Madrid

Madrid is the capital of Spain, and the largest municipality of the Community of Madrid. The population of the city is almost 3.2 million with a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.5 million. It is the third-largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan area is the third-largest in the European Union after London and Paris. Located in south-western Europe, the city spans a total of 604.3 km2 (233.3 sq mi).

The city is located on the Manzanares in the centre of both the country and the Community of Madrid (which comprises the city of Madrid, its conurbation and extended suburbs and villages); this community is bordered by the autonomous communities of Castile and León and Castile-La Mancha. As the capital city of Spain, seat of government, and residence of the Spanish monarch, Madrid is also the political, economic and cultural centre of Spain. The current mayor is Manuela Carmena from Ahora Madrid.

The Madrid urban agglomeration has the third-largest GDP in the European Union and its influences in politics, education, entertainment, environment, media, fashion, science, culture, and the arts all contribute to its status as one of the world's major global cities. Madrid is home to two world-famous football clubs, Real Madrid and Atlético de Madrid. Due to its economic output, high standard of living, and market size, Madrid is considered the major financial centre of Southern Europe and the Iberian Peninsula; it hosts the head offices of the vast majority of major Spanish companies, such as Telefónica, Iberia, and Repsol. Madrid is the 17th most livable city in the world according to Monocle magazine, in its 2014 index.

Madrid houses the headquarters of the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), belonging to the United Nations Organization (UN), the SEGIB, the Organization of Ibero-American States (OEI), and the Public Interest Oversight Board (PIOB). It also hosts major international regulators of Spanish: the Standing Committee of the Association of Spanish Language Academies, headquarters of the Royal Spanish Academy (RAE), the Cervantes Institute and the Foundation of Urgent Spanish (Fundéu BBVA). Madrid organizes fairs such as FITUR, ARCO, SIMO TCI and the Cibeles Madrid Fashion Week.

While Madrid possesses modern infrastructure, it has preserved the look and feel of many of its historic neighbourhoods and streets. Its landmarks include the Royal Palace of Madrid; the Royal Theatre with its restored 1850 Opera House; the Buen Retiro Park, founded in 1631; the 19th-century National Library building (founded in 1712) containing some of Spain's historical archives; a large number of national museums, and the Golden Triangle of Art, located along the Paseo del Prado and comprising three art museums: Prado Museum, the Reina Sofía Museum, a museum of modern art, and the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum, which completes the shortcomings of the other two museums. Cibeles Palace and Fountain have become the monument symbol of the city.[dubious – discuss][unreliable source?] The Plaza was built in 1900 it was originally named Plaza de Castelar however this name was replaced, by the well known name it has become today, Plaza de Cibeles.

Etymology

The first documented reference of the city originates in Andalusan times as the Arabic مجريط Majrīṭ (AFI [maʤriːtˁ]), which was retained in Medieval Spanish as Magerit ([maʤeˈɾit]). A wider number of theories have been formulated on possible earlier origins.

According to legend, Madrid was founded by Ocno Bianor (son of King Tyrrhenius of Tuscany and Mantua) and was named "Metragirta" or "Mantua Carpetana". Others contend that the original name of the city was "Ursaria" ("land of bears" in Latin), because of the many bears that were to be found in the nearby forests, which, together with the strawberry tree (Spanish madroño), have been the emblem of the city from the Middle Ages.

The most ancient recorded name of the city "Magerit" (for *Materit or *Mageterit?) comes from the name of a fortress built on the Manzanares River in the 9th century AD, and means "Place of abundant water". If the form is correct, it could be a Celtic place-name from ritu- 'ford' (Old Welsh rit, Welsh rhyd, Old Breton rit, Old Northern French roy) and a first element, that is not clearly identified *mageto derivation of magos 'field, plain' (Old Irish mag 'field', Breton ma 'place'), or matu 'bear', that could explain the Latin translation Ursalia.

Nevertheless, it is also speculated that the origin of the current name of the city comes from the 2nd century BC. The Roman Empire established a settlement on the banks of the Manzanares river. The name of this first village was "Matrice" (a reference to the river that crossed the settlement). Following the invasions carried out by the Germanic Sueves and Vandals, as well as the Sarmatic Alans during the 5th century AD, the Roman Empire no longer had the military presence required to defend its territories on the Iberian Peninsula, and as a consequence, these territories were soon occupied by the Vandals, who were in turn dispelled by the Visigoths, who then ruled Hispania in the name of the Roman emperor, also taking control of "Matrice". In the 8th century, the Islamic conquest of the Iberian Peninsula saw the name changed to "Mayrit", from the Arabic term ميرا Mayra (referencing water as a 'tree' or 'giver of life') and the Ibero-Roman suffix it that means 'place'. The modern "Madrid" evolved from the Mozarabic "Matrit", which is still in the Madrilenian gentilic.

History

Middle Ages

Although the site of modern-day Madrid has been occupied since prehistoric times, and there are archeological remains of Carpetani settlement, Roman villas, a Visigoth basilica near the church of Santa María de la Almudena and three Visigoth necropoleis near Casa de Campo, Tetúan and Vicálvaro, the first historical document about the existence of an established settlement in Madrid dates from the Muslim age. At the second half of the 9th century, Emir Muhammad I of Córdoba built a fortress on a headland near the river Manzanares, as one of the many fortresses he ordered to be built on the border between Al-Andalus and the kingdoms of León and Castile, with the objective of protecting Toledo from the Christian invasions and also as a starting point for Muslim offensives. After the disintegration of the Caliphate of Córdoba, Madrid was integrated in the Taifa of Toledo.

