Dalí Theatre-Museum (Figueres)

The Dalí Theatre-Museum (Teatre-Museu Dalí) at Plaça de Gala i Salvador Dalí 5 in Figueres, capital of the Alt Empordà comarca in northern Catalonia, is Salvador Dalí's most complete creative achievement — a total surrealist environment he designed himself on the ruins of the town's Municipal Theatre, bombed during the Spanish Civil War. Dalí was born in Figueres in 1904, a short walk from the museum site, and considered this building his ultimate self-portrait. The pink-red exterior, topped with giant eggs and gilded Oscar-like figures called melichos, signals the surrealist world within before visitors even enter. The building's central space, the former theatre's stall and stage area, is now covered by a geodesic dome and contains some of Dalí's most elaborate installations — including the Cadillac (Pluja de Taxi), a vintage 1930s car with mannequins inside and rain perpetually falling within the sealed cabin. The Mae West Room on the upper floor presents furniture and a fireplace that, when viewed from a specific marked point through a reversed periscope, form the face of actress Mae West. The former stage area ceiling is painted by Dalí with an elaborate composition of himself and Gala ascending toward heaven, looking up in a trompe-l'oeil that extends the theatrical space. The museum also contains Dalí's personal collection of works by El Greco, and the artist is interred in the crypt directly beneath the stage where he once triumphed. The venue attracts approximately 1 million visitors annually, making it the second most visited museum in Spain after the Prado.