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The sculpture La Mariblanca is a copy of the original, located on the top of a column at the confluence of where Arenal street meet with Puerta del Sol. La Mariblanca, has an unknown origin, nevertheless it is known that it was purchased in 1625, to decorate the now missing Fountain of Faith (Fuente de […]
This magnificent statue of King Philip III, located in Plaza Mayor of Madrid, was completed in Florence in 1616 by Giambologna and Pietro Taca. It had been placed at several sites, the first in the Palace of Vargas in Casa de Campo (the large park on the West side of the city), where it remained […]
Where today is the Plaza de Santo Domingo in Madrid, way back in 1218, there was a Dominican convent, founded by Domingo de Guzman. This was demolished in the time of Joseph I Bonaparte, where they placed an outdoor flower market, in this same area. Joseph I, was known as “King Squares”, since he opened […]
On April 28th, 1699 , at seven o’clock , Madrid exploded with a great popular protest due to food shortages, specially the lack of bread . While the authorities were distributing bread, the legend reveals that a woman that was indignantly protesting to one of the inspectors, asking “How can she feed her six children […]
A nice walk to from the city center to the northwest, a few steps from the Plaza España, we have the Temple of Debod, Parque del Oeste (West Park), and a little further away, comes the cable car, where on their way to Casa de Campo, you can see great views of the city that […]
The Bailen Street Viaduct, also called Viaduct of Segovia, is only about 100 meters from the Almudena Cathedral, and walking distance from the old part of town, as you can see on the background of the picture above. This structure, has replaced since 1930, the original construction made out of iron and wood, that started […]
In the photo below these lines, it’s a view from South to North, where we have the Almudena Cathedral, and the Crypt. Below this, is what remains of the old Muslim Wall. Just below the Almudena Cathedral, with the three neo protogothic semicircular doors on the picture, is the crypt. Its construction begun on April 4, […]
August is summer vacation time for most Spaniards, and Madrid slows down its pace with less traffic jams and business activity, but greatly increases the action in terms of traditional feasts and festivals. The best known are the Fiestas de La Latina, and La Paloma, held on a public holiday, on August 15. Thousands of […]
It seems that in the Spanish Golden Age, many writers and scholars worked on a legend to explain the origin of the name of Madrid. This legend begins with the survivors of the Battle of Troy, and being Prince Bianor one of them, who tried to return to Greece, without success. Eventually he settled and […]
This point or mark on the sidewalk in front of the “Casa de Correos”, (current headquarters of the Community of Madrid), in Puerta del Sol, sets the zero kilometer point, from where the six national roads or motorways A-1 to A-6, start. Also from here the numbering of the streets of Madrid begin, being the […]
It is a fact that Madrid has no beach, but it has always been a dream for Madrilians. Back in 1932, an artificial beach on the Manzanares River was opened to the public. A dam was built there for this purpose. This beach, was destroyed in 1939 during the Spanish Civil War. In addition to […]
The picture above, was taken in June of 1976, where you can see the Metropolis building, with Alcala street to the left, just behind the bus. To the right is “Edificio Grassy”, on La Gran Via, 1. In the background, is the Telefónica building. To the right of the new photos taken in July […]
The Atocha Station Greenhouse, is a botanical garden of tropical and subtropical plants located in Atocha Station in Madrid. With an area of 4,000 square meters it houses over 7,200 plants of 260 species, where you can find different trees, like mahogany, rubber, coconut, palm trees, and other smaller plants, such as heliconias, coffee and […]
Cuenca is a municipality belonging to the Castilla la Mancha autonomous community. It is located on a rocky promontory, that descend almost vertically into the Júcar and Huécar rivers. As seen in the picture above, the “hanging houses”, were built in the fifteenth century, on the rock which rise to form the Huécar river canyon. […]
6101 Electric Locomotive (Westinghouse and Baldwin, United States, 1924) In the early days of electric traction at Pajares Ramp in Asturias, Spain, this locomotive (as well as the 6005) made the journey through this difficult mountain pass, on the way to Busdongo Station in León. From Busdongo, a change was made to a steam locomotive […]
AZCA is the financial district in downtown Madrid. The building complex, makes a rectangle shape, between Raimundo Fernández Villaverde St., Orense St., General Perón St., and the Paseo de la Castellana Avenue. In the photo above, you can see the “Skyline” of most of the skyscrapers North of Madrid. In the photo, you can see […]
The statue of Federico García Lorca is right in front of the Teatro Español, in Plaza Santa Ana. Unfortunately on a night of April 2011, some vandals tore apart the lark from the hands of the statue, and no one saw it. This photo was taken the 24 of July, 2011, and galdfully, it looks […]
Madrid Atocha Station, also called Madrid Puerta de Atocha, is the largest railway station in Madrid. At this same site, the first railway station in Madrid was opened on February 9, 1851 under the name of Atocha-Mediodía. Este edificio fue reconstruido y reabierto en 1892, después de que fue destruido en gran parte por un […]