With the surrender of Toledo to Alfonso VI of León and Castile, the city was conquered by Christians in 1085, and it was integrated into the kingdom of Castile as a property of the Crown. Christians replaced Muslims in the occupation of the center of the city, while Muslims and Jews settled in the suburbs. The city was thriving and was given the title of Villa, whose administrative district extended from the Jarama in the east to the river Guadarrama in the west. The government of the town was vested to the neighboring of Madrid since 1346, when king Alfonso XI of Castile implements the regiment, for which only the local oligarchy was taking sides in city decisions. Since 1188, Madrid won the right to be a city with representation in the courts of Castile. In 1202, King Alfonso VIII of Castile gave Madrid its first charter to regulate the municipal council, which was expanded in 1222 by Ferdinand III of Castile.

In 1309, the Courts of Castile were joined in Madrid for the first time under Ferdinand IV of Castile, and later in 1329, 1339, 1391, 1393, 1419 and twice in 1435. Since the unification of the kingdoms of Spain under a common Crown, the Courts were convened in Madrid more often.

Modern Age

During the revolt of the Comuneros, led by Juan de Padilla, Madrid joined the revolt against Emperor Charles V of Germany and I of Spain, but after defeat at the Battle of Villalar, Madrid was besieged and occupied by the royal troops. However, Charles I was generous to the town and gave it the titles of Coronada (Crowned) and Imperial. When Francis I of France was captured at the battle of Pavia, he was imprisoned in Madrid. And in the village is dated the Treaty of Madrid of 1526 (later denounced by the French) that resolved their situation.

View of Madrid from the west, facing the Puerta de la Vega (1562), by Anton van den Wyngaerde (called in Spain Antonio de las Viñas), commissioned by Philip II to collect views of his cities. Is seen in the foreground the banks of the Manzana, crossed by the predecessors to the Segovia Bridge (in the first third), and the Toledo Bridge (further south, right), which was built in a monumental form years later. The most prominent building in the north (left) is the Alcázar, which was part of the walled circuit and which would undergo several fires until the fatal one in 1734 that almost completely destroyed it and was replaced by the current Palacio Real. The following churches are seen in the village (from left to right: San Gil, San Juan, Santiago, San Salvador, Iglesia de San Miguel de los Octoes, San Nicolás, Santa María, San Justo, San Pedro, Capilla del Obispo, San Andrés and, outside the walls, San Francisco), that do not yet have even the profile of domes and chapiters by which they would be characterized in the following centuries. Outside the walls and on the river, there is a craft facility dedicated to the treatment of hides: the Pozacho Tanneries. The recent installation of the court imposed a regalía de aposento tax on private houses, which produced all kinds of resistance including, most notably, the construction of Casas a la malicia.

In general urban area grew the number of inhabitants, from 4,060 in the year 1530 to 37,500 in the year 1594. The poor population of the court was composed of ex-soldiers, foreigners, rogues and Ruanes, dissatisfied with the lack of food and high prices. In June 1561, when the town had 30,000 inhabitants, Philip II of Spain moved his court from Valladolid to Madrid, installing it in the old castle. Thanks to this, the city of Madrid became the political center of the monarchy, being the capital of Spain except for a short period between 1601 and 1606 (Philip III of Spain's government), in which the Court returned to Valladolid. This fact was decisive for the evolution of the city and influenced its fate. A famous expression indicated that identity: "Sólo Madrid es corte" (Madrid is the only court) which, conceptually, is also understood backwards: "Madrid es sólo corte" (Madrid is just court).

During the reign of Philip III and Philip IV of Spain, Madrid saw a period of exceptional cultural brilliance, with the presence of geniuses such as Miguel de Cervantes, Diego Velázquez, Francisco de Quevedo and Lope de Vega.

Puerta de Alcalá

The death of Charles II of Spain resulted in the War of the Spanish succession. The city supported the claim of Philip of Anjou as Philip V. While the city was occupied in 1706 by a Portuguese army, who proclaimed king the Archduke Charles of Austria under the name of Charles III, and again in 1710, remained loyal to Philip V.

Philip V built the Royal Palace, the Royal Tapestry Factory and the main Royal Academies. But the most important Bourbon was King Charles III of Spain, who was known as "the best mayor of Madrid". Charles III took upon himself the feat of transforming Madrid into a capital worthy of this category. He ordered the construction of sewers, street lighting, cemeteries outside the city, and many monuments (Puerta de Alcalá, Cibeles Fountain), and cultural institutions (El Prado Museum, Royal Botanic Gardens, Royal Observatory, etc.). Despite being known as one of the greatest benefactors of Madrid, his beginnings were not entirely peaceful, as in 1766 he had to overcome the Esquilache Riots, a traditionalist revolt instigated by the nobility and clergy against his reformist intentions, demanding the repeal of the clothing decree ordering the shortening of the layers and the prohibition of the use of hats that hide the face, with the aim of reducing crime in the city.

The reign of Charles IV of Spain is not very meaningful to Madrid, except for the presence of Goya in the Court, who portrayed the popular and courtly life of the city.

From the 19th century to present day

On 27 October 1807, Charles IV and Napoleon I signed the Treaty of Fontainebleau, which allowed the passage of French troops through Spanish territory to join the Spanish troops and invade Portugal, which had refused to obey the order of international blockade against England. As this was happening, there was the Mutiny of Aranjuez (17 March 1808), by which the crown prince, Ferdinand VII, replaced his father as king. However, when Ferdinand VII returned to Madrid, the city was already occupied by Joachim-Napoléon Murat, so that both the king and his father were virtually prisoners of the French army. Napoleon, took advantage of the weakness of the Spanish Bourbons, forcing both, first the father then the son, to join him in Bayonne, where Ferdinand arrived on 20 April.

