Spanish

Introduction
Welcome to Madrid! This guide was made by the staff and students
of our school as part of the Comenius Project during 2010-2012. We
have chosen our favourites of the many monuments and attractions
in our capital city and we have made them come to life for you.
We would like to thank our partner schools in the project for their
kind support so thank you Základní škola Ústí nad Labem and Gminne Gimnazjum z Oddzialami Integracyjnymi Imienia Roku Jubileuszowego!
We hope you enjoy it!
CEIP Hans Christian Andersen’s
Guide to Madrid
Part of the Comenius Project
“The Great Wonders of Europe”
Contents
Plaza Mayor...........................................................................................The Main Square
El Parque del Buen Retiro....................................................................Buen Retiro Park
La Cibeles ...................................................................................................Cybele Square
La Estación de AtochaAtocha Station
La Puerta del Sol......................................................................................... The Sun Gate
El Oso y el Madroño................................................The Bear and the Strawberry Tree
El Jardín Botánico........................................................................... The Botanic Garden
La Fuente de Neptuno......................................................................Neptune’s Fountain
El Parque La Casa de Campo...................................................... Casa de Campo Park
El Templo de Debod...............................................................................Debod’s Temple
El Museo Naciónal de ................................................................The National Museum
Cienias Naturales.
of Natural Sciences
El Museo del Prado.......................................................................... The Prado Museum
La Puerta de Alcalá................................................................................. The Alcalá Gate
El Palacio Real....................................................................................... The Royal Palace
El Estadio Santiago Bernabéu...................................The Santiago Bernabéu Stadium
Plaza Mayor
Plaza Mayor is located in the centre of Madrid very near another famous Plaza: La Puerta del Sol.
The Plaza Mayor is rectangular in shape, measuring 129 by 94 meters
and has 237 balconies facing the Plaza.
It has a total of 9 entranceways. One of the most famous ones is The
Arc de Cuchilleros that gives you access to the Cuchilleros street where
you can find many typical restaurants and bars to eat traditional Spanish
food.
The origins of the Plaza go back to 1576 when Philip the 1st asked Juan
de Herrera to design it, but construction did not start until 1617. The
Plaza Mayor as we know it todasy is the work of the architect Juan de Villanueva, which reconstructed in 1790 after a series of enourmous fires.
The Buen Retiro Park
The Buen Retiro Park is a large and popular 1.4 km2 (350 acres) park at the edge
of the city center, very close to the Puerta de Alcalá and not far from the Prado
Museum. A magnificent park, filled with beautiful sculpture and monuments, galleries, a peaceful lake and host to a variety of events, it is one of Madrid’s premier
attractions. The park is entirely surrounded by the present-day city.
El Retiro gradually became the green heart of the city. At the beginning of the
20th century, the Monument to Alfonso XII of Spain was erected next to the pond.
Countless statues, fountains and commemorative monuments have filled the park
and converted it into an open-air sculpture museum.
Close to the northern entrance of the park is the Estanque del Retiro (“Retiro
Pond”), a large artificial pond. Next to it is the monument to King Alfonso XII,
featuring a semicircular colonnade and an equestrian statue of the monarch on the
top of a tall central core.
The Rosaleda rose garden. Among the many rose bushes of all kinds stands the
Fountain of the Falling Angel, erected in 1922, whose main sculpture El Angel Caído which represents Lucifer falling from Heaven. It is claimed that this statue is the
only known public monument of the devil.
Since assuming its role as a public park the late 19th century, the “Parque del Retiro” has been used as a venue for various international exhibitions.
Another important building is the Palacio de Cristal (“Crystal Palace”), a
glass pavilion inspired by The Crystal Palace in London.
The Paseo de la Argentina, also popularly known as Paseo de las Estatuas
(“Statue Walk”), is decorated with some of the statues of kings from the
Royal Palace, sculpted between 1750 and 1753.
There are now art galleries in the Crystal Palace, Palacio de Velázquez,
and Casa de Vacas.
In the Retiro Park is also the Forest of the Departed (Bosque de los Ausentes), a memorial monument to commemorate the 191 victims of the 11
March 2004 Madrid attacks.
La Cibeles
“La Cibeles” can be found in the centrally located madrileño
Square “La Cibeles”. It represents the goddess Cybele symbol of
the Earth, agriculture and fertility. In her hands, the goddess carries a sceptre and a key and she stands upon carriage pulled
by two lions Hipomenes and Atalanta, mythological characters
who were converted into lions by Zeus, and he condemned them
to pull the carriage for eternity.
Since the end of the eighties, it has also been used as a place of
celebrations for football fans of Real Madrid.