We can start the tour in Puerta del Sol for a short walk through Calle Preciados which is the the main shopping street in Madrid, and one of the busiest in the world. Preciados is a walking street, where you can find stores of all kinds. This street has an L shape. This view shows […]
The San Miguel Market is located in the plaza of the same name, next to the Plaza Mayor of Madrid. It preserves the original interesting iron structure of the early twentieth century. This building has been closed for many years, and currently a group of private individuals came with the idea to open a very […]
PwC Tower, formerly called Sacyr Vallehermoso Tower, is the third tallest skyscraper in Madrid and Spain, and the sixth in the European Union. It has a height of 236 meters, 58 floors, and its construction began in 2004 and ended on April 12, 2008. The architects of the project, are Carlos Rubio Carvajal and Enrique […]
The four buildings of the CTBA, are standing next to each other, and on this photo, you can see the reflection of Torre Espacio (Space Tower), on the Crystal Tower. The Crystal Tower, is located North of Madrid. With its 249 meters and 52 storeys, it is the tallest building in Spain and the eighth […]
Salamanca was founded in the pre-Ancient Rome period by the Vacceos, a Celtic tribe, as one of the forts to defend their territory near the Duero river. This recent picture, mixes eighteenth century Baroque style of the Plaza Mayor, with today’s modern art. In this picture, the monumental sculptures called The Meninas by Manolo Valdés, […]
In the image above, detail of two cathedrals are shown. The Romanesque style of the old cathedral is shown in the Torre del Gallo, and to the right, the dome of the New Cathedral. On this photo, you can see the Cathedral taken from what remains of the Wall, that once surrounded the city of […]
El Escorial is a complex of a palace, a basilica, and a monastery in a town of Madrid (province), called San Lorenzo de El Escorial. The palace was the residence of the Spanish Royal Family, and in the basilica, there is their pantheon, and burial chambers. El Escorial is one of the most unique Renaissance […]
El Valle de los Caídos (Valley of the Fallen or the Abbey of the Holy Cross) is a monument built between 1940 and 1958. It is located in the municipality of San Lorenzo de El Escorial, in Madrid (Spain). It is located 9.5 km north of the Monastery of El Escorial in the Sierra […]
The Puerta de Alcala (Alcala Gate) is a monument in the Plaza de la Independencia (“Independence Square”), which is on the northwest part of El Retiro Park, on its main entrance. Francisco Sabatini created the monument in 1778 for king Carlos III. Madrid on the 18th Century still remained surrounded by medieval walls, so king […]
The monument to King Alfonso XII, is a sculpture located at the east side of the pond, near the center of the Retiro Park. The monument, funded by public subscription, was inaugurated on June 6, 1922. It is composed of a large colonnade with large number of sculptures that surround the equestrian statue of the […]
The Crystal Palace, has in front an artificial lake, where you can find bald cypress trees (Taxodium distichum), with their main characteristic, that part of the trunk, and roots are under water. The building is surrounded by Buckeyes or Spanish Chestnut trees. The palace has suffered great damage over time, due to the wars, but […]
Retiro Park has many beautiful sculptures and fountains, and this one called La Alcachofa (artichoke) was designed by Ventura Rodríguez and decorated with sculptures by Alfonso Giraldo Bergaz, and Antonio Primo. It was built in 1781 and located close to Puerta de Atocha. It was transferred in 1880 to its present location in the southwest […]
This is the back (at the east), of the Prado Museum. It is the newly built part (2007), with the back of the original building at your left, and the new Moneo Cube or Los Jerónimos building, to the right of the church with the same name. A better view of the Moneo Cube: The […]
The Royal Botanical Garden of Madrid, is a research center of the National Research Council. Founded on October 17, 1755 by King Fernando VI near the River Manzanares. It was Carlos III who ordered to move it to its current location on the Paseo del Prado in 1781. This botanical garden is arranged in three […]
The Vicente Calderón Stadium is located on the east bank of the Manzanares River, in Arganzuela district. It is owned by Atletico de Madrid SAD, team owner of Club Atlético de Madrid. The Club Atlético de Madrid, Mahou brewery, and the city of Madrid, signed on the 30th of July 2007, an agreement by which […]
The Puente de Toledo was built between 1718 and 1732, by the architect Pedro de Ribera. This bridge connects the two banks of the Manzanares River, linking the Glorieta Pirámides, on the east bank, with the Marqués de Vadillo on the west bank. Baroque style, this bridge was built between 1718 and 1732. In 1956, […]
As a starting point for this walking tour, we can begin from Callao, where you can see this view of the Gran Via, towards the North, on the route to Plaza España, 200 meters from this point. In this part of Gran Via, we have what is now called “Madrid Broadway”, where most of the […]
Walking down from Callao, to Plaza España, a few meters to the right of Gran Via, you may find a traditional market called Los Mostenses. In your walking tour, you could give it a quick look, or continue on to Plaza España.