In the absence of the two kings, the situation became more and more tense in the capital. On 2 May, a crowd began to gather at the Royal Palace. The crowd saw the French soldiers pulled out of the palace to the royal family members who were still in the palace. Immediately, the crowd launched an assault on the floats. The fight lasted hours and spread throughout Madrid. Subsequent repression was brutal. In the Paseo del Prado and in the fields of La Moncloa hundreds of patriots were shot due to Murat's order against "Spanish all carrying arms". Paintings such as The Third of May 1808 by Goya reflect the repression that ended the popular uprising on 2 May.

The Peninsular War against Napoleon, despite the last absolutist claims during the reign of Ferdinand VII, gave birth to a new country with a liberal and bourgeois character, open to influences coming from the rest of Europe. Madrid, the capital of Spain, experienced like no other city the changes caused by this opening and filled with theaters, cafes and newspapers. Madrid was frequently altered by revolutionary outbreaks and pronouncements, such as Vicálvaro 1854, led by General Leopoldo O'Donnell and initiating the progressive biennium. However, in the early 20th century Madrid looked more like a small town than a modern city. During the first third of the 20th century the population nearly doubled, reaching more than 950,000 inhabitants. New suburbs such as Las Ventas, Tetuán and El Carmen became the homes of the influx of workers, while Ensanche became a middle-class neighbourhood of Madrid.

Cuatro Torres Business Area

The Spanish Constitution of 1931 was the first legislated on the state capital, setting it explicitly in Madrid.

Madrid was one of the most heavily affected cities of Spain in the Civil War (1936–1939). The city was a stronghold of the Republicans from July 1936. Its western suburbs were the scene of an all-out battle in November 1936 and it was during the Civil War that Madrid became the first European city to be bombed by aeroplanes (Japan was the first to bomb civilians in world history, at Shanghai in 1932) specifically targeting civilians in the history of warfare. (See Siege of Madrid (1936–39)).

During the economic boom in Spain from 1959 to 1973, the city experienced unprecedented, extraordinary development in terms of population and wealth, becoming the largest GDP city in Spain, and ranking third in Western Europe. The municipality was extended, annexing neighbouring council districts, to achieve the present extension of 607 km2 (234.36 sq mi). The south of Madrid became very industrialized, and there were massive migrations from rural areas of Spain into the city. Madrid's newly built north-western districts became the home of the new thriving middle class that appeared as result of the 1960s Spanish economic boom, while the south-eastern periphery became an extensive working-class settlement, which was the base for an active cultural and political reform.

After the death of Franco and the start of the democratic regime, the 1978 constitution confirmed Madrid as the capital of Spain. In 1979, the first municipal elections brought Madrid's first democratically elected mayor since the Second Republic. Madrid was the scene of some of the most important events of the time, such as the mass demonstrations of support for democracy after the foiled coup, 23-F, on 23 February 1981. The first democratic mayors belonged to the leftist parties (Enrique Tierno Galván, Juan Barranco Gallardo), turning the city after more conservative positions (Agustín Rodríguez Sahagún, José María Álvarez del Manzano, Alberto Ruiz-Gallardón and Ana Botella). Benefiting from increasing prosperity in the 1980s and 1990s, the capital city of Spain has consolidated its position as an important economic, cultural, industrial, educational, and technological centre on the European continent.

Madrid seen from Buenavista Hill

Geography

Location

Water supply

Madrid derives almost 73.5 percent of its water supply from dams and reservoirs built on the Lozoya River, such as the El Atazar Dam, which was built in 1972 and inaugurated by Francisco Franco. This water supply is managed by Canal de Isabel II, a public entity created in 1851. It is responsible for the supply, depurating waste water and the conservation of all the Comunidad de Madrid region natural water resources.

Metropolitan area

The Madrid metropolitan area comprises the city of Madrid and forty surrounding municipalities. It has a population of slightly more than 6.271 million people and covers an area of 46,097 square kilometres (17,798 sq mi). It is the largest metropolitan area in Spain and the third largest in the European Union.

As with many metropolitan areas of similar size, two distinct zones of urbanisation can be distinguished:

• Inner ring (primera corona): Alcorcón, Leganés, Getafe, Móstoles, Fuenlabrada, Coslada, Alcobendas, Pozuelo de Alarcón, San Fernando de Henares
• Outer ring (segunda corona): Villaviciosa de Odón, Parla, Pinto, Valdemoro, Rivas-Vaciamadrid, Torrejón de Ardoz, Alcalá de Henares, San Sebastián de los Reyes, Tres Cantos, Las Rozas de Madrid, Majadahonda, Boadilla del Monte

The largest suburbs are to the South, and in general along the main routes leading out of Madrid.

Submetropolitan areas inside Madrid metropolitan area:

Submetropolitan area Area
(km²) Population
(pop.) Density
(pop./km²) Madrid – Majadahonda 996.1 3,580,828 3,595.0 Móstoles – Alcorcón 315.1 430,349 1,365.6 Fuenlabrada – Leganés – Getafe – Parla – Pinto – Valdemoro 931.7 822,806 883.1 Alcobendas 266.4 205,905 772.9 Arganda del Rey – Rivas-Vaciamadrid 343.6 115,344 335.7 Alcalá de Henares – Torrejón de Ardoz 514.6 360,380 700.3 Colmenar Viejo – Tres Cantos 419.1 104,650 249.7 Collado Villalba 823.1 222,769 270.6 Madrid metropolitan area 4,609.7 5,843,031 1,267.6

Art and culture

Museums and art centres

Madrid is considered one of the top European destinations concerning art museums. Best known is the Golden Triangle of Art, located along the Paseo del Prado and comprising three museums. The most famous one is the Prado Museum, known for such highlights as Diego Velázquez's Las Meninas and Francisco de Goya's La maja vestida and La maja desnuda. The other two museums are the Thyssen Bornemisza Museum, established from a mixed private collection, and the Reina Sofía Museum, where Pablo Picasso's Guernica hangs, returned to Spain from New York after more than two decades.

