This engaging museum occupies the spot where San Isidro Labrador, patron saint of Madrid, ended his days around 1172. A particular highlight is the large model based on Pedro Teixeira’s famous 1656 map of Madrid. Of great historical interest (though not much to look at) is the "miraculous well," where the saint is said to have saved his son from drowning: after his butterfingered wife dropped the infant in, he returned from the fields and prayed until the waters rose.
The museum is housed in a largely new building with a 16th-century Renaissance courtyard and a 17th-century chapel. Apart from the focus on San Isidro, the collection has archaeological finds from the Roman period, including a 4th-century mosaic found on the site of a Roman villa in the barrio of Carabanchel, maps, scale models, paintings and photos of Madrid down through the ages.
