Paris1972-Versailles2003

This is a must for me to update this older post in my blog. One of the emblematic squares of Madrid, the world comes here yes, but still a lot of flavor to find the little niches in and around it. I have been coming here since a child and as a teen came to eat in one of its institutions still open. Let me tell you a bit more of the Plaza Mayor of Madrid!!!

Coming to Madrid and not the Plaza Mayor you will not be able to tell much if not had visited it. I am coming to it and see its transformation since childhood and always amazes me to see it. It is part of the quinssentional Madrid. And  a great spot to look down on it or as we say, from Madrid to heaven and a hole in the sky to look down on it every day. Best to walk but if far than use public transports taking you here from many sites in Madrid. The more popular are by metro lines 1,2, and 3 at Sol and even better by bus as above you see more are the lines  17 ,18,23,31,35, and 65.

I have written bits on it , more on the touristic side, will dwell on this post on the historical/personal side I like.

Located in the district of the Centro and in the neighborhood  of Sol, near the Puerta del Sol, the square is in the form of a rectangle of 129 by 94 meters. Fully pedestrianized, it is accessible by ten entrances, several of which connect it to Calle Mayor, in the north.  The Plaza Mayor, the center of it all rivaling the Puerta del Sol. Mayor is older and wonderfully decorated on its façades with a great equestrian statue of king Felipe III done in 1616 but place here since 1848. It dates from the 1580 until finished by 1619, when it was one of the limits of the city.

When at the confluence of the roads (today Streets) of Toledo and Atocha, on the outskirts of the medieval village, was celebrated in this site, known as Plaza del Arrabal, the main market of the village, building at this time the arcaded  house , or Lonja, to regulate the trade in the square . Named Plaza de la Villa, it then houses the main municipal market and undergoes first transformations which aim to equip it with a hall or market. In 1580, King Felipe II ordered plans to redevelop it. The work begins from 1590 with the construction of the House of the bakery (Casa de la Panadería), to replace the old Hall. In 1617, Felipe III continued the project, which was completed two years later.

Between 1631 and 1790, the square is ravaged by three fires that impose its reconstruction every time. The last of these is the work of Juan de Villanueva, which was pursued by the architects Aguado and Moreno on his death. It was only at the completion of the project, in 1854, that the place took its present form, notably marked by lower buildings (three floors instead of five) and a series of arcades.  In 1848, the equestrian statue of king Felipe III, produced by Jean de Bologna and Pietro Tacca at the beginning of the 17C, was placed in the center.

Originally known as Plaza de la Villa, it then takes the one of Plaza Mayor. In 1812, by decree, the most important squares in Spain were all renamed Plaza de la Constitucion in honor of the new constitution. The place thus bears this name until the restoration of king Fernando VII in 1814, when it became the Plaza Real, before becoming the Plaza de la Constitucion three times (1820-1823, 1833-1835 and 1840-1843). Renamed Plaza de la Républica in 1873, and then again in the Constitution after the restoration, it retained this last name until the beginning of the dictatorship of Primo de Rivera. The proclamation of the Second Republic provokes a new change in favor of the Plaza de la Constitucion, but at the end of the Spanish Civil War it takes over the name we know today, as Plaza Mayor.

Delimited by a set of granite arcades, the square is surrounded with three-stories apartment buildings and 237 balconies. Under the arcades, galleries house a set of traditional shops, as well as specialized shops. These are my favorites and long patronized them!

Casa de la Panaderia or House of the bakery ,first seat of the royal administration of weights and measures, it shelters from 1745 to 1774 the Royal Academy of Fine Arts San Fernando, then until 1871 the Royal Academy of History. Since then it has been hosting various municipal services.  After the second fire suffered by the square, in 1672, the Casa de la Panaderia  is redecorated and adorned with frescoes designed by Claudio Coello and José Jiménez Donoso. In 1988, the municipality organized a competition to modify these frescoes. Mythological figures (Cybele, Proserpine, Bacchus, Cupid, etc.) and imaginaries are then carried out. The last of the performances in the Plaza Mayor, carried out in 1992, consisted of the mural decoration, work of Carlos Franco, of the Casa de la Panaderia, representing mythological characters like the goddess Cibeles. The tourist office of the city is also on the square, in the famous Casa de la Panaderia!

