Imperial Madrid: Habsburg Alleys, Bourbon Palaces, and Secret Taverns
From Kilometre Zero and golden plazas to the colossal Royal Palace and Cervantes' literary taverns
Madrid · 7 stops · 10 min audio · Generated
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1. Puerta del Sol & Kilometre Zero: The Center of Spain
Puerta del Sol, 28013 Madrid
Stand right here in the center of the vast semicircular paving of Puerta del Sol and look down directly in front of the Royal Post House. Set flush into the granite stones beneath your shoes is a polished brass and granite slab: Kilómetro Cero. From this precise geographic marker, all six radial national highways of Spain measure their distances across the Iberian Peninsula.
Turn toward the entrance of Calle de Alcalá to spot the beloved four-meter bronze sculpture of El Oso y el Madroño: the Bear and the Strawberry Tree. Since the thirteenth century, this charming symbol has formed the coat of arms of Madrid, representing a historic treaty between the town council, who owned the wild pasture and game, and the Catholic church, who owned the surrounding timber and berry forests.
Look up at the clock tower of the Casa de Correos: every New Year's Eve, millions of Spaniards gather across this square and before television screens to eat twelve grapes, one for each stroke of the midnight chime, for twelve months of prosperity.
Follow Calle Mayor westward through the historic Habsburg quarter toward the grand arches of Plaza Mayor.
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2. Plaza Mayor: The Stage of Inquisitions and Bullfights
Plaza Mayor, 28012 Madrid
Step through the vaulted granite archway of the Arco de Cuchilleros and emerge into the grand enclosed red-brick rectangle of Plaza Mayor. Stand beside the bronze equestrian statue of King Philip the Third in the center. Commissioned by King Philip the Second and completed in sixteen nineteen by royal architect Juan Gómez de Mora, this monumental porticoed square was the grand ceremonial stage of Imperial Spain.
Look at the two hundred and thirty-seven balconies looking down onto the cobblestones: during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, thousands of spectators paid fortunes to rent these windows for royal coronations, public executions, bullfights, and the dreaded autos-da-fé of the Spanish Inquisition, where condemned heretics were sentenced before cheering crowds.
Look at the Casa de la Panadería, the Bakery House, on the northern side: its twin slate-roofed spires and colorful mythological frescoes by Carlos Franco evoke the guild craftsmen who regulated the price and distribution of bread across the capital.
Walk down the steps of the Arco de Cuchilleros toward the iron-and-glass market of San Miguel.
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3. Mercado de San Miguel: The Cast-Iron Temple of Tapas
Plaza de San Miguel, 28005 Madrid
Stop right before the soaring glass and ornate black cast-iron framework of the Mercado de San Miguel. Look through the sparkling glass at the vibrant stalls overflowing with crimson slices of cured Jamón Ibérico de Bellota, skewers of Cantabrian anchovies, and chilled glasses of Rioja wine. You are looking at the only surviving nineteenth-century iron food market in all of Madrid.
Inaugurated in May nineteen sixteen, the market was inspired by the great glass market halls of Paris like Les Halles. Before the iron pavilion was erected, this open square housed a fish and produce market that stood on the graveyard of the medieval San Miguel Church, which had burned to the ground in eighteen zero nine.
By the late twentieth century, modern supermarkets almost drove this historic market to closure. In two thousand and nine, private culinary investors restored the antique iron columns, turning it into Spain's premier gastronomic food hall where master chefs and sommeliers showcase regional artisan tapas.
Savor the tempting aromas before continuing along Calle Mayor toward Plaza de la Villa.
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4. Plaza de la Villa & Tower of the Lujanes: Medieval Madrid
Plaza de la Villa, 28005 Madrid
Step into the quiet cobblestone square of Plaza de la Villa and pause beside the bronze statue of Spanish naval hero Don Álvaro de Bazán. Look around at the surrounding facades: before the grand avenues of the Bourbons were built, this charming plaza was the political nerve center of medieval and Renaissance Madrid, home to the town hall for centuries.