Just a few meters off Gran Via, there is this traditional food market. Visiting these markets, is a good way to see the life style of local people doing a very common everyday activity. It’s interesting to see how the products sold on this market, have changed with time. Ten years ago, there was mostly […]
Madrid is sunny most of the year, but in autumn the sky gets just the right amount of clouds and tones, that make it very beautiful to watch and photograph. Because of being on a small hill, and overlooking the West from the Debod Temple, is probably one of the best spots to see a […]
The Debod Temple area is on a small hill, which makes it a great place to take pictures of Madrid. In this case, towards the south of the Temple, you have this spot where you can take a picture of the Royal Palace, Almudena Cathedral, and to the right, Basílica San Francisco el Grande. I […]
On our way to Palacio Real and Sabatini Gardens, before leaving the Debod Temple area, we give it the last glimpse with the stunning illumination.
In these gardens that were created in the 1930’s. Madrid Municipality organize acts and concerts on the summer evenings. They are worth seeing, not only because of the talent of the artists, but also because of the beautiful location. These gardens, created in 1930 by Sabatini, were once the stables of the Palace, and they […]
Since the thirteenth century, there was a big Dominican convent founded by St. Domingo de Guzmán in the year 1218. For most of the nineteenth century there was a famous flower market in this plaza. In the 1920s the first underground car park in Spain, took the space of the flower market, and after nearly […]
Gran Via can be divided into three sections, of which this virtual walking tour of Madrid, can start in the Plaza Callao, where we will walk eastward to the Red de San Luis, where the picture above of the Metro station, was taken. This is the second section of the Gran Via, which goes from […]
A few meters from the building of Telefonica, we arrive to the Red de San Luis, Gran Via, Fuencarral, Hortaleza, and Montera Street meet. Both Montera and Fuencarral, have closed traffic, and only pedestrian can circulate. In the Montera street, which runs from Gran Vía to Puerta del Sol, there is a large number of […]
If we walk down the Gran Via, to the Cibeles, on what is known as the first leg of the Gran Via, we arrive at the confluence of this avenue, with Alcalá Street. At this point, we find the Metropolis building, as an important representative of the beginning of the works of refurbishment of the […]
Once we have been observing the magnificent views from the rooftop of the Circulo de Bellas Artes, why not review the program of activities, with a drink in the fabulous terrace at 42 Alcala Street. The Fine Arts Circle, is a private cultural non profit institution, founded in 1880 by a group of artists. The […]
Once in the Plaza Cibeles, and after appreciating the beauty of this place, it is well worth visiting inside the emblematic Cibeles Palace, which was once the main post office in Madrid, and which now houses the City Hall. As you can see, inside, it still holds the post office environment, on the ground floor […]
This Photo was taken from the terraces on top of the Cibeles Palace. It’s open to the public, and allows 15 minutes tour to the top of the building, which is at the height of an 8 story building, where this photo was taken. This Palace, was once the Central Post Office building of Spain […]
Walking along the Carrera de San Jerónimo, we find the Plaza de Canalejas and this beautiful corner building in the Plaza. It is the Tomas Allende building, which was designed for residential construction between 1916 and 1920, according to a design by the architect Leonardo Rucabado. Rucabado, wanted to adapt national and regional styles (in […]