In the centered upper part of the Casa de la Panaderia  is carved in stone a blazon with the weapons of king Carlos II. Given the absence of Portugal’s weapons, it can be deduced that the shield was styled at a later date than 1668, when the Spanish Crown recognized the independence of Portugal, which was de facto from 1640. The shield is composed of the arms of Castilla and León , in the first quadrant; the arms of Aragon and Sicily, in the second; the weapons of Austria and modern Burgundy, in the third; those of ancient Burgundy and Brabant, in the fourth, those of Flanders and Tyrol in the escutcheon below and the symbol of Granada in the center of the Shield .

Casa de la Carniceria or house of the butchers located on the south side, it is originally built on an unknown date. After the fire of 1631, it is rebuilt on the model of the Casa de la Panaderia or house of the bakery. It owes its name to the fact that it first served as a general store for meat.

Arcos de Cuchilleros or Arch of Cutlers located at the southwest corner, it is the work of Juan de Villanueva, who designs it with an important difference in level in order to connect it to the edge of the square. It owes its name to the old calle de Cuchilleros, a corporation that provided the butchers of the market square. Below the staircase there are many typical restaurants. The Arcos de Cuchilleros is perhaps the most famous of the ten accesses of the Plaza Mayor  ( like Calle 7 de Julio, Arco de Triunfo, and Felipe III to the north; Sal, Zaragoza and Gerona to the east; Botoneras, Toledo and Cuchilleros to the south (the official name of this access is Calle de la Escalerilla de Piedra (ladder of stone); and Ciudad Rodrigo to the west, and located in the southwest corner of the square:Plaza Mayor. There is another entry by the left of the Casa de la Carniceria  that has no exit to the square, and another arch on the left of the facade smaller that also has no exit to the square. This is my most memorable part of the square.

The square is one of the most active centers of the 17C Madrid. Shows of all kinds are held there such as bullfights, trials of the Inquisition, lumberjacks, etc. The crowd attends these public acts from the balconies overlooking it.  Nowadays it is an indispensable site of Madrid tourism and one of the emblems of the capital. Summer and end of year holidays are the most lively times.  And it was time for the anniversary, happy birthday Plaza Mayor! (by now 403 yrs old)  Plaza Mayor celebrated as the beating heart of Madrid. The exhibit showed how the square has taken on the character of each new era in Spanish history. Large portion of the second half of the exhibit, which shows Plaza Mayor’s metamorphosis from 1843 to 2018, is devoted to the photographs of Martín Santos Yubero. With good reason, Santos Yubero was renowned for his documentary coverage of Madrid, which spanned the better part of the 20C. The History Museum does tourists and locals a favor with its detailed account of one of the capital’s main thoroughfares. Just as Madrid has become a center for government, art, nightlife and football, Plaza Mayor is all at once,market, park, cafe and stage. Don’t let the pricey drinks fool you: underneath all the gaudiness lie 400 years of la vida Madrileña (Madrilene lives). The history museum from the Madrid tourist office: https://www.esmadrid.com/en/tourist-information/museo-de-historia

One of the favorite of mine for year is the store La Favorita for its hats, could not leave there without fitting one for my paternal grandfather an avid hat wearer and he love it when I came back with one lol! Another favorite that came years later with what is now my wife is Las Cuevas de Luis Candelas resto in calle Cuchilleros just past the Arco de Cuchicheros arch. This is a typical Castilian restaurant a bit overrun over the years with tourists but still hanging on to the past; my first formal restaurant visit in Madrid in 1971! (see post). A favorite for hats, umbrellas , caps etc is Casa Yustas another legendary store in the square. There is a great Christmas market there for several years now, and the adjoining streets of Toledo, Mayor, and Atocha are full of shops and restos to last a lifetime tastings.And to eat in the square, or Plaza Mayor, you have the famous Museo del Jamon there ,super .And the Cerveceria Plaza Mayor or brasserie restaurant wonderful.

