Museo de Bellas Artes de Sevilla

The Museo de Bellas Artes is one of the most important art museums in Spain and the place to understand Seville's golden age of painting. It was founded in 1835, when religious houses were closed and their art passed to the state, and it occupies the former convent of the Merced Calzada, built from the early 17th century under the architect Juan de Oviedo. The building is a pleasure in itself, arranged around three courtyards with gardens, tiles and fountains, and the former convent church is now one of the main exhibition rooms.

The heart of the collection is Sevillian painting of the 17th century. Bartolomé Esteban Murillo, who was born in the city, is represented by a large group of works painted for local convents, and the former church is hung with some of his most important canvases. Francisco de Zurbarán's monks and saints, painted with a remarkable sense of stillness, and the dramatic late works of Juan de Valdés Leal complete the trio of names most visitors come for. There are also works by El Greco, Velázquez and Pacheco, along with medieval altarpieces, sculpture and a selection of 19th and early 20th century Sevillian painting.

The museum is manageable in a morning, which makes it a good contrast to the scale of the Cathedral. Around an hour and a half is enough for the highlights, and anyone with an interest in Spanish art could easily spend longer. It is rarely as crowded as the main monuments, and the cloisters give you somewhere calm to sit between galleries. Labels are mostly in Spanish, so it is worth reading up on the main artists beforehand or borrowing a guide.

Like other state museums in Andalucía, it is free for citizens of the European Union with identification, and there is a small charge for other visitors. It closes on Mondays, as many Spanish museums do. Check the current timetable before you go, as hours on Sundays and public holidays are shorter.

The museum is on the Plaza del Museo, a leafy square in the north-west of the old town, about ten minutes' walk from the Plaza Nueva and the Cathedral. On Sunday mornings an art market sets up in the square outside. Calle San Eloy and Calle Alfonso XII nearby are good for a coffee or tapas afterwards, and the river and the Triana bridge are a few minutes to the west.