Atocha
Madrid Atocha is the largest railway station in Madrid. It is the
primary station serving commuter trains, intercity and regional
trains from the south, and the AVE high speed trains. The station is served by two Madrid Metro stations, Atocha and Atocha
Renfe.
The original facade faces the Plaza del Emperador Carlos V, a
site at which a variety of streets converge, including the Calle de
Atocha and the Paseo del Prado.
At this site, Madrid’s first railway station was inaugurated on 9
February 1851 under the name Estación de Mediodía. After the
building was largely destroyed by fire, it was rebuilt and reopened in 1892. The architect for the replacement, in a wrought iron
renewal style was Alberto de Palacio Elissagne, who collaborated with Gustave Eiffel. Engineer Henry Saint James also took
part in the project. The name Atocha has become attached to
the station because of the nearby basilica dedicate to Our Lady
of Atocha.
The train platforms were partly covered by a roof in the form of
inverted hull with a height of approximately 27 meters and length of 157 meters. The steel and glass roof spreads between two
brick flanking buildings.
This complex of railway tracks expanded through the years. In
1985, a project of complete remodelling began, based on designs
by Rafael Moneo. In 1992, the original building was taken out
of service as a terminal, and converted into a concourse with
shops, cafés, and a nightclub. Like the Orsay Museum in Paris,
the concourse has been given a new function, this time a stunning 4,000 m² covered tropical garden.
The Puerta del Sol
The Puerta del Sol (Gate of the Sun) is one of the best known and
busiest places in Madrid. This is the centre (Km 0) of the radial
network of Spanish roads. The square also contains the famous
clock whose bells mark the traditional eating of the Twelve Grapes and the beginning of a new year. The New Year’s celebration
has been broadcast live on TV since 31 December 1962.
The Puerta del Sol originated as one of the gates in the city wall
that surrounded Madrid in the 15th century. Outside the wall,
medieval suburbs began to grow around the Christian Wall of
the 12th century. The name of the gate came from the rising sun
which decorated the entry, since the gate was oriented to the
east.
The area contains a number of well known sights associated both
domestically and internationally with Spain. On the south side,
the old Post Office serves as the office of the President of Madrid, the head of the regional government of the Autonomous
Community of Madrid.
The kilómetro cero is a plaque on the ground directly north of
the Post Office serving as the symbolic centre of Spain in addition to signalling the basis of numbering in the Spanish road
system.
The Bear and the Strawberry Tree
The coat of arms of Madrid comes from the Middle Ages and
the bear was chosen because there were many of these animals
living close to the city during that time. The tree was used because of an agreement between the city and the church about
how to divide the lands close to Madrid. The church kept the
farmland whilst the city retained the surrounding forests. That’s
why the tree appears upon the coat of arms.
The statue, located in the Sun Gate (Puerta del Sol), was designed by sculptor Antonio Navarro Santafé and was inaugurated
in 1967. It can be found on the west side of the square between
Alcalá Street and San Jerónimo Passage.
Neptune’s Fountain
Neptune’s Fountain is on Paseo del Prado. Under the orders of
King Carlos III, sculptor Juan Pascual de Mena began to build
this marble statue in 1780. In 1786 his disciple José Rodríguez
finished off the project, which represents Neptune, God of the
Sea, with a trident in one hand and a coiled snake in the other.
The figure is standing on a chariot, drawn by two sea horses and
surrounded by dolphins.
Around this area are magnificent buildings like the Thyssen Museum, the Prado Museum, the Hotel Ritz and the Hotel Palace.
The area between Cibeles and Neptune was dedicated to leisure and the area between Neptune and Atocha was dedicted to
knowledge. The idea was that around this square should be museums, institutes, libraries, etc.
Originally Cybele and Neptune were looking at each other. In
a later reconstruction of the area Cybele was put more or less in
front of the Palacio de Buenavista. Eventually it was put in the
avenue again, but by then both statues were looking at the center
of Madrid.
Nowadays it is the meeting point of the football fans of the Atletico de Madrid who celebrate their championships here.
Between Cybele and Neptune is another statue dedicated to
Apollo.
The Casa de Campo
The Casa de Campo (Country House) is the largest urban park
situated west of central Madrid. It was formerly a royal hunting
estate. Its area is more than 1,700 hectares.
An amusement park, the Parque de Atracciones de Madrid, and
the Madrid Zoo are located inside the park. It is common for
families from Madrid to spend days in the park, enjoying the
nice weather and looking at the wildlife that may be seen around
(mostly squirrels, rabbits and different kinds of birds).
There is also a lake in the park where many sports competitions
are throughout the year. People often follow the many walking
and cycling routes that cross the park, or for those people who
want a bird’s eye view, there is a cable car that can be taken from
close to Debod’s Temple to the centre of the park.