Look at the Gothic tower on the eastern side with its horseshoe arches and battlements: the Torre de los Lujanes. Built in the early fifteenth century in Mudéjar brick style, it is one of the absolute oldest non-religious buildings surviving in Madrid. According to Spanish historical tradition, King Francis the First of France was held prisoner inside this tower after being captured by Emperor Charles the Fifth at the Battle of Pavia in fifteen twenty-five.
Across the square stands the Casa de la Villa, designed in sixteen forty-four by Juan Gómez de Mora, where the city council met and town prisoners were once held in cellar lockups below.
Walk west along Calle Mayor as the street opens into the monumental esplanade of the Royal Palace.
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5. Royal Palace of Madrid: The Colossus of the Bourbons
C. de Bailén, s/n, 28071 Madrid
Step out onto the vast granite Plaza de la Armería and gaze up at the colossal white facade of the Palacio Real de Madrid. Spanning one hundred and thirty-five thousand square meters with over three thousand four hundred rooms, this is by floor area the largest functioning royal palace in Western Europe—almost double the size of Buckingham Palace or Versailles!
The palace stands on the high cliff where Madrid began: in the ninth century, Muslim Emir Muhammad the First of Córdoba constructed a fortified alcázar here named Mayrit to guard Toledo from Christian incursions. On Christmas Eve of seventeen thirty-four, a massive fire completely destroyed the old Habsburg palace. King Philip the Fifth, Spain's first Bourbon king, ordered this immense palace built entirely of stone and brick, with no wood allowed in the walls so it could never burn down again.
Italian architects Filippo Juvarra and Giovanni Battista Sacchetti designed this baroque masterpiece using dazzling white stone from nearby Colmenar de Oreja. Inside, rooms are adorned with frescoes by Tiepolo, Stradivarius violins, and the Spanish royal crown.
Turn across the plaza to face the twin neo-Gothic towers of Almudena Cathedral.
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6. Almudena Cathedral & The Neo-Romanesque Crypt
C. de Bailén 10, 28013 Madrid
Stand before the monumental grey and white facade of Almudena Cathedral, gazing up at the statues of Spanish saints flanking its balustrades. Notice how its exterior colors and classical columns match the Royal Palace directly opposite: when construction dragged on for over a century, architects deliberately altered the exterior to harmonize with the royal residence.
Although Madrid became the capital of Spain in fifteen sixty-one under King Philip the Second, the city lacked its own cathedral for more than four centuries because the powerful archbishops of Toledo fiercely opposed creating a rival diocese in Madrid! The first foundation stone was finally laid in eighteen eighty-three by King Alfonso the Twelfth.
Enter the subterranean crypt below: supported by over four hundred carved stone pillars, it is one of the largest Romanesque crypts in Spain. The upper cathedral was finally completed and consecrated in June nineteen ninety-three by Pope John Paul the Second, making it the only Spanish cathedral consecrated by a modern pope.
Walk north into the landscaped gardens of Plaza de Oriente.
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7. Plaza de Oriente & Philip IV Equestrian Monument
Plaza de Oriente, 28013 Madrid
Finish your walking tour in the center of Plaza de Oriente, looking up at the dramatic bronze equestrian statue of King Philip the Fourth. Notice how the king's war horse is rearing up on its two hind legs in mid-gallop, its front hooves suspended in thin air! Unveiled in sixteen forty, this statue was the very first monumental bronze sculpture in world history ever cast in a rearing pose without supporting props beneath the horse's belly.
How did the sculptor keep a multi-ton bronze horse from toppling over? Italian master Pietro Tacca consulted none other than astronomer and physicist Galileo Galilei! Galileo calculated that by casting the rear legs and tail out of solid bronze while casting the horse's head and chest completely hollow, the center of gravity would shift safely over the rear hooves.
The horse's proud head was sculpted using sketches sent directly from Madrid by royal painter Diego Velázquez. Surrounding the gardens stand twenty limestone statues of medieval Spanish kings, originally carved to adorn the roof of the Royal Palace before Queen Isabella the Second had them moved down to prevent structural collapse.
Rest on a marble bench as the fountain waters sparkle in the evening sun. You have uncovered the regal majesty and hidden tales that shaped Madrid.