Cason del Buen Retiro

The Cason del Buen Retiro is one of only two buildings that have survived the destruction of the Palacio del Buen Retiro, from which they take their name. Built in 1637 by Alonso Carbonell was initially designed as a ballroom space for the court of Philip IV.

From year 1971 is one of the buildings that make up the Prado Museum, and for decades has housed its collection of nineteenth-century painting (about 3,000 frames). The most famous was Picasso's Guernica. This famous painting was moved to the Museo Reina Sofia in 1992, and Cason, after years of work, has reopened as a Centre of Studies in 2009, while the collections of the nineteenth century have been relocated to the headquarters of the Prado due to enlargement done by Rafael Moneo.