DK Travel : Madrid : History & Culture

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El Escorial

Apart from the famous monastery and the views of the Sierra, the attractions of El Escorial include the magnificent Coliseo, dating from 1771, and the two royal lodges (see El Escorial).
El Pardo

El Pardo is now a suburb of Madrid but was in open countryside when Enrico III built a hunting lodge here in the early 15th century. The Palacio del Pardo was built by the Bourbons and substantially enlarged during the reign of Carlos III. More recently it was the official residence of General Franco. The tapestries, from sketches by Goya, are the outstanding feature.
El Rastro

You can easily lose a day wandering around the quirky stalls of the city’s flea market and watching the bustling world go by in the many bars and cafés (see El Rastro).
El Travelling

In 1983 this bar opened on Calle del Olivar and joined Rock Ola and El Sol as an important movida venue.
End of La Movida

In 1991 the socialists lost power in Madrid, a sign that the social climate was turning against the movida .
Enrique Tierno Galván

This former Professor of Marxist philosophy was elected Mayor of Madrid in 1979 and it was his tolerant and relaxed approach that made the movida possible. One million people attended his funeral in 1986.
Enrique Tierno Galván

The liberal-minded mayor was elected in 1979.
Enrique Tierno Galván

Madrid’s most popular mayor (elected 1979) embraced the movida (see Enrique Tierno Galván).
Ermita de San Antonio de la Florida

The hermitage dedicated to St Anthony of Padua was completed in 1798. Goya began work on his sublime frescoes in June and by December they were finished. It was on St Anthony’s Day (13 June) that a procession of unmarried girls would come to the hermitage to ask the saint to find them a husband.
Estación de Atocha

Madrid’s southern railway station is also a palm garden and an arresting architectural monument. The old terminal, a magnificent cast-iron structure, 152 m (500 ft) long and more than 40 m (130 ft) high, overlooks Plaza de Atocha. It was designed by Alberto del Palacio in 1888 – the French engineer Gustave Eiffel, designer of Paris’s famous tower, was a consultant – and completed four years later. When, more than a century later, the decision was taken to run a new high-speed train service to Seville (AVE), prize-winning Spanish architect Rafael Moneo was commissioned to remodel the terminal. His makeover incorporated the square and the old station canopy, and added a cylindrical lantern over the commuter station, and a streamlined glass concourse from where the AVE now departs.