Madrid is truly a treasure trove of architectural riches, but unlike Paris or London, I didn't think Madrid had a single defining landmark that came to mind. This mammoth building might be it. Jamie W and I just happened to be walking on the Gran Via when we were gobsmacked by the architectural grandeur of this dual purpose building (Photo 9). It's not only Madrid's City Hall but also CentroCentro, a thriving public cultural center. Designed by Antonio Palacios and open since 1919, the building has soaring ceilings with neo-Gothic towers that make it look like it started life as a cathedral. It didn't and was actually the main post office for years. The main draw here is the rooftop terrace which offers a panoramic view of central Madrid, in particular, the bustling Plaza de Cibeles below (Video). Admission is 4€, and a timeslot reservation is required to use their glass elevator. It's easier just to take the curving stairs from the top. En route, you can stop at Cornamusa Cibeles for a moderately priced set-menu lunch. We did and thought it was decent enough (review: https://yelp.to/wlIeOvQ_vQ). There's also a glass-vaulted gallery that hosts contemporary art exhibitions. On the ground floor is a cafe where you can have a light lunch or just a cup of coffee (Photo 8). We opted for the latter. It was hodgepodge but somehow it worked. RELATED - Exploring Madrid? Here's a collection of places I've visited and reviewed: https://yelp.to/wzXOFbYL73 read more

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I have visited Madrid several times and did not realize that you can a) go into the Palacio de Cibeles and b) that it is free. My bf made this discovery when he was exploring while I was at work. Great discovery! After entering through a security/bag check, you walk upstairs onto the 2nd floor. There is a tourist office as well as a large relaxing/working space. An exhibit offers an overview of the commitment to green spaces in English and Spanish. The floors above house the history of the building, including the architecture and design. There are also special exhibits featuring different artists. If you are visiting before early May 2026, I highly recommend Ana Juan's "Wunderkammer" exhibition. Beautiful and thought provoking! There is an observation deck that can be accessed for €4. It was closed in mid-Feb for technical repairs without a confirmed reopening date. Hopefully it will be available to the public again soon! A bit farther away but you can always venture to the top of the Riu hotel for incredible views. read more

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So I was sad because I bought a ticket to go on the rooftop, but it was raining, so I couldn't. But they refunded me automatically, so that was good. So instead I meandered between floors looking at all the art waiting for the rain to dissipate a bit. Some was cool, some I didn't get, to each their own. It's a gorgeous building and worth a visit if you have the time. I'll have to come back for the rooftop next time! read more

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El rooftop del palacio es muy bonito y tiene muy buena vista Son €5 euros por entrar y no incluye bebida, pero valio la pena! read more

Palacio de Cibeles - Una de las mejores vistas de Madrid - Landmarks & Historical Buildings Near Me - Madrid, M

The 18th century fountain & statue are eye catching in front of the palace's & museums. It's a 18th century government building & post office. The observation deck of the beautiful palace was closed but we took the lift up to 6. There was a cocktail bar with a €10 admission. On the basement is an auditorium. read more

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I love that this beautiful building has a wonderful space like CentroCentro as an occupant now. I was visiting Madrid and came to visit an exhibit about Gaudi (that was 14 euro) but was pleased to find that all four floors of the building and some sort of interesting exhibit about art, culture, and the history of Madrid. PRO TIP: building has wonderful views of the surrounding city. You can pay to visit the observation deck on the roof or you can just sneak a photo out a window on one of the upper floors. I visited on a holiday but there are also some government service and post office inside. If you are just visiting, it is worth wandering into this building to see what is going on. There is even a (free) cowering space on the ground floor! read more

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This palace is super interesting and serves mostly as their city hall. The outside is incredibly majestic and is an iconic piece of Madrid architecture on one end of a massive roundabout near the city center. We wandered in one day and were surprised to find little art exhibits on the top floors. There was also an elevator to go up to the top of the building for a fun view. If you're visiting Madrid for under a week, I wouldn't say that you need to come here, but after months of living in the city, it was an interesting spot to cross off our list. read more

