Square, Plaza sights in Madrid
- Sort by:
- Popular
-
A
Plaza de Neptuno
Officially known as Plaza de Cánovas del Castillo, the next roundabout south of Cibeles is something of a crossroads of Spanish nobility. The Ritz and the Palace, two of Madrid’s longest-standing and most exclusive hotels, glower at each other across the plaza with self-righteous grandeur, while the Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza and the Prado do likewise in competition for the title of Madrid’s best loved repository of fine art. The centrepiece is an ornate fountain and 18th-century sculpture of Neptune, the sea god, by Juan Pascual de Mena. But madrileños, never the most reverent lot, know it better as the celebration venue of choice for fans of Atlético de Madrid who lose al…
reviewed
-
B
Plaza de España
It’s hard to know what to make of this curiously unprepossessing square. The 1953 Edificio de España (Spain Building) on the east side clearly sprang from the totalitarian recesses of Franco’s imagination such is its resemblance to austere Soviet monumentalism, but there’s also something strangely grand and pleasing about it. To the north stands the rather ugly and considerably taller 35-storey Torre de Madrid (Madrid Tower). Taking centre stage in the square is a statue of Cervantes. At the writer’s feet is a bronze of his immortal characters, Don Quijote and Sancho Panza. The monument was erected in 1927. But Plaza de España is at its best down in its lower (west…
reviewed
