Plaza Mayor

Plaza Mayor

The Plaza Mayor, Madrid is a striking arcaded square located in the heart of the city which is extremely popular with tourists and locals alike. The symmetry of the rectangle features an architecture that is uniform and somewhat analogous to the Place des Vosges in Paris. The history of the Plaza Mayor ages to the Dark Ages when the site was a marketplace outside the walls of Madrid. In the 1560s, King Philip II urged the architect Juan de Herrera to convert the souk into a square, but it was not until 1617 that the construction of the Plaza Mayor was begun. Under Herrera’s heir, Juan Gomez de la Mora, the Plaza Mayor was completed in a couple of years.

The Plaza Mayor was surrounded by wooden buildings which went up to six stories. Fire destroyed the Plaza thrice – in 1631, 1672 and in 1790. Each time, the structure was rebuilt. The one that stands today was built by Juan de Villanueva. Since its inception, the Plaza Mayor has been the cynosure of all festivities – bullfights, coronations and executions. Till date, it is used for public celebrations with as many as 50,000 spectators gathering. The heart of the Plaza Mayor finds a bronze statue of King Philip III. It was constructed in 1616 by Giovanni de Bologna and Pietro Taoca. In 1848, the statue was shifted here from the Casa de Campo and redesigned with gardens in 1936.

The most prominent building on the Plaza Mayor is the Casa de la Panaderia, completed in 1590. It existed on this site even before the Plaza Mayor was built. Its current design with the symmetric towers dates back to the last instance of fire in 1790. The colorful allegoric murals were added only in 1992. Today, the place is thronged by thousands of visitors from all over the world.

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