Get out your cameras and smartphones -- this is an absolutely stunning building. Great for posing in front of, planking, flash mobs, and/or eating a pita filled with chicken shawarma & tzatziki. Paella is okay, but I prefer to eat at a restaurant with some good sangria. Years back, I had oil painted my way thru 9 countries in Europe. As a completed painting would dry well enough, I would ship them back to my US address. My buddy spoke fluent Spanish, but we were going thru a little bit of a riff (off and on for the entire 3 months). The main reason is that he also spoke better English, French, and Italian than I did -- and my German had yet to be used yet. So, over time, he grew tired from being depended on so much. Totally understandable, right? Even my tears for help with puppy dog eyes wore out. Not wanting to spend a million dinero on shipping, I had read somewhere to ask to "ship by boat" for far less money. It could take 2 months to arrive, but I didn't care about that. Determined to prove my point to my friend that I could take care of the request at the Post Office without his help, I used my little English to Spanish dictionary to say "Send by Ship, please". The long line was good for me, as it gave me plenty of time to study the phrase. As I walked up to the window, just a little breathy noise omitted. My voice resembled the sound of a whistle with its' little ball stuck. After struggling to loosen the "ball" for about 30 seconds, my friend saved the day (yet again) by saying, "Enviar a barco, Por favor". Wow, that sure sounds easy now. read more

Funny fact, somehow I left this one out of my must-see list for Madrid. And then later on I saw this on the postcard, so my hubby and I decided to visit this place. It was quite easy to to get to, it was just next to the Parque de El Retiro. We took the metro to get here. From the metro station Banco de España to this place took us about just 5 mins on foot. When we were there, part of the building outside was under constructuon. It was a bit putty, but I could still check out the details on the building. Soon after we walked in the building, we just head to place which sell ticket to visit the top of the building. The ticket was quite cheap, 4 euro. There was a lift right next to the ticket place. It took us highest floor, then we have to walked a bit to the other side, as usual, we got to wait again, even that we were almost the first couple poeple here. They would let u in until the time was the time showed on the ticket. Then we could take another lift/stairs and reach the top. From here I could see basically the whole city centre. Althought the building wasn't so tall. There weren't tall buildings around this place. I enjoyed that quite a lot. And I could walked around here. It allowed me to see the whole city in 360°. Of course, It was great place for photos as well. I try to use my 360° camera to take some cool picture as well. Too bad that the towers around the building block some of the view. So I could get the picture that wanted it. And noticed that tripod is now allowed. The staff me that. After awhile we decide left, but this time we choose the stairs. I realized that there was a exhibitions from 1F-3F. It was free to visit.The ticket I paid it was for the observatorium. I went through all of them, it did get some really nice works here. Overall, I like this place quite a lot. I'm so glad that I didn't miss this one during my trip. read more

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Formerly known (before 2011) as the "Palacio de Comunicaciones", which was the old post office since 1919, the now-named "Palacio de Cibeles" is now Madrid's main City Hall, transferring most of the offices - including that of the Mayor of Madrid - from its former location on the Plaza de la Villa. The Palacio de Cibeles is located on the plaza by the same name, the "Plaza de Cibeles", centered by a fountain and lion-towed chariot carrying the goddess Cibeles, at the 4-way intersection of the Calle Alcalá (east-west), Paseo del Prado, (south) and the Paseo de Recoletos (north) - which becomes the Paseo de la Castellana further north. The ground floor of the main building is large public space with two reading spaces with sofas and chairs, newspapers and magazines, & free wi-fi internet, iPads under glass for public use (10-20% in working order), (clean-and-modern) PUBLIC RESTROOMS, and audio/video exhibits of the building's construction and history. The central, open space reaches up 4 floors in the main building, with beautiful stained-glass on several ceilings. The public is free to go up, essentially, to the 6th floor. The first 4 floors have several other exhibits about the building. One can visit the center clock tower's observation deck on level 8, but first must pass through metal detectors just to the right of the main, street-level entrance, then acquiring a FREE pass at the main-floor desk (level 1). Self-guided tours take place every 15-minutes and your ticket will assign the next available tour entry time. With the ticket, take the elevator up to floor 6E and wait in line for your time's tour. Guards will call out the tour entry (in Spanish) and the public can ascend by stairs (faster) or (wait for the) elevator to the outdoor, 8th floor observation deck. From the observation deck, one has a wonderful 360º video of Madrid, overlooking the busy Plaza de Cibeles below, the tower of the Círculo de Bellas Artes on Calle de Alcalá to the west, and up the Paseo de Recoletos/Castellana to the north while circling the clock tower. At near the end of your 15-minutes, the guard will call out for the deck to be vacated in order to allow the next group's entry. Generally speaking, access is closed from 2pm-4pm. See (my) photos of the inside and out. This is the BEST FREE observation deck in Madrid, folks! Saludos, MadridMan @ you-know-where! read more

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I don't know what this place was supposed to be for but take the tour to go to the top of this building! ITS FREE!!! Best view of Madrid i think from the top. You can't see Old Town but mostly the Metropolitan area. There was i think 8 floors. The first floor had security scan your bags and the second floor had a little lounge with iPads and a information booth. This place is next to the Banco de Espana and Fuente de Cibeles. read more