The Prado Museum (Museo del Prado) is a museum and art gallery that features one of the world's finest collections of European art, from the 12th century to the early 19th century, based on the former Spanish Royal Collection. The collection currently comprises around 7,600 paintings, 1,000 sculptures, 4,800 prints and 8,200 drawings, in addition to a large number of works of art and historic documents. El Prado is one of the most visited museums in the world, and it is considered to be among the greatest museums of art. It has the best collection of artworks by Goya, Velázquez, El Greco, Rubens, Titian, Hieronymus Bosch, José de Ribera and Patinir; and works by Rogier van der Weyden, Raphael Sanzio, Tintoretto, Veronese, Caravaggio, Van Dyck, Albrecht Dürer, Claude Lorrain, Murillo and Zurbarán, among others. Among the most famous paintings in this museum are 'Las Meninas,' ‘The immaculate Conception,’ and ‘The judgement of Paris.'

Reina Sofía Museum

The Reina Sofía Museum, in full Reina Sofía National Art Museum (Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, abbreviated as MNCARS), is the Spain's national museum of 20th-century art. The museum is mainly dedicated to Spanish art. Highlights of the museum include excellent collections of Spain's greatest 20th-century masters, Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dalí, Joan Miró, Juan Gris and Julio González. Certainly the most famous masterpiece in the museum is Picasso's painting Guernica. The Reina Sofía also hosts a free-access library specializing in art, with a collection of over 100,000 books, over 3,500 sound recordings and almost 1,000 videos.

The Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum (Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza) is an art museum that fills the historical gaps in its counterparts' collections: in the Prado's case this includes Italian primitives and works from the English, Dutch and German schools, while in the case of the Reina Sofía the Thyssen-Bornemisza collection, once the second largest private collection in the world after the British Royal Collection, includes Impressionists, Expressionists, and European and American paintings from the second half of the 20th century, with over 1,600 paintings.

The Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando (Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando) currently functions as a museum and gallery that houses a fine art collection of paintings from the 15th to 20th centuries: Giovanni Bellini, Correggio, Rubens, Zurbarán, Murillo, Goya, Juan Gris, Pablo Serrano. The academy is also the headquarters of the Madrid Academy of Art. Francisco Goya was once one of the academy's directors, and, its alumni include Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dalí, Antonio López García, Juan Luna, and Fernando Botero.

Royal Armoury of Madrid, located in the Royal Palace of Madrid

The Royal Palace of Madrid (Palacio Real de Madrid) is the official residence of Felipe VI of Spain, but he uses it only for official acts. It is a baroque palace full of artworks and is one of the largest European Royal Palaces, characterized by its luxurious rooms and its rich collections of armors and weapons, pharmaceuticals, silverware, watches, paintings, tapestries and the most comprehensive collection of Stradivarius in the world

The National Archaeological Museum (Museo Arqueológico Nacional) collection includes, among others, Pre-historic, Celtic, Iberian, Greek and Roman antiquities and medieval (Visigothic, Muslim and Christian) objects. Highlights include a replica of the Altamira cave (the first cave in which prehistoric cave paintings were discovered), Lady of Elx (an enigmatic polychrome stone bust), Lady of Baza (a famous example of Iberian sculpture), Biche of Balazote (an Iberian sculpture) and Treasure of Guarrazar (a treasure that represents the best surviving group of Early Medieval Christian votive offerings and the high point of Visigothic goldsmith's work).

The Museum of the Americas (Museo de América) is a National museum that holds artistic, archaeological and ethnographic collections from the whole American continent, ranging from the Paleolithic period to the present day. The permanent exhibit is divided into five major thematical areas: an awareness of America, the reality of America, society, religion and communication.

The National Museum of Natural Sciences (Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales) is the National Museum of Natural History of Spain. The research departments of the museum are: Biodiversity and Evolutionary Biology, Evolutionary Ecology, Paleobiology, Vulcanology and Geology.

The Naval Museum (Museo Naval) is managed by the Ministry of Defence. The Museum's mission is to acquire, preserve, investigate, report and display for study, education and contemplation, parts, sets and collections of historical, artistic, scientific and technical related to naval activity in order to disseminate the story sea of Spain; to help illustrate, highlight and preserve their traditions and promote national maritime awareness.

El Aquelarre, Francisco de Goya. Lázaro Galdiano Museum

The Convent of Las Descalzas Reales (Monasterio de las Descalzas Reales) resides in the former palace of King Charles I of Spain and Isabella of Portugal. Their daughter, Joan of Austria, founded this convent of nuns of the Poor Clare order in 1559. Throughout the remainder of the 16th century and into the 17th century, the convent attracted young widowed or spinster noblewomen. Each woman brought with her a dowry. The riches quickly piled up, and the convent became one of the richest convents in all of Europe. It has many works of Renaissance and Baroque art, including a recumbent Christ by Gaspar Becerra, a staircase whose paintings were painted by unknown author (perhaps Velázquez) and they are considered of the masterpieces of Spanish illusionist painting, and Brussels tapestries inspired by paintings of Rubens.