Some additional webpages to help you plan your trip to the Plaza Mayor are:

The Madrid tourist office on the Plaza Mayor: https://www.esmadrid.com/en/tourist-information/plaza-mayor-madrid

The Comunidad de Madrid tourist office on the Plaza Mayor: https://turismomadrid.es/es/descubre/madrid/de-inter%C3%A9s/5089-plaza-mayor.html

There you go folks, now you are all set to visit this wonderful old square ,only in time as it is always young and vibrant, the heartbeat of Madrid 17C to 21C ; the Plaza Mayor!!!

And remember, happy travels, good health, and many cheers to all!!!

Surprise! I just found an older post of  my entry on the Prado museum of Madrid and would love to updated it for you and me. Be aware ,that when lived in Madrid I was too poor to go into these museums and it took me several years afterward coming back as a visitor to start seeing them. Eventually, I saw it in 2004 and been back several times last in 2018. Therefore, this my historical take on one of the world’s greatest museum, the Prado of Madrid, and Spain.

Let’s tackle this huge institution, not an easy task lol! So will be as brief as possible,just for a taste to bring you in to a fascinating world of the arts. This time from the Spanish angle sort of speaking. The Prado museum in Madrid was big then and it is bigger today.  The Cason del Buen Retiro as it was then part of the Retiro park,(see posts) now part of the Prado museum, and even then was just a way to hang around the area with friends.  The museum came much later , when in 2004, visiting the city with my family, and passing by walking , on a whim , we decided to go in, and lucky tickets were had easily then.  Well, it was an eye opener and have come back later several times. The Prado encourage me to visit the Louvre later on and also catch up with me.  I am a friend of both museums today!!

Now, let get into the history of it that I like a lot as the portraits description etc will take a book lol!

The Prado Museum ( Museo Nacional del Prado) is one of the largest and most important museums in the world. It presents mainly European paintings (Flemish, Spanish, French, Italian and German) from the 14C to the beginning of the 19C, collected by the Habsburgs and the Bourbons. The museum also holds collections of drawings and prints (some 6 400 drawings and 3 000 prints), a fund of a thousand sculptures (including an important collection of Greco-Roman sculptures) and a large number of decorative objects and historical documents. It permanently exhibits a collection of 1 300 works in its site, plus 3 000 lent to be exhibited in other galleries and official institutions.

The original, neoclassical-style central building, which now serves as a seat at the Prado National Museum, was built on the initiative of José Moñino y Redondo, count de Floridablanca and chief minister of king Carlos III. It is designed by the architect Juan de Villanueva in 1785 as a natural science house. Because of the events of history, however, the construction will only be completed under king Fernando VII, grandson of Carlos III. Driven by his wife, Queen Maria-Isabel of Portugal, the king took the decision to make this building a Royal museum of paintings and sculptures.

The museum initially feeds on Royal collections, hence its first name as a Royal museum. It was soon renamed National Museum of Painting and Sculpture and, subsequently, Museo Nacional del Prado, it opened for the first time to the public in 1819. In 1868, after the fall of Queen Isabel II of Spain, the works of art of the monarchy became the heritage of the Spanish nation. In 1872 , it was closed the Museo de la Trinidad,(Trinity museum) enriched with Works of arts and nationalized due to the laws of Mendizábal 1836, and its treasure was transferred to the Prado.

