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Old Madrid : Puerta del Sol

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Puerta del Sol
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Puerta del Sol

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  • Noisy with traffic, chatter and policemen's whistles, the Puerta del Sol makes a fitting centre for Madrid. This is one of the city's most popular meeting places, and huge crowds converge here on their way to the shops and sights in the old part of the city. Today the "square" is shaped like half moon. A recent addition is the imposing statue of Carlos III. The Puerta del Sol has witnessed many important historical events. On 2 May 1808 the uprising against the occupying French forces began here, but the crowd, pitted against the well-armed French troops, was crushed. In 1912 the liberal Prime Minister Jose Canalejas was assassinated in the square and, in 1931, the Second Republic was proclaimed from the balcony of the Ministry of the Interior.

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