The Museum of Lázaro Galdiano (Museo de Lázaro Galdiano) houses an encyclopedic collection specializing in decorative arts.

Apart from paintings and sculptures it displays 10th-century Byzantine enamel; Arab and Byzantine ivory chests; Hellenistic, Roman, medieval, renaissance, baroque and romantic jewelry; Pisanello and Pompeo Leoni medals; Spanish and Italian ceramics; Italian and Arab clothes and a collection of weapons including the sword of Pope Innocent VIII.

The National Museum of Decorative Arts (Museo Nacional de Artes Decorativas) is one of the oldest museums in the city. It illustrates the evolution of the called "minor arts" (furniture, ceramics and glass, textile, etc.). Its 60 rooms expones 15,000 objects, of the approximate 40,000 which it has.

The National Museum of Romanticism (Museo Nacional de Romanticismo) contains a large collection of artefacts and art, focusing on daily life and customs of the 19th century, with special attention to the aesthetics about Romanticism.

The Cerralbo Museum (Museo Cerralbo) houses a private collection of ancient works of art, artifacts and other antiquities collected by Enrique de Aguilera y Gamboa, XVII Cerralbo Marquis.

The National Museum of Anthropology (Museo Nacional de Antropología) provides an overview of the different cultures in the world, with objects and human remains from around the world, highlighting a Guanche mummy of the island of Tenerife.

The Sorolla Museum (Museo Sorolla) is located in the building in which the Valencian Impressionist painter had his home and workshop. The collection includes, in addition to numerous works of Joaquín Sorolla, a large number of objects that possessed the artist, including sculptures by Auguste Rodin.

CaixaForum Madrid is a post-modern art gallery in the centre of Madrid. It is sponsored by the Catalan-Balearic bank La Caixa and located next to the Salón del Prado. Although the CaixaForum is a modern building, it also exhibits retrospectives of artists from earlier time periods and has evolved into one of the most-visited museums in Madrid. It was constructed by the Swiss architects Herzog & de Meuron from 2001 to 2007, which combined an old, unused, industrial building and hollowed it out at the base and inside and placed on top further floors which are encased with rusted steel. Next to it is an art installation of green plants growing on the wall of the neighbouring house by French botanist Patrick Blanc. The red of the top floors with the green of the wall next to it form a contrast. The green is in reflection of the neighbouring Royal Botanical Gardens.

Major cultural centres organize parallel cultural events and they are housed in unique buildings:

Fine arts circle

Centrocentro is an exhibition space in Cibeles Palace, formerly the Palace of Communications and now the City Hall. Two social areas have been set up and offer catalogues and publications about current exhibitions and cultural events along the Art Walk. Near these social areas are two large street maps showing the 59 institutions, monuments and buildings of special interest that make the Art Walk such a diverse experience.

The Fine Arts Circle (Círculo de Bellas Artes), built by Antonio Palacios, is one of Madrid's oldest arts centres and one of the most important private cultural centres in Europe. It is a multidisciplinary centre with activities ranging from visual art to literature, from science and philosophy to film and the performing arts. Nowadays it hosts exhibitions, shows, film screenings, conferences and workshops; its radio and magazine Minerva play an important part in the country's cultural life.

Matadero Madrid, literally "Madrid Abattoir", is a complex situated by the river Manzanares and their buildings shape an architectural ensemble devoted to performance arts, which is managed and programmed by the Teatro Español. Matadero is a flexible area that allows the autonomous operation of these three interconnected spaces: a theatre café, which accommodates small-scale shows, a large stage, for all sorts of genres and the most experimental options, and a third building for dressing rooms and areas for training, debate, analysis and rehearsing new productions.

Conde Duque cultural centre has expanded the amount of space dedicated to culture and art. The new installations now accommodate a theatre, an exhibition hall and an auditorium with a programme running all year long.

Other art galleries and museums in Madrid include:

• Liria Palace
• Spanish Air Force Museum
• Royal Palace of El Pardo
• Railway Museum

• Royal Palace of Madrid

• Lady of Elche (National Archaeological Museum)

• Museum of the Americas

• National Museum of Natural Sciences

• Royal Palace of El Pardo

• Museum of Madrid History

• National Archaeological Museum of Spain

Landmarks

In the year 2006 Madrid was the fourth most visited city in Europe and the first of Spain, with almost seven million tourists. It is also the seat of the World Tourism Organization and the International Tourism Fair – FITUR.

Most of the tourist attractions of Madrid are in the old town and the Ensanche, corresponding with the districts of Centro, Salamanca, Chamberí, Retiro and Arganzuela. The nerve centre of the city is the Puerta del Sol, starting point for the numbering of all city streets and all the country's highways.

The Calle de Alcalá or Alcalá Street leads from the Puerta del Sol from the NE of the city. From the street you get from Plaza de Cibeles. Subsequently, the street reaches the "Plaza de la Independencia", which includes the Puerta de Alcalá and an entrance to the Buen Retiro Park.

The Calle Mayor leads to Plaza Mayor continuing for the so-called Madrid de los Austrias, in reference to the Dynasty of Habsburg – finally reaching Calle de Bailén, near the Cathedral of the Almudena and the church of San Francisco el Grande.

The Calle del Arenal comes to Royal Theatre in Plaza de la Ópera, continuing through Plaza de Oriente, where the Royal Palace is it. From there the Calle Bailen leads to Plaza de España and the Temple of Debod, an Egyptian temple moved stone by stone to Spain in gratitude for their help in the construction of the Aswan Dam. Also in this square is the start of Gran Vía street.