After this merger, the Prado was renamed the National Museum of Painting and Sculptures, a designation that had hitherto had the Trinity Museum. This denomination remained until 1920, year in which by Royal decree officially received the current name of National Museum of the Prado, which was as it was known habitually already before, for having built the building in grounds of the old meadow(prado) of the Jerónimos. The Museum of Modern Art (M. A. M.)  went to the National museum dedicated to the arts of the 19C and 20C as opened  from 1894 to 1971, the year in which its collections of 19C art  were absorbed by the Prado, while those of the 20C remained in the Spanish Museum of Contemporary Arts (MEAC) , predecessor of the current Reina Sofía Museum.

In addition to the Royal collections, the museum receives many works of art as a result of the interpretation of the before mention law of 1836 which forces the Church to sell a large part of its possessions. In addition, the museum benefits from the very important donations of private collectors, including Francesc  Cambó, Pablo Bosch and Ramón Errazu, as well as the works brought by the Fundación Amigos del Museo del Prado (The Friends of the Museum Foundation). Spanish webpage: https://www.amigosmuseoprado.org/   And it has an American counterpart webpage: https://www.afpradomuseum.org/

Its main attraction lies in the wide presence of Velázquez, El Greco, Goya (the most widely represented artist in the museum), Titian, Rubens and Bosco, of which possesses the best and most extensive collections that exist worldwide, to which we must add outstanding ensembles of important authors such as Murillo, Ribera, Zurbarán, Rafael, Veronese, Tintoretto, Van Dyck , and Poussin, to name just a few of the most relevant.  The museum has the largest collection of Spanish paintings in the world. It includes works that extend from Romanesque art from the 12C to the end of the 19C. The collection of Italian paintings is the second collection of the museum, although it is relatively poor in works prior to the 16C. But it is from the 16C that the Italian collection of the Prado takes its full dimension. Italian Baroque painting is certainly one of the main points of interest of the Prado collections by the variety of artists and the quality of the works that can be admired.

The collection of Flemish paintings is also among the very first in Europe, since Flemish primitives, Flemish painting of the 17C is also particularly well represented with a considerable collection of paintings.  The collection of French paintings consists mainly of works of the 17C and 18C. The ténèbrisme is also represented of the portrait makers of the Court of Spain, also of the Masters of the Rococo the museum presents finally some 19C painters.The collection of German paintings is reduced but of high quality, as well as a small collection of English paintings is also presented most were acquired by the museum in the years 1950.  Even more reduced, hardly testimonial, is the presence of paintings of the rest of the schools: Hispanic-American (more than twenty, but deposited in the Museum of America), Filipino, Swedish, Danish , American, Central European etc. With regard to the Portuguese school, despite the geographical proximity and the close relationship between the Spanish and Portuguese  monarchies, especially in the early Habsburg era, the presence of paintings from that country is negligible, reducing to six works, almost all of the 19C or early 20C.

The Prado museum architecture look that I like, briefly describe.

 Edificio Villanueva , a building designed by Juan de Villanueva, in its original conception, is formed by a central body finished in apse, which flank two elongated galleries that end in square pavilions, one at each end. Representing an allegory of King Fernando VII as protector of the sciences, the arts and the technique. In its posterior facade, the central section ends in a semicircular form or in an apse, in such a way that its plane adopts a basilical form.

Edificio Jerónimos (Building). This enlargement did not make substantial changes to the Villanueva building, and it was reflected in an extension to the Jerónimos cloister so that the museum would have enough space for its growing needs. The increase of the available surface was 15 715 square meters, a 50% more . The connection between both buildings is underground (on the side of the Jerónimos building), because it takes advantage and covers the height between the Jerónimos (Calle Ruiz de Alarcón) and the Paseo del Prado. The most visible improvements of this intervention affected the attention to the visitor (vestibule, bar-restaurant, lockers, shop), the extension of the exhibition spaces, with four new rooms for temporary exhibitions on two floors and the habilitation of the Cloister as sculpture display room; a new auditorium and a conference room, as well as other spaces for internal use (restoration, warehouses and the cabinet of drawings and prints.

