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Madrid
Tourist information - Madrid
Madrid, a city in central Spain, capital of the country and of the autonomous region and province of Madrid, on the Manzanares River. Located at an altitude of about 655 m, Madrid is Spain's largest city and its chief administrative, financial, and transportation center. The large and fast-growing Madrid metropolitan area, incorporating such industrial suburbs as Villaverde, Barajas, and Getafe, vies with Barcelona as the nation's principal manufacturing center. Major products include motor vehicles, aircraft, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, processed food, printed materials, and leather goods. Large numbers of tourists visit the city each year.
Among the many institutions of higher education in the city are the University of Madrid, the Comillas Pontifical University (1892), the Autonomous University of Madrid (1968), the Polytechnic University of Madrid (1971), the Open University (1972), and the Royal Academy of Music (1830). The traditional center of Madrid is the historic Puerta del Sol, a crescent-shaped square. Other major squares include the arcaded Plaza Mayor (begun 1617), where bullfights, executions of heretics, and other spectacles were staged in the 17th and 18th centuries; the large Plaza de la Cibeles, with fountains and a statue of Cybele (Mother Earth); and the Plaza de Toros Monumental, accommodating the bullring, to the northeast. The city has several tree-lined boulevards and is noted for its fashionable shops.
The Prado Museum, with exhibits of famous paintings by El Greco, Francisco Goya, and Diego Velázquez, is a major landmark. Other points of interest include the massive Royal Palace (1737-1764), used for state functions; the 18th-century church of San Francisco el Grande; the National Archaeological Museum; the Natural Science Museum; the National Anthropological Museum; and Buen Retiro park, with botanical and zoological gardens. Located in the metropolitan area are Zarzuela Palace, residence of the country's monarch, and the Pardo, a palace built by Philip II (reigned 1556-1598) and formerly the home of Francisco Franco. The large granite Monastery of El Escorial and the Valley of the Fallen, a monument commemorating those who died in the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939), are nearby.
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