Churches

Almudena Cathedral

Madrid has a considerable number of Catholic churches, some of them are among the most important Spanish religious artworks.

The oldest church that survives today is San Nicolás de los Servitas, whose oldest item is the bell tower (12th century), in Mudéjar style. The next oldest temple is San Pedro el Real, with its high brick tower.

St. Jerome Church is a gothic church next to El Prado Museum. The Catholic Monarchs ordered its construction in the 15th century, as part of a vanished monastery. The monastery's cloister is preserved. It has recently been renovated by Rafael Moneo, with the goal to house the neoclassical collection of El Prado Museum, and also sculptures by Leone Leoni and Pompeo Leoni.

The Bishop Chapel is a gothic chapel which was built in the 16th century by order of the Bishop of Plasencia, Gutierre de Vargas. It was originally built to house the remains of Saint Isidore Laborer (Madrid's patron saint), but it was used as the Vargas family mausoleum. Inside are the altairpiece and the tombs of the Vargas family, which were the work of Francisco Giralte, a disciple of Alonso Berruguete. They are considered masterpieces of Spanish Renaissance sculpture.

St. Isidore Church from the Plaza Mayor

St. Isidore Church was built between 1620 and 1664 by order of Empress Maria of Austria, daughter of Charles V of Germany and I of Spain, to become part of a school run by the Jesuits which still exists today. Its dome is the first example of a dome drawing on a wooden frame covered with plaster, which, given its lightness makes it easy to support the walls. It was the cathedral of Madrid between 1885 and 1993, which is the time it took to build the Almudena. The artwork inside were mostly burned during the Spanish Civil War, but it retained the tomb that holds the incorrupt body of Saint Isidore Laborer and the urn containing the ashes of his wife Maria Torribia.

Royal Convent of La Encarnación is an Augustinian Recollect convent. The institution, which belonged ladies of the nobility, was founded by Queen Margaret of Austria, wife of Philip III of Spain, in the early 17th century. Due to the frescoes and sculptures which houses is one of the most prominent temples in the city. The building's architect was Fray Alberto de la Madre de Dios, who built it between 1611 and 1616. The façade responds to an inspiring Herrerian style, with great austerity, and it was imitated by other Spanish churches. The church's interior is a sumptuous work by the great Baroque architect Ventura Rodriguez.

In the church are preserved shrines containing the blood of St. Januarius and St. Pantaleon, the second (according to tradition) liquefies every year on the saint's day on 27 July.

San Antonio de los Alemanes (St. Anthony Church) is a pretty 17th-century church which was originally part of a Portuguese hospital. Subsequently, it was donated to the Germans living in the city.

The interior of the church has been recently restored. It has some beautiful frescoes painted by Luca Giordano, Francisco Carreño and Francisco Rizi. The frescoes represent some kings of Spain, Hungary, France, Germany and Bohemia. They all sit looking at the paintings in the vault, which represent the life of Saint Anthony of Padua.

Royal Chapel of St. Anthony of La Florida is sometimes named the "Goya's Sistine Chapel". The chapel was built on orders of King Charles IV of Spain, who also commissioned the frescoes by Goya. These were completed over a six-month period in 1798. The frescoes portray miracles by Saint Anthony of Padua, including one which occurred in Lisbon, but which the painter has relocated to Madrid. On every 13 June, the chapel becomes the site of a lively pilgrimage in which young unwed women come to pray to St. Anthony and to ask for a partner.

San Francisco el Grande Basilica was built in neoclassical style in the second half of the 18th century by Francesco Sabatini. It has the fifth largest diameter dome to Christianity. (33 metres (108 feet) in diameter: it's smaller than the dome of the Rome's Pantheon (43.4 metres or 142.4 feet), St. Peter's Basilica (42.4 metres or 139.1 feet), the Florence Cathedral (42 metres or 138 feet) and the Rotunda of Mosta (37.2 metres or 122.0 feet) in Malta, but it's larger than St. Paul's Cathedral (30.8 metres or 101 feet) in London and Hagia Sophia (31.8 metres or 104 feet) in Istanbul).

The church is dedicated to St. Francis of Assisi, who according to legend was established in Madrid during his pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela. Its sumptuous interior features many artworks, including paintings by Goya and Zurbarán.

The Cathedral of Santa María la Real de la Almudena is the episcopal seat of the Archdiocese of Madrid. It is a temple 102 metres (335 feet) long and 73 metres (240 feet) high, built during the 19th and 20th centuries in a mixture of different styles: neoclassical exterior, neo-Gothic interior and neo-Romanesque crypt and neo-Byzantine apse's paints.

The cathedral was built in the same place which was built the Moorish citadel (Al-Mudayna) in Madrid. It was consecrated by Pope John Paul II on his fourth trip to Spain on 15 June 1993, thus being the only Spanish cathedral dedicated by a pope.

Nightlife

The nightlife in Madrid is one of the city's main attractions. Tapas bars, cocktail bars, clubs, jazz lounges, live music venues, flamenco theatres, and establishments of all kinds cater to all. Every night, venues pertaining to the Live Music Venues Association La Noche en Vivo host a wide range of live music shows. Everything from acclaimed to up-and-coming artists, singer-songwriters to rock bands, jazz concerts or electronic music sessions to showcase music at its best.

Nightlife and young cultural awakening flourished after the death of Franco, especially during the 80s while Madrid's mayor Enrique Tierno Galván (PSOE) was in office. At this time, the cultural movement called La Movida flourished, and it initially gathered around Plaza del Dos de Mayo. Nowadays, the Malasaña area is known for its alternative scene.

