Museo de Bellas Artes de València

The Museum of Fine Arts of València occupies the former San Pío V Seminary building. It's Spain's second most important art gallery, and plenty of visitors walk past without knowing it's there. It's always free to visit. Valencian primitives, the Renaissance, the Baroque and works by Velázquez, Goya, El Greco, Murillo and Sorolla all sit here side by side, in bright galleries around a Renaissance courtyard.

History and building

The museum occupies the San Pío V college-seminary, founded in 1683, beside the Jardines del Real. Its blue dome and baroque façade hint at what's inside. On the ground floor there's a reconstruction of a 16th-century Renaissance courtyard, with capitals, Roman mosaics and Iberian sculptures scattered around the cloister.

What to see

• The largest collection of Valencian primitives, with Gothic panels and altarpieces from the 14th and 15th centuries.
• The celebrated Self-Portrait by Velázquez and works by Goya, El Greco, Murillo, Van Dyck and Bosch.
• A room devoted to Joaquín Sorolla, with more than 40 of his works in the museum's collection.
• The Renaissance courtyard and the archaeological collection in the cloister.

Practical tips

It opens Tuesday to Sunday, usually from 10:00 to 20:00, and closes on Mondays. Admission is always free, so it's a cultural plan that costs nothing. It sits beside the old Turia riverbed and the Jardines del Real (Viveros), easy to combine with a walk through the gardens.

LOCAL TIP: save the last gallery for Sorolla; his Mediterranean light is worth lingering over. Then cross the footbridge over the Turia and continue with a walk through the gardens. You'll find more no-cost ideas in our guide to free things to do in València and in the free plans section.