Cervantes Birthplace Museum

A Castilian house with a columned courtyard, at number 48 Calle Mayor, recreated as the home of a 16th-century doctor, which was the trade of Cervantes's father. Admission is free and it is run by the Community of Madrid; it is closed on Monday. On the façade, the sculptures of Don Quixote and Sancho are the photo everyone takes away.

What you see

The rooms are spread over two floors around a columned courtyard, with a stone-rimmed well at one end that supplied the family with water. The ground floor is the public and social part, where visitors and the patients of the father, Rodrigo de Cervantes, were received; the upper floor is the private one, with the bedrooms and a room devoted to the Retablo de Maese Pedro, the episode in chapter XXVI of the second part of Don Quixote. Everything recreates the daily life of a well-off family of the 16th and 17th centuries.

In the display cases there are objects from the trade of barber-surgeon: surgical instruments, lancets for bloodletting, herb jars, glass vessels and a still. The book collection brings together Cervantes editions published between the 17th and 21st centuries, in Spanish and other languages; among those on display is a French edition of Don Quixote from 1744.

A little history

Whether this was truly the birthplace of Cervantes, born in Alcalá in 1547, was much debated; the identification was made known by the researcher Luis Astrana Marín in 1948. The City Council bought the property in 1954 and the museum opened in 1956, with a garden and a new entrance on Calle Mayor, which previously faced Calle Imagen. The Community of Madrid has run it since 1985 and refurbished some rooms between 1997 and 2003.

Opening hours and visit

Tuesday to Friday, from 10:00 to 18:00; Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays, from 10:00 to 19:00. Last entry is half an hour before closing. Admission and activities are free. Groups of up to eight people enter without booking; larger ones book on the museum website on weekdays, and at weekends and public holidays, according to the municipal leaflet, enter without booking. Telephone, 91 889 96 54.

Until 7 March 2027 you can see the temporary exhibition Inclinado de mi estrella, on astronomy in the time of Cervantes, and on Saturdays in November and December 2026 there are autumn theatrical performances.

Bear in mind that the building, because of its age, is only partly accessible: a lift goes up to the temporary exhibition room. There are no toilets, so plan ahead. You can take photos with your phone, without flash.

Getting there and what to combine

From the station, served by the C-2, C-7 and C-8 commuter trains from Madrid, you walk to the centre; by car, the museum recommends the Pico del Obispo car park. Next door is the Antezana Hospital, where tradition says Rodrigo de Cervantes worked, and Calle Mayor leads to Plaza de Cervantes. To sleep nearby, the Hotel Miguel de Cervantes is on Calle Imagen.