Velintonia is reborn: the home of Nobel Prize in Literature winner Vicente Aleixandre will become Madrid's new House of Poetry

Madrid will add a new and symbolic cultural space in 2027: the Casa de la Poesía, located in Velintonia, the chalet where Nobel Prize winner Vicente Aleixandre lived for half a century. This home, closed and unoccupied for more than four decades, will be renovated by the Community of Madrid and will open its doors as a museum and centre for poetic activities, in the very year that coincides with the centenary of the Generation of ’27 and 50 years since Aleixandre was awarded the Nobel Prize.

Located in the Chamberí district, Velintonia was much more than a home: it was a true sanctuary for poets and intellectuals of the 20th century. Figures such as Federico García Lorca, Dámaso Alonso and Luis Cernuda passed through its library, where Aleixandre received his guests. In its sitting room, later converted into a kitchen, Lorca even played the piano. Every corner of the property preserves the echo of the Silver Age of Spanish literature.

Built in 1930, the house has 630 square metres spread over three floors. The renovation project will not only restore the building, but will also return its archive, original objects and furniture to the site, creating an immersive and free experience for visitors. Although there is still time before its opening, it has been confirmed that the opening will be gradual, with guided visits and poetic activities open to the public. The Casa de la Poesía aims to become a meeting point between generations, as Velintonia was during Aleixandre’s lifetime, when it was an essential stop for aspiring and established poets who found in him a beacon of the written word. Madrid thus recovers not only a historic building, but a living space for creation, memory and literary tribute, as the Casa-Museo Sorolla already is, but with free admission and verses floating in the air.