Essential Madrid

Today we went to visit the center of Madrid. To get there we caught the metro from Nuevos Ministerios to Sol. It took us a little more time than we expected because Line 1 was under construction, so we had to walk very fast to make it on time. At noon we arrived to the Main Square (Plaza Mayor) and there was the guide. He gave us headphones to listen to him and not miss a word he said about "Madrid de los Austrias" and "La Latina" neighbourhoods.

 

We walked down "Ciudad Rodrigo" door, where the guide pointed at a bar whose façade was made of wood. He said that all the bars and restaurants that we saw like that one and were painted of a red color, meant that wine was sold inside. After it we stopped at Sant Michael's Market (Mercado de San Miguel). It was built in 1916 to resemble Les Halles Market of Paris, first building made of iron and glass at the Universal Exhibition held in France. 

After that we continued our walk towards "Plaza de Oriente" but we made a short stop at Ramales. It is a square where the famous painter Velazquez was thought to be burried. However after the demolition of the church, his remains are missing. To conmemorate the place, there is a statue with his name on it. 

A few steps more and we made it to the Royal Palace. A building that resembles another European building: The Palace of the Austrias. On top of the main entrance there are statues of some of the first kings of Spain. The rest of them were located in a boulevard in front of it, surrounding the statue of Philip IV riding a horse. This statue is very famous because it was the first statue of a horse with the front legs up in the air. It was done after a painting done by Velazquez.   

 

After that we continued with our fieldtrip. We saw the Cathedral of Almudena, made in a neogothic style except for the façade, which was a copy of the building in front of it. This particular cathedral took 100 years to be built because of the several wars that took place in Spain at that time. 

Then we crossed Segovia's bridge and enjoyed some traditional Spanish music "chotis", and learnt that it actually comes from the Bohemian region. 

After resting for a bit we headed into La Latina neighbourhood and visited Saint Andrews' Chucrh and Saint Peter the Old Church. They are both famous for different reasons. The first one is where Saint Isidro did one of his 400 miracles, and the second one is the home of one of the most followed images of Jesus in Madrid, "Jesus the Poor".

And finally we went to Villa Square, where the city hall was located for many years before it was moved to Cibeles Palace in 2007.

It was a rich morning walking down the streets of Madrid!                   

By S. Z

How to get there

Essential Madrid