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 Route
of the monarchs
| History |
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In 1561, Felipe II installed the Royal Court in Madrid. Since then
the city has been capital of Spain, except during a brief period
of time, from 1601 to 1606, when it was transferred to Valladolid.
During
the Austrian and Bourbon reign, great works were constructed in
Madrid which turned it into a modern city of grand palaces, museums,
improved roadways and all that a city of that era should have.
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| Route |
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| Ayuntamiento
de Madrid |
This
route begins in the Plaza de la Villa,
where the local power of Madrid always resides, and opposite the
plaza, in the Plaza de San Salvador,
Calderón de la Barca was buried. The narrow alleys
(Codo, Puñorostro, Cordón) that surround the
plaza gives one an idea of how life in Medievel Madrid might have
been. The convents (Carboneras) and
old houses (Casa y Torre de Lujuanes)
that we find in these streets help to write the history that occurred
along them. Here is where we find the Casa
de la Villa building where the current Ayuntamiento (City
Hall) is housed.
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| Plaza
Mayor |
Following
the Calle Mayo, you reach the Plaza Mayor,
one of the most emblematic sites in the city. When speaking of the
"Madrid of the Austrias", it is always this plaza that
is evoked. Nevertheless, the current enclosure is from the 18th
C. It is a rectangle surrounded by Baroque buildings, with new doors
that open to the streets that radiate from the plaza (Toledo,
Zaragoza, Gerona, Sal Felipe III, Cuidad Rodrigo, Cuchilleros, Mayor
and San Miguel).
The
balconies of the surrounding houses were designed so that residents
could enjoy shows and performances in the plaza. Within the plaza
one finds the Statue of Felipe III,
from 1616. The environment is incomparable: the Arco
de Cuchilleros, the Cueva de
Luis Candelas, the Casa Botín.
This is a unique place to enjoy the most tourist-oriented part of
Madrid, go for "tapas" (traditional appetizers) or buy
a souvenir.
Taking
yourself down calle de Toledo,
you are bound to reach the Colegiata de San
Isidro, the greatest religious building of the era, which
was constructed under the name of Colegio Imperial de la Compañia
de Jesús.
La
Iglesia (Church) de San Andrés
is a Barroch building where the buried remains of San Isidro are
located. After the remains were moved to the Obispo
Chapel, the San Isidro Chapel
was finally constructed, and there we find them today.
The
Iglesia de San Miguel was erected in
the 18th C.. It is one of the most unique churches in
Madrid because of its curved façade and its two bulb-crowned
belfries.
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| Monasterio
de las Descalzas Reales |
One
of the best collections of art in Madrid is hidden away in the Monasterio
de las Descalzas Reales with works by Francisco Rizzi, Claudio
Coello, Antonio Pereda and more.
The
Monasterio de la Encarnación
is another of the great works of Barroch Madrid. It has come
to be the model of this period. It was constructed as complement
to the Alcázar de los Austrias
by Margarita de Austria, spouse of Felipe III.
The
Iglesia de Santa Cruz is made of brick
and is home to an important collection of paintings that come from
the neighboring convents that disappeared under the Desamortización.
The
Paseo del Prado is a garden-filled
area that is a reminder of the groves and orchards of the past.
On this path, there are numerous museums, from the Prado,
which houses one of the most important collections of paintings
in all of Europe, to the Palacio de Villahermosa,
currently the Museo Thyssen, which
permits one to take a stroll through the history of painting, from
the 13th C. to the 20th, ordered chronologically
and by school. The building itself is from the Court of Neoclassicism
and was built in 1805.
Continuing
down the Paseo, we find such significant fountains as the Neptuno
and Cibeles, wrought based on drawings by Ventura Rodriguez and
which today are symbols of the capital’s main football teams: Atlético
de Madrid and Real Madrid
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| Palacio
Real |
The
Palacio Real (Royal Palace) was constructed
on top of the old Alcázar after it burnt down in 1734 and
following the same architectural pattern. It is made up of four
granite and limestone façades forming a quadrilateral. Inside,
it contains a complex organization, with 100,000 square meters and
more than 30 salons. There are daily visiting hours.
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| Puerta
de Alcalá |
In
commemoration of Carlos III’s entrance into Madrid, one of the most
beautiful and emblematic buildings of the city was built, the Puerta
de Alcalá. It is the work of Sabatini with simple
lines and constructed of materials from around the province: granite
and Colmenar rocks.
Finally,
we come to the Puerta de Toledo, which was constructed to commemorate
Fernando VII’s return. Designed by Antonio López Aguado,
today it houses around it the Market of the Puerta de Toledo, an
old central fish market.
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