Plaza Mayor
The most emblematic plaza of Madrid
This arcaded square is the heart of the Madrid de los Austrias, the old quarter of the city and the ideal starting point for a visit to one of the most charming neighborhoods.
Before Madrid was a capital of great avenues and boulevards, its map was made up of small streets and passages, which today take us to times of swordsmen and rogues.
The fires, however, have changed the physiognomy of the plaza on several occasions. The most devastating was the one of 1790, which allowed the reconstruction carried out by the architect Juan de Villanueva, who reduced the facades in two heights, closed the square in its corners and raised nine access arches.
Mercado de San Miguel
Tradition reconverted in the present
Inaugurated in May 1916 as a food market, this centenary establishment (one of the few and best examples of iron architecture in the city) became the first food market in Madrid in May 2009. During 2018, the market experienced a period of consolidation of a large part of its gastronomic content.
Located in the center of Madrid de los Austrias and with more than 10 million visitors a year, the Mercado de San Miguel is the gastronomic temple of the city, the contemporary essence of all corners of Spanish cuisine. From the best Iberian ham to the freshest seafood arrived daily from Galicia, Mediterranean rices or the most special cheeses from Castilla, Asturias or the Basque Country.
Products and premium wines that arrive from all corners of Spain distributed in 30 fixed positions plus 3 in movable support format.
Puerta del sol
The authentic center of the capital
Central and bustling, the Plaza de la Puerta del Sol is one of the emblems of Madrid. In its semicircular plant converge several of the most historic and busiest streets of the city, such as Mayor, Arenal, Alcalá or Preciados, and it concentrates several of the most representative elements of this city.
La latina
Typical area where to eat tapas.
Its streets, of medieval origin, have mostly irregular, narrow and winding paths that lead to squares. Many of these routes were located outside the walls that delimited the citadel, that is to say, that they were the suburbs of the old medieval Madrid and served as lodging for many merchants who came to the city to sell their merchandise.
The distribution of bars, restaurants and drinking places is attractive and varied for all tastes, this being one of the neighborhoods to visit for eating tapas or nightlife.
The commercial offer in this area has a great protagonist, the Rastro. The Madrid street market is one of the main attractions of the city and one of the must-see dates if you are visiting Madrid.
Lavapiés
Multicultural and charming neighborhood
The tourist area of Lavapiés is located southeast of the central core of the city. Like its neighboring district of La Latina, its steep streets, narrow and its irregular path, conserve their medieval origin as a suburb that extended outside the citadel when Madrid became the capital of the kingdom in 1561.
Since then, Lavapiés has maintained its character as a neighborhood inhabited mainly by the popular classes of the city. This has led to buildings of a peculiar physiognomy: dwellings of various heights housings built around a central courtyard, called corralas, whose best example can be found at the confluence of Tribulete and Mesón de Paredes streets.
Callao
Emblematic building and shopping area
The Carrión building, popularly called the Capitol, built in 1931 according to plans from Luis Martínez Feduchi and Vicente Eced. The Capitol cinema, on the ground floor of the building, preserves the essence of modernism. The building has 14 floors and was one of the highest of its time in Madrid. The luminous neon of the Schweppes brand located on the upper floors is one of the symbols of the Gran Vía and the city and has appeared in numerous films.
The Preciados street is famous in the whole city, here are located many fashion shops, as well as a large shopping center, the English Court. Parallel to it is Carmen street, also with great commercial activity. Both are pedestrian.
Gran vía
Main boulevard
The centenary Gran Vía is one of the main arteries of the city and one of its most emblematic avenues. Its creation, between 1910 and 1931, marked the beginning of the modernization of the city with the construction of the first skyscrapers in the country and the incursion of current architectural currents from the United States.
Because the project had to respect three religious buildings – the Oratory of Caballero de Gracia, the church of San José and the church of San Francisco de Borja – the layout of the avenue ended up being more irregular than expected. The result is a magnificent set of buildings that includes some as emblematic as the Metropolis, the Telefónica building, the Casino, the Capitol Building or the Callao cinema.
Palacio real
National Heritage
With an area of 135,000 m² and 3418 rooms (on the surface, almost twice as much as Buckingham Palace or Versailles Palace), it is the largest royal palace in Western Europe, and one of the largest in the world. It houses a valuable historical-artistic heritage, highlighting the set of musical instruments known as the Palatine Stradivarius, and very relevant collections from other disciplines such as painting, sculpture and tapestry. The state rooms and the artistic collections are open to visitors as long as there are no official acts.
It is also known as Eastern Palace, despite being located in the westernmost part of Madrid, due to its location in Eastern Plaza, so called being located east of the palace. To axis with the palace, and faced, is the other end of the square the Royal Theater.
Opera
Historical Monument
The Royal Theater is the opera house of Madrid. It is located in Eastern Plaza, in front of the Royal Palace. Its construction began in 1818, and was inaugurated in 1850. It remained uninterrupted as an opera house until 1925, when it had to close due to structural problems in the building. It did not reopen its doors until 1966, as a symphony concert hall. Between 1988 and 1997, it underwent an important remodeling that turned it into an operatic coliseum.