The statue of a bronze bear standing on its hind legs to reach for fruit from a strawberry tree stands four meters tall in the Puerta del Sol. This sculpture, created by artist Antonio Navarro Santafé, was inaugurated on January…
Plaza Mayor and Sol Walk
Walk through the historic heart of Madrid, from the lively plaza of Puerta del Sol to the grand, enclosed Plaza Mayor. This route highlights Spain's royal history, centuries-old architecture, and classic culinary institutions.
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1. El Oso y el Madroño
2. Real Casa de Correos
The Real Casa de Correos is identified by the clock tower rising from its red brick and white stone facade. Built between seventeen sixty-six and seventeen sixty-eight as the central post office, it is the oldest surviving structure in the…
3. Church of Saint Genesius
The Church of Saint Genesius is marked by an atrium enclosed by iron railings that separates the building from the bustle of Calle Arenal. While its documented history stretches back to the ninth century, the structure standing today…
4. Chocolatería San Ginés
Chocolatería San Ginés is recognizable by the green-painted wooden storefront tucked away in the narrow Pasadizo de San Ginés. Founded in eighteen ninety-four, the shop occupies a space that originally held a bookstore. It gained early…
5. Plaza Mayor
The Plaza Mayor is a massive, rectangular space in the center of Madrid enclosed by three-story residential buildings with over two hundred balconies overlooking the stone ground. At its center stands a bronze equestrian statue of King…
6. Santa Cruz Palace, Madrid
The Santa Cruz Palace is identifiable by its symmetrical red brick facade and two corner towers topped with dark slate spires. Commissioned by King Philip the Fourth and built between sixteen twenty-nine and sixteen forty-three, this…
7. Arco de Cuchilleros
The Arco de Cuchilleros is the most prominent entrance to the Plaza Mayor in Madrid, distinguished by a steep, vaulted stone staircase that bridges the sharp change in elevation between the square and the streets below. While the square…
8. Mercado de San Miguel
The Mercado de San Miguel is instantly recognizable for its intricate, wrought-iron structure and expansive glass walls, which enclose a high-ceilinged hall. Inaugurated on May thirteen, nineteen sixteen, the market occupies a space that…
9. Plaza de la Villa
Plaza de la Villa contains a collection of buildings from three distinct centuries, arranged around a central bronze statue of the Spanish admiral Álvaro de Bazán. The space functioned as the municipal seat of Madrid for centuries,…