Some of the most popular night destinations include the neighbourhoods of Bilbao, Tribunal, Atocha, Alonso Martínez or Moncloa, together with the Puerta del Sol area (including Ópera and Gran Vía, both adjacent to the popular square) and Huertas (Barrio de las Letras), destinations which are also filled with tourists day and night. The district of Chueca has also become a hot spot in the Madrilenian nightlife, especially for the gay population. Chueca is popularly known as the gay quarter, comparable to The Castro district in San Francisco.

What is also popular is the practice of meeting in parks or streets with friends and drinking alcohol together (this is called botellón, from botella, 'bottle'), but in recent years, drinking in the street is punished with a fine of €600.

Usually in Madrid people do not go out until later in the evening and do not return home until early in the morning. A typical evening out could start after 12:00 AM and end at 6:30 AM.

Bohemian culture

The city has venues for performing alternative art and expressive art. They are mostly located in the centre of the city, including in Ópera, Antón Martín, Chueca and Malasaña. There are also several festivals in Madrid, including the Festival of Alternative Art, the Festival of the Alternative Scene.

The neighbourhood of Malasaña, as well as Antón Martín and Lavapiés, hosts several bohemian cafés/galleries. These cafés are typified with period or retro furniture or furniture found on the street, a colourful, nontraditional atmosphere inside, and usually art displayed each month by a new artist, often for sale. Cafés include the retro café Lolina and bohemian cafés La Ida, La Paca and Café de la Luz in Malasaña, La Piola in Huertas and Café Olmo and Aguardiente in Lavapiés.

In the neighbourhood of Lavapiés, there are also "hidden houses", which are illegal bars or abandoned spaces where concerts, poetry readings and the famous Spanish botellón (a street party or gathering that is now illegal but rarely stopped).

Classical music and opera

The Auditorio Nacional de Música is the main venue for classical music concerts in Madrid. It is home to the Spanish National Orchestra, the Chamartín Symphony Orchestra and the venue for the symphonic concerts of the Community of Madrid Orchestra and the Madrid Symphony Orchestra. It is also the principal venue for orchestras on tour playing in Madrid.

The Teatro Real is the main opera house in Madrid, located just in front of the Royal Palace, and its resident orchestra is the Madrid Symphony Orchestra. The theatre stages around seventeen opera titles (both own productions and co-productions with other major European opera houses) per year, as well as two or three major ballets and several recitals.

The Teatro de la Zarzuela is mainly devoted to Zarzuela (the Spanish traditional musical theatre genre), as well as operetta and recitals. The resident orchestra of the theatre is the Community of Madrid Orchestra.

The Teatro Monumental is the concert venue of the RTVE Symphony Orchestra.

Other concert venues for classical music are the Fundación Joan March and the Auditorio 400, devoted to contemporary music.

Local festivities

• 2 May, Fiesta de la Communidad (Madrid's Community Day).
• 15 May, San Isidro Labrador (Madrid's patron saint).
• 13 June, San Antonio de la Florida (Moncloa neighbourhood's patron saint).
• 16–25 July, Virgen del Carmen festivities (Vallecas neighbourhood's patron saint).
• 6–14 August, Virgen de la Paloma festivities (Madrid's popular patron saint).
• 7 August, San Cayetano (Cascorro neighbourhood's patron saint).
• 10 August, San Lorenzo (Lavapiés neighbourhood's patron saint).
• 9 November, Feast of the Virgin of Almudena (Madrid's patron saint).

Transport

A type 2000 Metro train

Madrid is served by several roads and three modes of public surface transport, and one airport. A great many important road, rail and air links converge on the capital, providing effective connections with other parts of the metropolitan region and with the rest of Spain and other parts of Europe.

Roads

Commuters and other local travellers have available a high-capacity metropolitan road network, Madrid is the centre of the most important roads of Spain The road network within the Madrid region includes nine radial autovías (fast dualled highways)

ID Itinerary Autovía A-1 Madrid–Aranda de Duero–Burgos–Miranda de Ebro–Vitoria–San Sebastián–Irún–French border Autovía A-2 Madrid–Zaragoza–Lleida–Barcelona–Girona–French border Autovía A-3 Madrid–Valencia Autovía A-4 Madrid–Córdoba–Sevilla–Cádiz Autovía A-5 Madrid–Talavera de la Reina–Trujillo–Mérida–Badajoz–Lisboa Autovía A-6 Madrid–Medina del Campo–Benavente–Ponferrada–Lugo–A Coruña Autovía A-31 Madrid–Albacete–Alicante Autovía A-42 Madrid–Illescas–Toledo Autovía M-607 Madrid–Tres Cantos–Colmenar Viejo A bypass in the north of Madrid

Also Madrid road network includes four orbital ones at different distances from the centre.

• Autopista de Circunvalación M-30 , Ring road around Madrid City Center. It is the busiest Spanish road, famous for its traffic jams. A significant portion of the southern part runs underground, with tunnel sections of more than 6 km in length and 3 to 6 lanes in each direction.
• Autopista de Circunvalación M-40 , Ring road around the outer city districts and closest metropolitan municipalities.
• Autopista de Circunvalación M-45 , road built between the M-40 and M-50, passes by neighbourhoods like Villaverde and Vallecas
• Autopista de Circunvalación M-50 , Madrid's outer ring road, connecting municipalities and cities in the metropolitan area, like the ones in the south industrial belt (Fuenlabrada, Móstoles, Getafe, Leganés) and the more residential suburbs to the West, like Boadilla del Monte and Las Rozas.