Debod’s Temple
Debod’s Temple is a temple from Ancient Egypt. It is located
close to Spain Square (Plaza de España). It was a present from
Egypt to Spain to say thank you for Spanish help in protecting
ancient temples.
From the temple’s esplanade in West Park (Parque Oeste) there
are some excellent views over the Casa de Campo Park, the Almudena Cathedral and the Royal Palace.
It is free to enter and there are many workshops to do: mummies, gods, rites and lots more.
Don’t miss it!
The National Museum of Natural
Sciences
The National Museum of Natural Sciences is an institution that,
in addition to carrying out cutting edge scientific research, manages a large collection of specimens (as the ones shown in this
work; pueyoi frog, diplodoco and a butterfly from its huge collection) and develops a program of exhibitions and educational
activities to the general public aimed at promoting a better understanding of the diversity of the natural world.
Museo del Prado
One of the greatest museums in the world, this gallery in Madrid has the most complete collection of Spanish painting from
11th-18th centuries, andnumerous masterpieces by great universal artists such as El Greco, Velázquez, Goya, Bosch, Titian,
Van Dyck and Rembrandt.
The quality and variety of its collection makes the Prado one of
the world’s finest museums. It combines a first-class collection
of Spanish painting, the most important works of the Flemish
and Italian schools, and various fine examples of the German,
French and English schools. It is home to numerous masterpieces of universal art such as Las Meninas by Velázquez, the two
Majas by Goya, Nobleman with his hand on his chest by El Greco, the Garden of Delights by Bosch, and the The Three Graces
by Rubens, among other priceless pieces. Although the museum
was created to house works of painting and sculpture, it also
contains major collections of drawings, engravings, coins and
medals, as well as items of clothing and decorative art.
Alcala’s Gate
It’s one of the most representative monuments in Madrid and
one of the most loved by the people of Madrid. It was built during the reign of King Carlos III . It’s located in Independence
Square.
It commemorates the arrival of Carlos III to the capital city.
When he entered Madrid through the Alcala Gate in 1759 he
didn’t like it and he ordered it to be pulled down in 1764. He
ordered a new gate to be built to replace the older smaller baroque gate that had been ordered by Felipe III to honour Princess
Margarita.
It was designed by the Italian architect Francisco Sabatini. It’s
in the neoclassical style and it’s formed by three arches and two
smaller square arches on the sides. The three big arches have
lion’s heads on top made by Roberto Michel. At the very top of
the monument, there are angel statues, trophies and the coat of
arms which were all made by Francisco Gutierrez. The angels
represent the strength, the justice and the temperance.
It’s one of the five royal doors that gave access to the city of Madrid to travellers from France, Aragon and Catalonia. Its name
originates from the old path from Madrid to the nearby city of
Alcalá de Henares. Madrid in the late 18th century still remained a somewhat drab villa in appearance, surrounded by medieval walls.
Its historical value, its architectonical beauty and its central location near the most important streets and places of cultural interest such as the Retiro Park, the Cibeles Fountain and lots of museums, made the Alcala Gate a symbol of Madrid and a strong
part of its identity being the theme for many songs and poems.
The Royal Palace
The Palacio Real de Madrid (The Royal Palace of Madrid) is the
official residence of the Spanish Royal Family in the city of Madrid, but it is only used for state ceremonies. The Royal family
doesn’t live there.
The palace is located on Calle de Bailén (Bailén Street), in the
Western part of downtown Madrid, East of the Manzanares River, and is accessible from the Ópera metro station.
The palace is partially open to public, except when it is being
used for official business. Entry to the palace is free on Sundays.
The palace was constructed by order of King Felipe V in 1738
and it was finished in 1755.
King Carlos III occupied the palace in 1764 and it was the royal
residence until the end of the reign of King Alfonso XIII the current king’s grandfather.
The palace has 135,000 square metres of floor space and contains 2800 rooms. It is the largest palace in Europe by floor area.
The Santiago Bernabeu Stadium
The Estadio Santiago Bernabéu is an all-seater football stadium
in Madrid, Spain. It was opened on 14 December 1947 and is
owned by Real Madrid Club de Fútbol. It has a current capacity
of 85,454 spectators.
It is one of the world’s most famous football venues. It has hosted
the European Cup final on four occasions: in 1957, 1969, 1980,
and the UEFA Champions League Final in 2010.
The finals for the 1964 European Nations’ Cup and the 1982
World Cup have also been held at the Bernabéu.
The Santiago Bernabéu is located on the Paseo de la Castellana,
in the district of Chamartín. This is in the north of the city.
There are plans to improve the stadium in the future to include
a new retractable roof.
The remodelling will continue to feature the Stadium Tour and
Museum, but a new parking lot for 1,000 vehicles will also be
featured, access points will be reformed, and all seats will be under cover.