Madrid › Places and landmarks
Places and landmarks in Madrid
13 landmarks of Madrid, and the streets, squares and waterways around them, each with its story and where to find it.
Photo: Carlos Delgado, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Landmarks
Puerta del SolKilometre zero of Spain’s roads, where Spain eats its twelve grapes at midnight on New Year’s Eve.
Bear and Strawberry TreeThe bronze bear reaching up into a strawberry tree, Madrid’s coat of arms on the Puerta del Sol.
Plaza MayorThe arcaded square of 1619, where Madrid held markets, bullfights and the trials of the Inquisition.
Royal PalaceWith more than 3,000 rooms the largest royal palace in western Europe, still used for state occasions.
Almudena CathedralMadrid’s cathedral, begun in 1883 and only consecrated in 1993, facing the Royal Palace.
Plaza de OrienteThe gardens between the Royal Palace and the opera, with a famous statue of Philip IV on a rearing horse.
Teatro RealMadrid’s opera house, facing the Royal Palace across the Plaza de Oriente.
Mercado de San MiguelAn iron-and-glass market hall of 1916, now a gourmet food hall next to the Plaza Mayor.
Plaza de la VillaA small square of three buildings from three centuries, the old heart of Madrid’s government.
Gran VíaThe great avenue of 1910 to the 1950s, Madrid’s Broadway of cinemas, theatres and early skyscrapers.
PradoSpain’s national art museum on the Paseo del Prado, with the royal collection: Velázquez, Goya and Bosch.
Also part of Madrid
Streets, squares and waterways
The places that hold the centre of Madrid together. Point at one to find it on the map.
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1
Puerta del Sol square
Madrid’s busiest square, with kilometre zero of Spain’s roads and the clock that rings in the New Year.
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2
Calle de Preciados street
The pedestrian shopping street from the Puerta del Sol up to Callao, lined with department stores.
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3
Plaza de Callao square
The square on the Gran Vía of cinemas and neon signs, among them the Schweppes sign on the Carrión building.
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4
Gran Vía street
The grand avenue cut through the old town from 1910, with banks, theatres, hotels and some of Europe’s first tall buildings.
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5
Plaza de España square
The big square at the end of the Gran Vía, with a monument to Cervantes and his Don Quixote and Sancho Panza, reopened in 2021 after a rebuild that gave more of it to gardens and walkers.
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6
Calle del Arenal street
The street from the Puerta del Sol to the opera, named after the sandy bed of a stream that once ran along it.
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7
Plaza de Oriente square
The gardens between the Royal Palace and the opera house, lined with statues of Spanish kings.
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8
Calle de Bailén street
The street along the Royal Palace and the cathedral, named after a Spanish victory over Napoleon’s army in 1808, which crosses the Calle de Segovia on a viaduct.
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9
Calle Mayor street
The old high street of Madrid, from the Puerta del Sol west towards the palace, the route of royal processions.
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10
Plaza de la Villa square
A small square off the Calle Mayor with buildings from three centuries, where the city council met until 2007.
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11
Plaza Mayor square
The arcaded square of 1619, once the stage for markets, bullfights and the trials of the Inquisition.
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12
Calle de la Cava Baja street
The street of taverns and tapas bars in La Latina, which follows the ditch outside the medieval walls.
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13
Plaza de Santa Ana square
The square of bars and terraces in the Barrio de las Letras, in front of the Teatro Español.
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14
Calle de las Huertas street
The main street of the Barrio de las Letras, where Cervantes and Lope de Vega lived, with lines of their work set in bronze letters in the pavement.
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15
Carrera de San Jerónimo street
The street from the Puerta del Sol down to the Paseo del Prado, past the Congress of Deputies with its bronze lions.