Due to the large amount of traffic, new toll highways were built parallel to the main national freeways (A1...A6). Their names are R1, R2, R3, R4 and R5 and provide a paid alternative to the often overcrowded free radials.

Local transport

There are four major components of public transport, with many intermodal interchanges.

One is the Metro, the second longest metro system in Europe at 294 km.

Line Route Length Stations Pinar de Chamartín – Valdecarros 23,873 km 31 Las Rosas – Cuatro Caminos 14 km 20 Villaverde Alto – Moncloa 16,4 km 18 Argüelles – Pinar de Chamartín 16 km 23 Alameda de Osuna – Casa de Campo 23,2 km 32 Circular 23,5 km 28 Hospital de Henares – Pitis 31,2 km 29 Nuevos Ministerios – Aeropuerto T4 16,5 km 8 Paco de Lucía – Arganda del Rey 39,5 km 27 Hospital Infanta Sofía – Puerta del Sur 39,9 km 31 Plaza Elíptica – La Fortuna 5,3 km 7 MetroSur 40,7 km 28 Ópera – Príncipe Pío 1,1 km 2 294 km

Another is the Cercanías local railways, used for long distances inside Madrid, is faster than the Metro and has less stops inside the center of the city, this system has several connections with Metro and Light Metro, consisting of nine lines totalling 382 km and 98 stations.

Line Route Km Stations Príncipe Pío – Atocha – Recoletos – Chamartín – Fuente de la Mora – Aeropuerto T4 24 10 Guadalajara – Alcalá de Henares – Atocha – Recoletos – Chamartín 65 18 Aranjuez – Villaverde Bajo – Atocha – Sol – Chamartín – Pinar – Villalba – El Escorial
106 23 Alcobendas-S. S. de los Reyes – Cantoblanco Universidad – Chamartín – Sol – Atocha – Villaverde Bajo – Getafe Centro – Parla 48 15 Colmenar Viejo – Cantoblanco Universidad – Chamartín – Sol – Atocha – Villaverde Bajo – Getafe Centro – Parla 59 15 Móstoles–El Soto – Atocha – Fuenlabrada – Humanes 45 23 Alcalá de Henares – Atocha – Recoletos – Chamartín – Las Rozas – Príncipe Pío – Atocha – Recoletos – Chamartín – Fuente de la Mora 98 30 Vicálvaro – Atocha – Recoletos – Chamartín – Villalba – Cercedilla 78 16 El Escorial – Santa María de la Alameda – Ávila 71 9 Cercedilla – Cotos 18 3 Villalba – Príncipe Pío – Atocha – Recoletos – Chamartín – Fuente de la Mora 55 19

Madrid has four lines of Light Metro with several connection with Metro and also with Cercanias.

Light Metro Line Route Length Stations Pinar de Chamartín-Las Tablas 5,395 km 9 Colonia Jardín-Estación de Aravaca 8,680 km 13 Colonia Jardín-Puerta de Boadilla 13,699 km 16 Parla Circular Line 8,3 km 15 36 km 53

Finally there is a dense network of bus routes, run by the municipal body Empresa Municipal de Transportes, or EMT, which operate 24 hours a day, in the night are special lines called "N lines". There are two types, the red and blue buses inside the city (with more than 200 bus lines), the green buses which has route with the neighborhoods outside the center of the city (with 459 suburban bus lines), and the (yellow) Airport Express bus. Also several neighborhoods has its own bus lines for the mobility inside them

• Blue Urban Bus

• Suburban bus

• Express Airport Bus

Almost half of all journeys in the metropolitan area are made on public transport, a very high proportion compared with most European cities.:62–4

Madrid has 15723 taxis around all the city.

Long-distance transport

In terms of longer-distance transport, Madrid is the central node of the system of autovías, giving the city direct fast road links with most parts of Spain and with France and Portugal. It is also the focal point of one of the world's three largest high-speed rail systems, Alta Velocidad Española (AVE), which has brought major cities such as Seville and Barcelona within 2.5 hours travel time. There are now 2,900 km of AVE track, connecting Madrid with 17 provincial capitals, and further lines are under construction.:72–75

Also Spain business are designing new high speed trains which will be the new generation AVE 104 like Talgo AVRIL.

Madrid is also home to Madrid-Barajas Airport, the sixth-largest airport in Europe, handling over 40M passengers annually, of whom 70% are international travellers, in addition to the majority of Spain’s air freight movements.:76–78 Madrid’s location at the centre of the Iberian Peninsula makes it a major logistical base.:79–80 Madrid-Barajas Airport has 4 Terminals and also the terminal 4S, called Satellite terminal, this terminal is 2 km from the terminal 4 and connected by an Automated People Mover System (AMP) train.

• Spain High Speed Services map

• APM Madrid airport (Train Terminal 4 -> 4S)

• European high speed railways map

• Adolfo Suárez Madrid–Barajas Airport, Terminal 4

• AVE 103 in Atocha

Historic buildings

• Plaza de la Villa

• Bridge of Toledo

• St. Michael's Basilica

• St. Barbara's Church.

• Royal Observatory

• Gate of Toledo

• Congress of Deputies

• Spanish Ministry of Agriculture

• Bank of Spain

• Delicias Train Station

• Hospital of Maudes

• San Manuel & San Benito church

• SGAE Seat

• Telefónica Building

• Palacio de la Prensa

• Carrión Building

• Spanish Air Force Headquarters

• Edificio Girasol

• Torres Blancas

• Caja Mágica

Honours

• Madrid Dome on Oscar II Coast in Graham Land, Antarctica is named after the city.