Palacio de Cibeles - the front - Landmarks & Historical Buildings Near Me - Madrid, M

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This is the building that makes the plaza/circle/square area beautiful along with the fountain. It must be a place to visit while in Madrid. read more

Palacio de Cibeles is the city hall, which has just been cleaned lately. The outside wall looks sparking. The inside, which requires security check, is bright and shining too. It high ceiling and beautiful pillars are nice match to its color paining on the top. It has several elevators, but I suggest you take the stair where you can see these colorful and cautious mosaic on the staircase wall. There is a huge art modern art collection upstairs, which I I cannot understand a bit. You can also watch these videos for some behavior art. Anyway, it definitely worth visiting even just for its architecture. P.S. It is free. read more

Palacio de Cibeles - Beautiful hall - Landmarks & Historical Buildings Near Me - Madrid, M

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For an aerial 360-degree view of Madrid, we visited the observation deck inside the exquisite Cibeles Palace. Originally Madrid's central post office, the Cibeles Palace was once one of the fanciest places in the world to mail a postcard. Looking more like a cathedral than a government building, the towering brilliant edifice now houses Madrid's City Hall. We each paid €2, and the five of us squeezed into the small glass elevator located to the left just inside the main building entrance. The elevator only carried us to the 6th floor. We then climbed two flights of stairs to reach the 8th floor observation deck. The narrow open-air viewing balcony completely encircles the central clock tower. Along the waist-high barrier wall, interpretive panels point to landmarks on the horizon. Madrid's skyline keeps a relatively low profile, with miles of rooftops, punctuated by dozens of church spires. The finest view is to the west, where the iconic marble Cibeles Fountain rides below and the decorative Metropolis Building stands a short distance down Calle de Alcalá. As such, a morning visit, while the sun is still in the eastern sky, best illuminates the city center, and presents Madrid in its most flattering light. read more

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The original post office main hall now the centro centro arts pavilion. There's an admission fee to the curated art exhibits, but the hall itself is free to enter past the metal detector. The interior is definitely worth a look and the gift shop had reasonably priced Madrid souvenirs we didn't see anywhere else. We bought 2 euro tickets to the observation deck only to be told when arriving at the upper floor that the elevator was malfunctioning. They "cheerfully " refunded our admission. read more

Palacio de Cibeles - Palace of communications a/k/a CentroCentro - Landmarks & Historical Buildings Near Me - Madrid, M

post office in Madrid, I got attendant that doesn't know English, but she did her best to help me understand what she meant....., I was able to mail package without any problems. when I go here, I didn't know and didn't see ticket machine, so when I saw lady behind the counter not busy I approached her and asked about mailing small package to Germany...., she helped me out and I spent about 8euro for an envelope with buble-wrap and postage to mail a cell phone to Germany..., I messed up on writing adress, but she corrected it, after I mailed package I saw some gentleman holding a number and waiting on a bench, I asked him where hi got the number and he showed me...., then I saw screen with numbers behind the counter.... In post office here is no toilet but there is air-conditioning and WiFi...., read more

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We went through fairly quick but the observation deck is the spot. You can get a good 360 of Madrid and the pictures on the deck show what the major buildings are in the vicinity, and the age. We did not check out the other floors as much but the architecture was very elaborate. We did pay 2E apiece for the observation deck, and saw it was free on the first Wednesday of each month. I think it is definitely worth the 2E and would recommend doing this read more

this is a gorgeous piece of architecture in madrid's city centre. this building used to be the central post office in madrid, but is now known as city hall. compared to the buildings that serve as city halls for the major american cities, this building has so much character, which it should, as it is centuries old. although we did not enter, i'm told that you can see the entire city centre from the upper levels, which is no surprise as this building is located at the crossroads of paseo del prado, buen retiro park, and calle gran via. even on level ground, i felt that i was in the centre of it all, as i could see quite a few landmarks just standing on the corner. a regal presence by day, and a brightly lit landmark by night, this is a stop that everyone should make and take some photos with. read more

Beautifully lit up at night but even better to appreciate the architecture by day. Incredible palace with an impeccable attention to detail. We didn't spend too much time there but I recommend at least seeing it if you're going to be in town. read more

Horrible service! Did not keep our wine or water glasses filled even though we bought the bottles. Food was just okay. Not worth the money. As someone who eats regularly at 5 star restaurants this was a total waste of money. Our other dinners at tapas restaurants in Madrid for much less money were much better! Avoid if you are an American! read more