Museo Casa Botines Gaudí

About the museum

Casa Botines is one of the three buildings that Antoni Gaudí built outside Catalonia, alongside the Episcopal Palace of Astorga and El Capricho in Comillas. The León merchants Simón Fernández and Mariano Andrés, heirs to the textile and banking business founded by Juan Homs and Botines, commissioned Gaudí to design a building with department stores, housing for the owners and rental flats. The project was drawn up between 1887 and 1891, and work began in 1892. The result was Gaudí’s first apartment block, of seven storeys, and a laboratory of ideas for later works such as the Casa Calvet, the Casa Batlló and the Casa Milà.

After serving as the seat of the Fernández and Andrés business, the building was bought in 1929 by the Caja de Ahorros y Monte de Piedad de León, which set up its offices there. The banking use continued until 2017, when the Fundación Obra Social de Castilla y León (FUNDOS) decided to open it to the public as a museum. According to the museum itself, it receives more than 100,000 visitors a year.

The museum is organised around three themes: the building, its architect and the collections. It looks after part of the FUNDOS collection, which brings together more than 5,000 works of painting, sculpture and graphic art gathered over more than a century by the former savings banks of Castilla y León and by Caja España; more than 200 of them are on deposit in the house. It spans some five centuries, although the 19th and 20th centuries predominate; its artists include Sorolla, Goya, Dalí and Chillida.

Highlights

• Gaudí’s modernist building (1892) on the Plaza de San Marcelo
• FUNDOS collection: painting, sculpture and graphic art spanning five centuries
• Attic and tower with the Sotabanco and its lamp by Ingo Maurer
• Guided visit in Spanish that includes the attic and tower
• Gaudí shop and a nursing room on the Planta Noble

Permanent exhibitions

• La Casa Botines – Route through Gaudí’s building, its history as a textile warehouse and bank headquarters, and its modernist architecture.
• La colección FUNDOS – Selection of painting, sculpture and graphic art from the foundation’s collection, from the late 15th century to the late 20th century.

Founded

2017

Operated by

Fundación Obra Social de Castilla y León (FUNDOS)

Admission & discounts

Free visit: €10 (reduced €7.50), with access to the ground, noble, first and third floors. Free admission for under 7s, accompanying teachers of groups (one per 20 people), accompanying tourist guides, members of ICOM and the Asociación Española de Museólogos, and museum friends. With an AVE or long-distance Renfe train ticket (valid up to 72 hours before and after the journey) there is a 50% discount on general admission.

Accessibility

• Wheelchair accessible
• Elevator
• Accessible restroom
• Accessible parking: no information
• Service dogs welcome: no information
• Tactile models & exhibits: no information
• Sign language tours: no information
• Easy-to-read materials: no information
• Audio description: no information

Lifts serve the floors open to the public, and there are adapted routes for people with reduced mobility. Accessible toilets are in the Sala Semisótano and on the Planta Noble. The museum is gradually working on cognitive and sensory accessibility resources and recommends contacting it before the visit if any support is needed.

Kids & families

Great for kids & families

• Family tours & workshops

The Department of Education and Cultural Action organises workshops and activities for children, families and schoolchildren. Under-7s enter free. Families with babies have a nursing room on the Planta Noble.

Getting there & parking

The museum is on the Plaza de San Marcelo, in the centre of León. The building has entrances from several streets and is close to transport stations.

Amenities & dining

• Museum shop
• Lockers

Free lockers with keys, individual and larger ones for groups. Museum shop (Tienda Gaudí). Payment in cash or by card. Lost property service at the information desk.

Events & venue rental

• Spaces for rent
• Private parties
• Corporate events
• Weddings / ceremonies

Up to 250 guests.

Event spaces: El Almacén de las Telas (basement, 150 people in theatre layout, accessible), the Planta Noble (250 people, only when the museum is closed, accessible) and the Sotabanco of the attic (40 people, with a flight of stairs). Civil ceremonies are also offered; information at eventos@casabotines.es.

Plan your visit