Madrid
MADRID INTRODUCTION
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Madrid’s history stretches back over thousands of years, but the city reached the peak of its splendor during Spain’s Golden Age, which spanned two centuries, the 16th and 17th.
When the...
THE WONDERS OF LOCAL CUISINE
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You might like to sample gazpacho, the famous chilled tomato soup you may have seen in Almodovar’s films, or a slice or two of jamon, the ham so popular that every Spaniard is said to have one...
PLAZA MAYOR
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It is an impressive 129 meters long and 94 wide. If you managed to avoid being distracted by the various portrait painters, acrobats, soap bubble blowers, or mannequin bullfighters and dancers,...
ROYAL PALACE
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You should know that long ago in the Muslim era, the mighty castle Alcázar stood tall in the northwestern part of the city's historical center. It was modified and expanded several times until...
RETIRO PARK
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"El Retiro" is the real green lung of Madrid's city center!
The park extends for more than 125 hectares, and is the favorite green space of Madrid's inhabitants. You can enjoy it as if it...
PRADO
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The Prado Museum houses one of the most important art collections in the world.
There's a saying in Madrid: you visit the Prado twice in your lifetime, first while holding your father's hand, then...
THYSSEN MUSEUM
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Before focusing on the museum, however, I'd like to show you a beautiful square in this area: it's Plaza Cánovas del Castillo, and it's dedicated to a Spanish politician who was assassinated...
PUERTA DEL SOL AND CALLE ARENAL
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Madrid's Old Town is one of the most exciting places in the world!
The lively half-oval shaped square where you now stand is the heart of Madrid and the most lively point of its historical, social,...
ESCORIAL
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El Escorial is one of the most fascinating and historically rich places in all of Spain!
The grand monastery in front of you, here in the heart of the Sierra de Guadarrama forty kilometers from the...
REINA SOFIA MUSEUM
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The Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía is one of the world's most famous collections of modern art!
If the building housing the museum seems a bit sad despite the interventions of great...
GRAN VIA
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The idea of a Gran Vía, or a "Great Way" connecting the capital's new eastern districts with the western ones and going around the narrow and chaotic central streets came about in...
ALMUDENA CATHEDRAL
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Almudena Cathedral is one of Europe's most beautiful churches from the 1900s!
You're standing in Plaza Juan Pablo II, dominated by the statue of Pope John Paul II and surrounded by four fountains and...
CIBELES
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You're still right in the middle of the museum "triangle", not far from the Prado and the Thyssen Museums. The fountain that you see in the center of the square is dedicated to Cybele, the...
MUSEUM CERRALBO
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The beautiful stone and brick facade before you was originally the family home of Don Enrique de Aguilera y Gamboa, the seventeenth Marquis of Cerralbo, who also used the home to display the works of...
SAN MIGUEL MARKET AND SURROUNDINGS
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To fully appreciate its ingenious external structure designed by the Italian architect Giacomo Bonavia, I suggest sitting on one of the granite blocks located near the entrance of the municipal...
DESCALZAS REALES
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This monastery is one of the most magnificent monuments in Madrid!
Just a short distance from Puerta del Sol, the Monasterio de las Descalzas Reales is part convent, part museum, and partly a place...
COLLEGIATE CHURCH OF SAN ISIDRO
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The Collegiate Church is one of the most well-loved churches by the inhabitants of Madrid! If you cross Calle Toledo, with one of the gates of Plaza Mayor on your right, you're in the best spot to...
MERCADO DEL RASTRO
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The Mercado del Rastro is one of the most picturesque places in the entire city! Madrid's historic flea market is set up every Sunday and on holidays, right here around the popular Plaza de Cascorro,...
LAZARO GALDIANO MUSEUM
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The beautiful neo-Renaissance style building before you surrounded by an orange wall was built in the early twentieth century, and is the home of the Lázaro Galdiano Museum.
Let me tell you a...
ATOCHA STATION
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Estación de Atocha is one of the most curious places in Madrid!
You're in Plaza Emperador Carlos V, which the people of Madrid usually call Plaza de Atocha. On the right, from above, you can...
LOS JERONIMOS
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Los Jeronimos is one of the most beautiful churches in Madrid!
You are now standing behind the Prado Museum, where the church of San Jerónimo el Real, or simply "Los Jeronimos"...
ROYAL BASILICA OF SAN FRANCISCO
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The Royal Basilica is one of the most spectacular churches in Madrid!
Going downhill on Carrera de San Francisco from Plaza Puerta de Moros, the Royal Basilica de San Francisco el Grande will appear...
MODERN MADRID
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one of the most interesting neighborhoods of 20th-century Madrid!
You are in the heart of the so-called New Ministries zone, where the Hippodrome once stood.
On your right, you can take in one of the...
PLAZA DE TOROS
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The "Las Ventas" Bullring is one of the most famous monuments in the world!
The decidedly scenic arena which hosts bullfights appears before you in all its grandeur as soon as you exit the...
PLAZA DE LA PAJA
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It is an irregularly shaped, sloping square typical of medieval Madrid, and its name comes from the fact that here "paja", or straw, was fed to the mules that belonged to the chaplain of...
PLAZA TIRSO DE MOLINA
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This square was once called Plaza del Progreso: it marks the northern limit of the "Lavapiés" district, and pays tribute to one of the greatest Spanish poets and playwrights who...
PUERTA DE ALCALÀ
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There it stands before you, the Alcalá Gate in the middle of a roundabout in the 19th-century Plaza de la Independencia, among the spectacular exteriors of some expensive restaurants and an...
BOTANICAL GARDEN
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The garden's main entrance is the Puerta del Rey, which was built by the Sicilian architect Francesco Sabatini around the end of the 1700s. If you're wondering why it's closed, it's because it's only...
SANTA CRUZ SQUARE
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The square you are standing in is the heart of the "Lavapies" neighborhood, which literally means "foot-washing": you may wonder why it has this strange name. You should know that...
SANTIAGO BERNABEU STADIUM
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The first thing that will amaze you about the stadium that is the home to the famous team Real Madrid is its proximity to commercial and residential buildings. Additionally, it's located in a central...
NATIONAL LIBRARY
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This venerable institution was founded in the early 1700s by Philip V as the "Royal Library" thanks to the fact that its first nucleus belonged to the royal collections. In its three...
