Centro

Basílica Pontificia de San Miguel

Calle de San Justo, 4

Traditional Nativity Scene

Monday to Saturday from 9:45 am to 1:15 pm and 5:30 pm to 9:15 pm.

Sundays and holidays from 9:45 am to 2:15 pm and from 6 pm to 9:15 pm.

Closed afternoons, 19, 20, 21 and 22 December.

Before you go, check the special Christmas schedule and closing days at www.basilicadesanmiguel.org  

Guided tours for groups, families, and schools: Reservations are available at [email protected]. Donation: €5 per person.

Traditional nativity scene with scenery and figures made by the sculptor José Luis Mayo Lebrija between 2003 and 2005. An iconographic programme designed by María Dolores Criado with different biblical scenes: the annunciation, the visitation, the angels’ announcement to the shepherds, the manger at Bethlehem and a magnificent procession of the Magi. All this is done with the unmistakable mark of this artist and his workshop, with realistic, historically inspired characters.

Monasterio de las Descalzas Reales

Plaza de las Descalzas, 3

14 December - 5 January

Tuesday to Saturday from 10 am to 1:45 pm and 4 to 6:15 pm. Sundays and holidays from 11 am to 2:45 pm (except during the 12 noon mass).

Closed 24, 25, 31 December and 1 and 6 January.

Popular nativity scene with figures, houses and landscape of Judea. By the workshops of Olot.

Real Monasterio de la Encarnación

Plaza Encarnación, 1

3 December - 7 January

Tuesday to Saturday from 10 am to 1:45 pm and 4 to 6:15 pm. Sundays and holidays from 11 am to 2 pm (except for daily mass at 12 pm and 1 pm).

Closed all day every Monday in December and on 24, 25, 31 December and 1 and 6 January.

Nativity scene with figures by José Luis Mayo and the workshops of Olot, and a model of the monastery façade.

Royal Palace of Madrid

Salas Génova (Genoa Rooms)

Calle Bailén, s/n (no number)

Belén del Príncipe (The Prince’s Nativity Scene)

5 December - 7 January

Closed 24 December from 3 pm (last entry at 2 pm) and 31 December from 3 pm (last entry at 2 pm). Open Monday to Saturday, last entry 5 pm. Sunday, last entry at 3 pm.

Closed all day on 25 December and 1, 5 and 6 January. Closing days for the first week of January are subject to change.

Neapolitan Nativity scene begun by King Charles III for his son, the Prince of Asturias, future Charles IV. In the 1990s, it was enlarged with farmhouses, figures and “fimimenti” wood carvings made in traditional Neapolitan workshops. In the 21st century, the National Heritage Restoration team is gradually expanding it with new figures, buildings and other pieces. This year, it is also commemorating the 300th anniversary of the installation of the fountains and gardens at the Royal Palace of La Granja de San Idelfonso.

Monastery of Santa Isabel

Calle de Santa Isabel, 48 46

3 December - 7 January

Tuesday to Saturday from 10 am to 1:45 pm and 4 to 6:15 pm. Sundays and bank holidays 11 am - 2 pm. Closed all day every Monday in December and on 24, 25, 31 December and 1 and 6 January.

A traditional folk nativity scene with figures by José Luis Mayo and a Neapolitan nativity scene with figures inspired by eighteenth-century designs.

Monasterio Jerónimo del Corpus Christi. Las Carboneras Convent

Plaza del Conde Miranda, 3

Under the choir of the monastery church, behind the grille.

8 December - 9 January. From 8:30 am to 1 pm and from 4:30 to 7 pm.

This 17th-century baroque nativity scene from Quito has been preserved in this convent of the Hieronymite Nuns since its foundation in 1605. The Knight of the Star (el Caballero de la Estrella) and the Herald (el Heraldo) were popular figures in nativity scenes of the 17th century during the Habsburg dynasty. But they fell out of fashion in later Neapolitan nativity scenes under the Bourbons, so they are rare in later nativity scenes. The staging is different every year, created by Juan José Casenave and Diego Ramos.

Church of Santísimo Cristo de la Fe

Calle Atocha, 87-bis

Nativity scene of the Hermandad del Silencio (Brotherhood of Silence).

4 December - 5 January

Monday to Friday, 6:30 pm - 8 pm.

Saturdays and Sundays from 11 am to 1 pm and 6:30 to 8 pm.

Closed 24, 25, 31 December and 1 January.

Figures from the middle of the last century, approximately 50 cm high and made in polychrome wood by the Valencian sculptor Enrique Casterá Masiá (1910-1983).

Church of the Royal Conception of Calatrava

Calle de Alcalá, 25

In the capilla de Nuestra Sra. De Montserrat (chapel of Our Lady of Montserrat). 

16 December - 13 January

Monday - Friday, 9 am - 1 pm.

Tuesday to Friday from 6 to 8 pm.

Half an hour before mass:

Monday to Saturday at 8 am.

Saturdays, mass at 7:30 pm.

Sundays, mass at 12:30 pm.

This nativity scene covers 30 square meters and fills the whole left side of the transept. The figures are 70 cm high.

Parroquia of San Ildefonso and Santos Niños Justo y Pastor.

Canonical seat of the Brotherhood of La Borriquita

Plaza de San Ildefonso, s/n (corner of calle Colón).

14 December - 6 January

From 10:30 am to 2 pm and from 6:30 to 9 pm.

Parroquia (Parish Church) San Andrés Apóstol 

Plaza de San Andrés, 1

13 December - 30 January

Monday to Sunday from 9 am to 1 pm and from 6 to 8 pm.

Neapolitan nativity scene. At the back of the church. Permanent exhibition.

Nativity scene by José Luis Mayo in the side chapel of the church. 13 December - 30 January

Espacio Fundación Telefónica

Calle Fuencarral, 3

Hebrew nativity scene.

10 December - 8 January

Tuesday to Friday, from 10 am to 8 pm.

Closed on holidays and Mondays. Closed 25 December and 1 and 6 January.

Saturdays, Sundays and bank holidays 11 am - 8:30 pm.

24 and 31 December, 10 am to 3 pm.

5 January from 11 am to 3 pm.

Artistic Hebrew-style nativity scene on a circular floor 4 metres in diameter.