The Museum of Bellas Artes is considered second only to the Prado Musuem in Madrid. Housed in the ancient convent of the Merced, the building was designed by Juan de Oviedo y de la Bandera in 1602.

The building is joined around three patios, the Mayor, the Aljibe, and the Bojes which lead to a magnificent Imperial double ramp staircase crowned by a marvelous dome. The chapel is worthy of note as the most noble hall in the museum for its collection of works from the famous Murillo.

The convent was converted into a museum in 1835. The museum houses an important collection of artwork that includes works from the XII to the XX century. The majority of pieces are of Spanish origin, but it also has flamenco, Italian, French, English, Portuguese, and Swedish paintings.

The most prestigious works have to be the XVII century paintings of famous masters such as Francisco Pacheco, El Greco, Diego Velásquez, Herrera el Viejo, Francisco de Zurbarán, Murillo and Valdés Leal.

The collection of sculptures is also very impressive, with works from Mercadant de Bretaña, Torriggiano, Martínez Montañes and Juan de Mesa.