is a large square and popular tourist destination located in central

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

at the western end of the Gran Vía. It features a monument to Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra and is adjacent to two of Madrid's most prominent skyscrapers. Additionally, the

Palacio Real The Royal Palace of Madrid () is the official residence of the Spanish royal family at the city of Madrid, although now used only for state ceremonies. The palace has of floor space and contains 3,418 rooms. It is the largest royal palace in Eu ...

(Royal Palace) is only a short walk south from the plaza. After years of renovation, on 22 November 2021, the square was reopened for pedestrians.

Cervantes Monument

Right in the center of the square is the monument to

Miguel de Cervantes Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra ( ; ; 29 September 1547 (assumed) – 22 April 1616 Old Style and New Style dates, NS) was a Spanish writer widely regarded as the greatest writer in the Spanish language and one of the world's pre-eminent novelist ...

, created at the same time as the square itself. Around the monument, a series of landscaped spaces were created for the enjoyment and rest of passers-by. In front of the statue of

Don Quixote , the full title being ''The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha'', is a Spanish novel by Miguel de Cervantes. Originally published in two parts in 1605 and 1615, the novel is considered a founding work of Western literature and is of ...

and

Sancho Panza Sancho Panza (; ) is a fictional character in the novel ''Don Quixote'' written by Spain, Spanish author Miguel de Cervantes, Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra in 1605. Sancho acts as squire to Don Quixote and provides comments throughout the novel, ...

, a pond of rectangular form is located that forms one of the best known views of the Spanish capital, along with the

Torre de Madrid The Torre de Madrid () is one of the tallest buildings in Madrid. It measures 142 metres in height, has 36 floors and was constructed between 1954 and 1957. It was designed by the architects Julián and José María Otamendi Machimbarrena as an a ...

and

Edificio España The Hotel Riu Plaza España is a historic skyscraper, the 8th tallest building in Madrid, Spain. It opened in 1953 as the Edificio España (), a mixed-use structure containing a hotel, offices, apartments and shops. It is an example of 20th-centur ...

behind it. Initially, the statues of

and

were located, approximately, in what is now the center of the pond, since it was later made. The base of the monument is in

granite Granite ( ) is a coarse-grained (phanerite, phaneritic) intrusive rock, intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly coo ...

, with the sculpture made of red stone from Sepúlveda (and some additions in bronze). Its accomplishment was carried out on the occasion of the third centenary of the publication of the second part of Don Quixote, in 1915, and which continued with the centenary of the death of the writer (1616), in 1916. The author of the project was the architect and sculptor Rafael Martínez Zapatero, who counted on the collaboration of Pedro Muguruza Otaño. The sculptures added were the work of

Lorenzo Coullaut Valera Lorenzo Coullaut Valera (1876 – 1932) was a Spanish sculptor. Born in Marchena, he grew up in Nantes where his family had moved. He studied at the Livet Lyceum and returned to Spain in 1893. At Seville, he studied at the studios of and ...

. The figures that make up this emblematic monument have, on the one hand, a seated Cervantes and at the base of the monument, and under the feet of the writer, are the statues of Don Quixote and Sancho Panza. The set was finalized when the figures of Dulcinea and Aldonza Lorenzo were added, also characters of the Cervantes novel. Alluding to the universality of Don Quixote, the monument also contemplates the five continents, all of them reading the work of Cervantes. On the other side and above the fountains, is represented the Spanish Literature, dressed in period and holding a book with his right hand. The tree that predominates in the landscaping of the square is the

olive tree The olive, botanical name ''Olea europaea'' ("European olive"), is a species of Subtropics, subtropical evergreen tree in the Family (biology), family Oleaceae. Originating in Anatolia, Asia Minor, it is abundant throughout the Mediterranean ...

, in homage to the

La Mancha La Mancha () is a natural region, natural and historical region in the provinces of Spain, Spanish provinces of province of Albacete, Albacete, province of Cuenca, Cuenca, province of Ciudad Real, Ciudad Real and province of Toledo, Toledo. It ...

fields in the wanderings of Don Quixote and Sancho. Image:Miguel de Cervantes - Monumento a Miguel de Cervantes.jpg, Stone sculpture of

Image:Monumento a Cervantes (Madrid) 02.jpg, North-eastern side of the Cervantes monument Image:Bronze statues of Don Quixote and Sancho Panza.jpg, Bronze sculptures of

and

Image:A Black and White Photo of the Bronze sculptures of Don Quixote and Sancho Panza in Madrid Spain.jpeg, Bronze sculptures of Don Quixote and Sancho Panza Image:Monumento a Cervantes (Madrid) 06b.jpg, Stone sculpture of Aldonza Lorenzo Image:Monumento a Miguel de Cervantes - 05.jpg, , Madrid.

Surrounding buildings

Adjacent to the plaza are two of the tallest buildings in Madrid, the 142 m (466 ft)

("Madrid Tower"), built in 1957, and the 117 m (384 ft) tall

("Spain Building"), built in 1953. There you will also find the

House of Gallardo The House of Gallardo (Spanish: ''Casa Gallardo'') is a building located in Madrid, Spain. Projected by Federico Arias Rey, it is one of the relatively few ''modernista'' buildings preserved in Madrid. It was declared ''Bien de Interés Cultural ...

, built in 1911 and considered one of the notable examples of the

Art Nouveau Art Nouveau ( ; ; ), Jugendstil and Sezessionstil in German, is an international style of art, architecture, and applied art, especially the decorative arts. It was often inspired by natural forms such as the sinuous curves of plants and ...

style of architecture in the city.

Metro station

Plaza de España is also the name of a

Metro Metro may refer to: Geography * Metro City (Indonesia), a city in Indonesia * A metropolitan area, the populated region including and surrounding an urban center Public transport * Rapid transit, a passenger railway in an urban area with high ...

station located on the eastern corner of the plaza, serviced by the #3 and #10 lines, with a connection to the #2 line.

History

In 1808, the area was part of the Príncipe Pío hill. It was one of the locations used by French firing squads to execute prisoners taken during the May 2nd uprising.

Notes

References

Madrid Skyscrapers at skyscraperpage.com
* Estación de Plaza de España / Noviciado from the Spanish-language Wikipedia article. Retrieved May 20, 2006. *

Plaza de España (Madrid) Plaza de España (Square of Spain) may refer to: In Spain * Plaça d'Espanya, Barcelona in Barcelona * Plaça d'Espanya (Palma) in Palma, Mallorca * Plaza de España, Madrid in Madrid * Praza de España (Pontevedra) in Pontevedra * Plaza de Esp ...