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Offering
hotel and self-catering apartment reservations in Madrid - capital of Spain
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TOUR OPTION: Cooking Class in Madrid (Avant-Garde Cuisine) |
 Cooking
Class in Madrid (Avant-Garde Cuisine)
If you are interested in
learning how to prepare Spanish Avant Garde dishes but you do not have
too much time to dedicate to it, consider a morning in the kitchen, followed
by a three course lunch in Madrid…more... |
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photo gallery of Madrid
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 El
Rastro is the most popular open air flea market in Madrid (Spain).
It is held every Sunday morning and is located along Plaza de Cascorro
and Ribera de Curtidores, between Toledo and Embajadores streets.
The term "rastro" (Spanish for trail) was coined in the 16th century, when
a slaughterhouse stood near the area. The slaughtered animals were dragged
(arrastrados) from it to the nearby tanning houses (curtidores), leaving
a blood trail (or rastro). A great variety of products (first and
second hand) can be found at the Rastro, usually grouped by areas. A number
of antique shops in the Rastro area are also open on Sunday. |
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 Glorieta
de Bilbao is a star shaped roundabout located in Madrid, Spain; named
after the city of Bilbao. The roundabout is famous for being a cross of
famous streets: Fuencarral (one of the most famous shopping streets in
Madrid), Carranza, Luchana and Sagasta. Glorieta de Bilbao is also between
two of the most historical districts of Madrid: Centro and Chamberí.
History of the Glorieta is totally linked with the construction of Chamberí
district in the XIXth century, when it was one of the most important meeting
points for the madrileños. Nowadays is an important place in the
Madrid's nightlife, close to Malasaña and Tribunal areas. One of
the most historical cafes of Madrid, the Café Comercial, is located
in the number 7 of the Glorieta. The most notable building of Glorieta
de Bilbao is Ocaso Building. Its Metro de Madrid station is called Bilbao
and is served by lines 1 and 4. |
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 Gran
Vía (literally "Great Way") is an ornate and upscale shopping
street located in Madrid, Spain. It leads from Plaza de Cibeles to Plaza
de España. The lively street is one of the city's most important
shopping areas, with a large number of hotels and large movie theaters;
it is also noted for the grand architecture prevalent among many of its
buildings. |
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 El
Parque de Atracciones de Madrid is a fun fair, situated in the Casa
de Campo, Madrid. The fair has a number of exciting and thrilling
rides. |
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 The
Parque del Buen Retiro named by Madrid's king (Park of the Pleasant
Retreat) is a large and popular, 1.4 km² (350 acre) park in Madrid
city center, not far from the Prado Museum. Once outside the city, Madrid
now entirely surrounds the park. The park was originally the site
of a royal palace built in 1632 under the reign King Philip IV. Most of
the palace was destroyed during the Napoleonic Wars, leaving a space that
was eventually opened to the public in 1868. The few remaining buildings
of the palace now house museum collections. Within the park is the
Estanque del Retiro, a large artificial lake. Next to the lake is the Mausoleum
of Alfonso XII, featuring a semicircular colonnade and a statue of Alfonso
on horseback on a tall pedestal. Around it there are many puppet shows
greatly enjoyed by the children there. There are all manner of street performers
and fortune tellers. Row boats can be rented to paddle about the Estanque. |
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 The
Palacio Real de Madrid (Royal Palace of Madrid), also called Palacio
de Oriente (Palace of Orient) is the official residence of the King of
Spain, located in Madrid. King Juan Carlos and the royal family do not
actually reside in this palace, instead choosing the smaller Palacio de
la Zarzuela, on the outskirts of Madrid. However, the Palacio Real de Madrid
is still used for state occasions. The palace is owned by the Spanish state
and administered by the Patrimonio Nacional agency. |
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 The
Plaza de Cibeles
is an attractive square featuring a beautiful sculpture
and fountains that have been adopted as a symbol for the city of Madrid,
Spain. The fountain of Cibeles is found in the part of Madrid commonly
called the Paseo de Recoletos. It depicts the goddess Cibeles (Cybele),
the Phrygian goddess of fertility, who is seen sitting on a chariot and
being pulled by two lions. On one side of the fountain of Cibeles, the
Paseo de Recoletos starts, heading north to join up with the Paseo de la
Castellana. On the other side, the Paseo del Prado begins and heads off
south, towards the fountain of Neptune, in the Plaza de Cánovas
del Castillo, and on until Atocha. |
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 The
Plaza Mayor is a central plaza in the city of Madrid, Spain. The
Plaza Mayor is only a few blocks away from another famous plaza, the Puerta
del Sol. The Plaza Mayor is rectangular in shape it, 129 by 94 meters,
and is surrounded by three-floored residential buildings with 237 balconies.
