Círculo de Bellas Artes (Rooftop)
Worth the fee for twenty minutes at sunset, particularly in autumn and winter when the air is clear. In summer haze you will see the rooftops and not a great deal beyond.
The one rooftop that gives you the whole centre at once.
At a Glance
- — It is overcast, or small lifts trouble you
A private arts club on the Gran Via whose roof is open to the public for a small fee: the city's slate roofs, the Metropolis building's dome and the Sierra on a clear day, from a terrace with a bar. It is a view rather than an experience, and the art inside rarely justifies the stop.
How it got here
Antonio Palacios designed this building in the early twentieth century as a headquarters for a private cultural organization. The construction period spanned from 1919 to 1926. It stands at the intersection of the Calle de Alcalá and the Gran Vía, a thoroughfare created to clear room for monumental architecture in the capital. The design prioritized large windows and high ceilings to facilitate painting and sculpture classes. The structure became a focal point for the intellectual life of the city during the interwar years. Its position on the axis of the city allows a direct perspective on the transformation of the central districts throughout the twentieth century.
Where it sits
The terrace overlooks the intersection of the Gran Vía and Calle de Alcalá. Beyond the immediate limestone facades of the district, the terrain slopes gently toward the Manzanares river to the west. To the north, the elevation rises toward the Sierra de Guadarrama, which remains visible during the dry summer months. The dense layout of the central districts creates wind tunnels that make the rooftop terrace cold in winter. Crowds gather here during the golden hour to observe the light change across the red and grey slate roofs of the surrounding blocks.
What to eat and drink
The bar serves drinks standard to the capital. For a true local experience, seek out a vermut de grifo, a fortified wine served from a tap with a slice of orange and a single olive. Pair this with a bocadillo de calamares, a crusty bread roll filled with deep-fried squid rings, which is a staple street food of Madrid. In the cooler months, the province provides cocido madrileño, a chickpea-based stew cooked with chorizo, morcilla, and pork belly, traditionally served in distinct stages of broth followed by the legumes and the meats.
Madrid: the whole region
Madrid is a province with one great city in it, and that city is worth three or four days on its own: three major museums within a few hundred metres of each other, a working market culture, a nightlife that starts late and does not stop,…
Minimum 3 days · better 5-6 days · deep 8-10 days
What's Nearby
In Madrid
In Madrid
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