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The Royal Palace marks a decisive break with the austere tastes of Spain’s Hapsburg rulers. Felipe V had been brought up at Versailles where the International Baroque style was in vogue. Architect Filippo Juvara died two years into the project, but his successor, Gian Battista Sachetti retained the Baroque spirit (see Palacio Real).

The inspiration for the square was El Escorial’s courtyard (see El Escorial). But the plans of architect Juan de Herrera were only realized 30 years in 1619 later by Gómez de Mora (see Plaza Mayor).

More prosaically known as the General Post Office, this extraordinary building was the first major commission of Galician architect Antonio Palacios and his partner, Joaquín Otamendi. The style of this palace (1905–19) has influences ranging from Spanish Plateresque to Art Deco. The most striking feature of the interior is the stained-glass roof.

Art Nouveau is usually associated with Barcelona rather than Madrid and, in fact, this superb example is by the Catalan architect José Grases Riera. Bold and original in design, take a close look at the florid sculptural detail, the sensuous curves and the balustrade – all typical Art Nouveau features (see Palacio Longoría).

The Fine Arts Club dates from the 1920s and is Antonio Palacios’ Art Deco masterpiece. The crowning feature is the statue on the roof, representing the goddess Minerva, patroness of the arts. Pay the one-day membership fee and you can take in the other highlights – the staircase, theatre, ballroom and the Salón de Fiestas, with its painted ceiling (see Círculo de Bellas Artes).

One of Madrid’s signature buildings, Metrópolis was designed in 1905 by the French architects Jules and Raymond Février. The high point – literally – of this lovely Neo-Baroque confection is the bronze wreaths garlanding the cupola, which glint in the sunlight (see Metrópolis).

Though much altered over the years, this 16th-century church is an important architectural monument. It has also been a place of refuge for Spanish kings and queens through the ages. The current king, Juan Carlos I, was crowned here in 1975 (see Iglesia de San Jerónimo el Real).

Founded in 1910 as a liberal college, early alumni here included artist Salvador Dalí and poet Federico García Lorca. Designed by Antonio Flórez, the main building was nicknamed “transatlantic” by students because the balustrade resembled the rail of an ocean liner.

The tower’s main claim to fame is that, at 157 m (515 ft), it is the tallest building in Madrid. Opened in 1989, it is the work of Japanese architect Minoru Yamasaki, designer of the ill-fated World Trade Center in New York.

The “Gateway to Europe” is a modern version of a triumphal arch. Twenty-six storeys high, the leaning towers of glass and metal were completed in 1996.