It has a total of nine entranceways. The Plaza Mayor was built during the
Austrian period. The Casa de la Panadería, serving municipal and
cultural functions, dominates the Plaza Mayor and it is the best around. |
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 The
Puerta de Alcalá ("Alcalá Gate") is a monument in
the Plaza de la Independencia ("Independence Square") in Madrid, Spain,
very close to the city centre and several meters away from the main entrance
to the Parque del Buen Retiro. The square is bisected by Alcalá
street, although the street itself doesn't cross through the monument,
and it is the origin of the Alfonso XII, Serrano and Olózaga streets.
Its name originates from the old path from Madrid to the nearby town of
Alcalá de Henares (Puerta de Alcalá means "Alcalá's
Gate in Spanish). |
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 The
Puerta de Europa ("Gate of Europe") towers are two twin office buildings
in Madrid. They were built in 1996 by the Kuwait Investments Office (hence
their initial name "Torres KIO") and designed by the American architects
Philip Johnson and John Burgee. Each building is 115 m tall with an inclination
of 15º. They are located near the Chamartín railway station
- on the sides of the Plaza Castilla bus station, north from the Paseo
de la Castellana and near the Cuatro Torres skyscraper park. After
the Torres KIO fraud case, KIO had to sell the buildings are now owned
by Cajamadrid and Realia. In the 1995 Satanic comedy film The Day
of the Beast, the buildings are said to be shaped as a diabolical signature
and the place of birth of the Anti-Christ on Christmas Day of 1995. |
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 The
Puerta del Sol (Spanish for "Sun Gate") is one of the most well
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. |
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 The
Santiago Bernabéu is a football stadium in Madrid, Spain.
It is the home of Real Madrid. Work on the grounds started on October
27, 1944. Originally called Estadio Chamartín after Madrid's previous
stadium, it was inaugurated in December 1947. Real Madrid officially adopted
the present name, Estadio Santiago Bernabéu, on January 4, 1955
in honor of the club president Santiago Bernabéu. The capacity
has changed frequently, peaking at 120,000 after a 1953 expansion. Since
then there have been a number of reductions due to modernisations (the
last standing places went away in 1998/99 in response to UEFA regulations
which forbids standing at matches in the UEFA competition), countered to
some extent by expansions. The last change was an increase of about five
thousand to a capacity of 80,354, effected in 2003. A plan to add a retractable
roof has been announced. |
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 The
Teatro Real (literally
Royal Theater) or simply The Real
(as it is known colloquialy), is an opera house located in Madrid, Spain.
It was inaugurated on 19 November 1850, with Donizetti's La Favorite and
is one of the world's finest stage and acoustic settings for opera. It
is one of the world's most famous opera houses, comparable to many in Europe
and elsewhere. The construction of the Real was ordered by the Queen
Isabel II, hence its name, the Real (royal in Spanish). The Teatro Real
is located just in front of the Palacio Real, the official residence of
the Kings of Spain. |
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 The
Temple of Debod is an ancient Egyptian temple which has been rebuilt
in Madrid, Spain. The temple was built in southern Egypt, very close
to the first cataract of the Nile and to the great religious center dedicated
to the goddess Isis, in Philae. In the early 2nd century BC, Adikhalamani
[Tabriqo], king of the country of Meroë, started its construction
by building a small chapel dedicated to the gods Amon and Isis. Afterwards,
different kings of the Ptolemaic dynasty added new chambers around the
original nucleus. |
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 Torre
España (literally Spain Tower) is a 231-meters steel-and-concrete
television tower located in Madrid, Spain. National terrestrial television
channels RTVE, Telecinco and Antena 3, as well as the autonomic channel
Telemadrid, along with a few radio stations, broadcast from this tower.
The tower was built in 1982, conmemorating the FIFA World Cup celebrated
in Spain that year. The building was administered by RTVE until the year
1989, when control over radio and television emissions in Spanish territory
was given to Retevisión. It is not open for tourists. The
Torre España tower is generally known in Madrid as the "Pirulí",
given the similarity between the tower and a lollipop ("Pirulí"
is a Spanish word for lollipop, although Chupa Chups as a generalization
is also widely used). |
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 The
Vicente Calderón Stadium (Spanish: Estadio Vicente Calderón)
in Madrid, Spain, is the home stadium of Atlético Madrid football
club. It is located in the heart of Madrid by the banks of the River Manzanares.
The stadium was originally called Estadio Manzanares, but was later changed
to Vicente Calderón after the famous Atlético club president.
The Vicente Calderón Stadium regularly holds international matches
of the Spanish national team. It has a capacity of 55,005 and was given
the UEFA 5 star stadium rating in 2003. |
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| Other nearby towns are popular
as day trips from Madrid, including Toledo, Segovia, Ávila, Aranjuez,
Alcalá de Henares, the monastery and palace complex of El
Escorial, the former summer home of the royal family at Aranjuez,
El Atazar Dam, and Chinchón. |
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