Cason del Buen Retiro is one of the dependencies of the old palace of the Retiro park that have come to our days(my hangouts around as youth nice area ok). Conceived as a ballroom of that palace, it was very much damaged after the war of Independence (1808-1814), after being occupied and partially destroyed by the French troops. The subsisting part, already as an autonomous building and separated from what was the former palace, was the subject of several renovations throughout the 19C. It was then endowed with monumental neoclassical facades, of which the western side with a scenographic colonnade, opposite the Retiro Park in the 20C, was used as an exhibition hall, hosting several of the most important events (what I remember living in Madrid was used). Already decided its museum use, it was attached to the Prado in 1971 (was there with my mother Gladys for the opening lol!), until 1997 the section corresponding to the art of the 19C, after the reorganization of the State collections of painting and the creation of the Reina Sofía Museum, was thought in as ideal space for the temporary exhibitions of the Prado. Finally, these functions and the painting of the 19C have been transferred to the expansion of Moneo(architect) and the historical building, respectively. After being subjected to a profound reform at the beginning of the 21C, which included the restoration of the vault painted by Luca Giordano in the central hall (allegory of the Golden Fleece ), it is since 2009 the headquarters of the museum’s Study Center, the so-called Prado school , which, following the model of the Ecole du Louvre, is dedicated to research as well as to the training of specialists in the various fields of art history. In this way, the Cason del Buen Retiro currently houses the library of the Prado Museum, with the reading room installed in the main hall under the frescoes of Giordano.

Salon de Reinos, (Kingdom’s hall) ,correspond to the main wing (north) of the old Palace of Retiro Park, it receives its name for having originally housed the hall of Kingdoms or of ambassadors, where the king received the foreign dignitaries; This space was conceived as a scenographic  scene of the Spanish monarchy, with large paintings commissioned by king Felipe IV to the principal painters of the time, will endow the Museum of 2500 m² of exhibition space, 16% more, with a total of 5400 m²  of useful space.

Edificio Aldeasa( building)  located next to the Jerónimos cloister, it is a building of contemporary style in which were the offices of the company Aldeasa, until it was acquired in 1996 by the direction of the patrimony of the State, which was attach to the Prado for to install in it the offices of the museum, until then located in the South attic of the Edificio Villanueva. On the other hand, in the premises of the adjoining building, at no  21 Calle Ruiz de Alarcón, is home to the foundation Friends of the Museum.(Fundacion Amigos del Museo del Prado).

Sala Prado , the Abulense building known as the House of Miguel del Aguila, by whom it was built in 1546, or, more commonly, as the Palace of the Eagle,(Palacio de las Aguilas)  was bequeathed with all its contents to the state by its last private owner, María Luisa Narváez and Macías,  Duchesse of Valencia, deceased in 1983, for the installation in it of a museum. Initially, in 1992,  was attached to the Museum of Avila, but through a new collaboration agreement between the then Ministry of Education and Culture and the Junta de Castilla y León was changed the assignment, going to the Prado Museum. In this way, this former palace of typical Abulense quarry became the first seat of the Prado outside Madrid, destined to host the center of Deposit Management.

Edificio Calle Pérez Ayuso at no 20  was partially attached to the museum in 2012 by the Ministry of Education, Culture and sport to install in it the new warehouse of portraits.

There you go folks, just a brief description of the Prado museum really needs two full days to see at least, you might get hook on it too and stay longer. Some webpages to help you plan your visit here are:

The official Prado museum webpage: https://www.museodelprado.es/en

The Madrid tourist office on the Prado museum: https://www.esmadrid.com/en/tourist-information/museo-del-prado

The Ministry of Culture and Sports of Spain on the Prado museum: http://www.spainisculture.com/en/museos/madrid/museo_nacional_del_prado.html

Hope you enjoy the visit or ride or passing by all there is nice, worth a detour, for a few days lol! Enjoy Madrid and Spain’s Prado museum, a must stop.

And remember, happy travels, good health, and many cheers to all!!!