El Madrid de los Austrias
El Madrid de los Austrias (Spanish. The Madrid of the Austrians or Habsburgs ) is a name for the old center of Madrid . The neighborhood is south of Calle Mayor, between the Sol and Opera metro stations . Coordinates: 40 ° 25 ′ N , 3 ° 42 ′ W El Madrid de los Austrias was named after its builders, the Spanish Habsburgs . The Habsburgs are called los Austrias in Spanish to this day .
Madrid only became the capital in the 16th century . Spain was experiencing its most glamorous period at that time, the so-called Siglo de Oro . The kingdom experienced enormous economic growth through the colonies in South America. The Habsburgs commissioned several buildings and infrastructure projects to represent this power and wealth in the public domain. The architectural styles represented range from the late Renaissance to the early Baroque .
The Plaza Mayor is the most distinctive Habsburg building and the centerpiece of Madrid de los Austrias . In the middle stands a statue of its builder, King Felipe III . The Plaza Mayor was laid out in 1619 and is a large, rectangular square with arcades and nine entrance gates. The color is dark red / orange; these colors are the result of a citywide vote. The Plaza Mayor has been the scene of bullfights , executions and coronation ceremonies .
Palacio de Santa Cruz
The Palacio de Santa Cruz is located in the Plaza de Santa Cruz . The palace was built between 1629 and 1643. The red facade with whitish-framed windows is characteristic of the Habsburg architecture and is similar to the style of the Plaza Mayor . The building has two striking corner towers with a pointed roof. The Cárcel de la Corte prison was originally housed there. This is where convicts spent the time leading up to their execution in the Plaza Mayor . A famous prisoner was the bandit Luis Candelas , a type of Spanish Robin Hood . He was executed in November 1837.
Despite the civil war and renovations, the Palacio has lost little of its original shape. The overseas ministry (Ministerio del Ultramar) was temporarily housed here, and since 1931 it has been the seat of the foreign ministry .
Plaza de la Villa
The Plaza de la Villa is one of the oldest squares in Madrid. Several important buildings are located on it. The oldest building is the Torre de los Lujanes tower , which was built in the Gothic style in the 15th century. The French King Francis I (France) lived in it for a while after his capture in the Battle of Pavia in 1525. The Torre does not actually belong to the Habsburg era, but is located in Madrid de los Austrias. The Casa de Cisneros was built in 1537. Right next to it is the Ayuntamiento , the old town hall. It was built by the architect Juan Gómez de Mora , who designed the Plaza Mayor . Here, too, the architectural style is similar, with a relatively unadorned reddish-orange facade and mansard windows , with corner towers with steep roofs.
Other important structures are
- the Plaza de las Descalzas with the Monasterio de las Descalzas Reales ,
- the Casa de las Siete Chimeneas in the Plaza del Rey ,
- the Puente de Segovia ( Segovia Bridge) and
- the Palacio de Uceda .
