MUSAC, Museum of Contemporary Art of Castilla y León

The MUSAC, the Museum of Contemporary Art of Castilla y León, is at Avenida de los Reyes Leoneses 24, outside the old town. It is a museum of 20th- and 21st-century art and, first of all, a building you can recognise from afar: a single floor of white concrete walls with a facade of large coloured glass panes that many compare to the cathedral's stained glass. It was designed by the architects Emilio Tuñón and Luis Moreno Mansilla, and in 2007 it received the European Union Prize for Contemporary Architecture, the Mies van der Rohe Award.

What you will see inside

The museum has no fixed permanent exhibition that you tour in the same way every time. Its basis is a collection of more than 1,650 works by almost 400 artists, from Castilla y León, Spain and abroad, and with it and with loans it mounts temporary exhibitions that relate contemporary art to themes, movements or artists in their historical, political and social context. What you find depends, therefore, on the moment: check at musac.es what is on before you go. Allow a little over an hour to go round the rooms without hurrying; the building, from outside, is also worth a full walk round, because the colour of the glass changes with the daylight.

The museum has a library, a shop and educational programmes, also for children and young people. It is a good visit for teenagers and for anyone interested in contemporary architecture; with small children, it is better to check the children's programme on the website first.

Opening hours and tickets

From 1 October to 31 May it is open Tuesday to Sunday from 11:00 to 14:00 and from 17:00 to 20:00. From 1 June to 30 September, Tuesday to Friday with the same hours and on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays from 11:00 to 15:00 and from 17:00 to 21:00. It is closed on Mondays. In 2026 it was closed from 20 October to 7 November, so at times of exhibition changeover it is worth confirming.

General admission costs €3. According to the León Tourist Office sheet, university students, large families and groups of more than 8 people with booking pay €2, and young people aged 8 to 18 pay €1. It is free Tuesday to Thursday from 19:00 to 20:00, on Sundays during all its hours and on certain days, such as 23 April, 18 May, 12 October and 6 December. Guided visits require prior registration on the website; in July and August 2026 they were on Sundays at 12:00 and 18:00. Phone: 987 090 000.

Getting there and what to combine

From San Marcos, it is about 20 minutes' walk. If you go on Sunday, take advantage of the free entry and combine it with San Marcos in the morning. If you are interested in architecture, compare it with Gaudí's Casa Botines: two very different ways of making a building that is remembered.