Madrid
Madrid
+ Madrid
Sights
* Basilica de San Francisco El Grande
* Basilica de San Miguel
* Botín
* Calle de Serrano
* Casa de América
* Casa Museo de Lope de Vega
* Casa de la Villa
* Casón del Buen Retiro
* Catedral de San Isidro
* Centro Cultural Conde Duque
* Convento de las Carboneras
* Ermita de San Antonio de la Florida
* Estadio Santiago Bernabéu (Bernabéu Stadium)
* Iglesia de las Calatravas
* Iglesia de San Andrés Apóstol
* Iglesia de San Marcos
* Iglesia y Convento de las Trinitarias
* Mercado de San Miguel
* Monasterio de la Encarnación
* Museo Arqueológico Nacional
* Museo Nacional de Antropología
* Museo Nacional de Artes Decorativas
* Museo De La Real Academia De Bellas Artes De San Fernando
* Museo Cerralbo
* Museo Chicote
* Museo del Ejército
* Museo Naval
* Museo Romántico
* Palacio de Comunicaciones
* Palacio de las Cortes
* The Paseos
* Plaza de la Cibeles
* Plaza de Toros de las Ventas
* Puerta del Sol
* Puerta de Toledo
* El Rastro (Rastro Flea Market)
* Real Fábrica de Tapices
* Real Jardín Botánico
* Teleférico
* Telefónica
Excursions
+ Excursions
Walk/Drive
Food&Drink
In The Know
Did You Know?
( Highly Recommended )
Madrid's town hall sits on the Plaza de la Villa, which was a Moorish market place in the 10th-11th centuries. In this cramped square it is difficult to appreciate the spiked towers and handsome façade that are so typical of 17th-century baroque-Castilian style. The balcony overlooking the Calle Mayor was added in 1789 so that Queen María of Parma could have a better view of the Corpus Christi procession. Opposite the town hall is the oldest surviving private house in Madrid, the 15th-century Casa y Torre de Lujanes. Part Gothic and part Moorish in style, this building is now used by academics. Legend has it that François I of France was imprisoned in the tower after his capture at the Battle of Pavia (1525).
On the south side of the sloping square is the Casa de Cisneros, built by a relative of the powerful Cardinal Cisneros in 1537. Note the façade, which is decorated in the plateresque style, so-called because the intricate carving looks like the work of a platero (silversmith). Remodelled in the early 1900s, it makes an elegant office building for city employees. In the centre of the plaza stands the great Spanish admiral, the Marqués de Santa Cruz, victor over the Turks at the Battle of Lepanto (1571). Both the Casa de la Villa and the Casa de Cisneros are only open to visitors once a week for a guided tour, which is strictly for enthusiasts.
Address: Plaza de la Villa 5
Phone: 91 588 10 00
Open: Guided tour Mon 5-7
Restaurant: Plenty near by (Inexpensive)
Metro: Opera, La Latina
Accessible: Few
Admission: Free
Other: Plaza Mayor
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