major publications. Overall, Queen Sofia Arts Center scores slightly higher than Convent of the Royal Barefoot Nuns. Queen Sofia Arts Center is ranked #7 in Madrid with recommendations from 6 reviews including Concierge, Lonely Planet and Fodor's.

Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia
Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia
8 / 10
Santa Isabel, 52, 28012 Madrid
From $0 /night
Fodor's Fodor's
"The permanent art collection features 1,000 works on four floors... and, despite concentrating on painting, puts a much higher emphasis on other art forms such as photography and cinema." Full review
Concierge Concierge
"A spectacular triangular-roofed addition by French star architect Jean Nouvel has boosted what was already Spain's most important modern-art museum into the capital's new must-see."
Frommer's Frommer's
"As the Prado has filled the role of repository for traditional art in Madrid, the Reina Sofía, nicknamed the "MoMA of Madrid," has provided for the world of modern art." Full review
Lonely Planet Lonely Planet
Top Choice
"Home to Picasso’s Guernica, arguably Spain’s single most famous artwork, and a host of other important Spanish artworks." Full review
Travel + Leisure Travel + Leisure
"Picasso’s Guernica, depicting Franco’s bombing of civilians in Guernica during the civil war, one of the most celebrated antiwar paintings of all time, makes its permanent home here." Full review
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Monasterio de las Descalzas Reales
Monasterio de las Descalzas Reales
8 / 10
Plaza de las Descalzas Reales, s/n, 28013 Madrid
From $0 /night
Fodor's Fodor's
"Its plain, brick-and-stone facade hides paintings by Francisco de Zurbarán, Titian, and Pieter Brueghel the Elder." Full review
Frommer's Frommer's
"In the mid-16th century, aristocratic women -- either disappointed in love or "wanting to be the bride of Christ" -- stole away to this convent to take the veil." Full review
Lonely Planet Lonely Planet
Top Choice
"The grim, prisonlike walls of this one-time palace keep modern Madrid at bay and offer no hint that behind the sober plateresque facade lies a sumptuous stronghold of the faith." Full review
Travel + Leisure Travel + Leisure
"This collection of fantastic, if occasionally brutally themed, religious art, including pieces by Peter Paul Rubens, is in an appropriately creaky and forbidding 16th-century working convent." Full review
Michelin Guide Michelin Guide
2 Stars
"Home to a remarkable museum of religious art... also includes numerous canvases by Zurbarán, Bruegel the Elder." Full review