This document provides a summary of sights to see on a walk around Madrid, Spain. It describes several prominent landmarks in the city center, including the Royal Palace from the 18th century, Almudena Cathedral from the late 19th/20th centuries, and Plaza Mayor square. It also mentions popular parks like El Retiro, iconic structures like the Cibeles Fountain, and world-renowned art museums such as the Prado, Reina Sofia, and Thyssen Museum.

1. A WALK AROUND MADRID
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2. Where is Madrid?
It’s nearly in the centre of Spain. It was built
around the Manzanares river.

3. What can we see in
Madrid?
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4. ROYAL PALACE
Madrid's Royal Palace was built in the 18th
century, by order of Philip V. The Sabatini and
Campo del Moro Gardens are among the Palace’s
attractions. Its artistic style is Neo-classical.

5. ALMUDENA CATHEDRAL
Almudena Cathedral is the cathedral of Madrid.
Dating from the late 19th and 20th centuries. It
was completed in 1993 and consecrated in person by
Pope John Paul II that same year. It’s in Neo-
Gothic and Neoclassical style.

6. PLAZA MAYOR – MAIN SQUARE
The Plaza Mayor is
Madrid's main square. It is
located right in the centre
of the city.

7. CIBELES FOUNTAIN The monumental Cibeles
Fountain has become a
Madrid icon. It shows
Cybele, the Greek
goddess of fertility and
nature.

8. DEBOD TEMPLE
The Egyptian
government donated
this temple to the
Spanish people in
1968.

9. GRAN VIA
Madrid’s Gran Via district is a fashionable boulevard lined with modern
Art Deco buildings, upscale shops and an impressive theatre district
that rivals Broadway for its varied international productions.

10. EL RETIRO PARK
Many local families spend their Sunday afternoons here, renting a
horse-drawn carriage or paddling a rowboat in the pond. In the 17th
century only the royal family was allowed to use it privately, hosting
pageants, bullfights, and mock naval battles. Only a century later did
it open to the public, but even then visitors had to be formally
dressed to enter.

11. PUERTA DE ALCALA – ALCALA DOOR
In 1764 King Carlos III commissioned the Italian architect
Sabatini to construct a large gate.
Sabatini's design called for a neoclassical granite gate with
three large archways and two smaller, rectangular
passageways.

12. LA PUERTA DEL SOL
The Puerta del Sol is one of the best
known and busiest places in Madrid.
This is the centre of the radial
network of Spanish roads.

13. THE PRADO MUSEUM The Prado Museum is
Madrid's top cultural
sight, and one of the
world's greatest art
galleries. There are
works of Velázquez,
Goya, Raphael, Rubens,
and Bosch is housed in
an 18th-century Neo-
Classical building that
opened as a museum in
1819.

14. REINA SOFIA MUSEUM
Madrid's 18th century hospital
was beautifully remodelled and
converted into a museum in
1992. It’s Spain's national
museum of 20th century art
Picasso’s Guernica

15. THYSSEN MUSEUM
This museum is one the
world's most important
private art collection.
Assembled by Baron
Heinrich Thyssen-
Bornemisza it illustrates
the history of Western art
from the primitive Flemish
and Italian painters, to
20th century Pop Art.