The Plaza de Cánovas del Castillo of Madrid !!!

Posted in Madrid, Spain

Ok so this is new but it has briefs notes in my other posts on Madrid. I just took the text out and creating a single post on it here. This is the spot of the other team of Madrid so enough said. However, the square is very nice and in the middle sits the Fuente de Neptuno fountain. Let me tell you a bit more about the Plaza de Cànovas del Castillo of Madrid !!! Hope you enjoy the post as I.

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The Plaza de Cánovas del Castillo is a large, almost circular roundabout located on the border of the Cortes district and the Retiro district, occupying the heart of the old Prado Hall and centered on the Neptune Fountain since 1898. The Prado and Thyssen-Bornemisza museums, the headquarters of the Cortes (Spanish parliament) and the monumental buildings of the Westin Palace Hotel and the Ritz Hotel are very close. Since 1895, a municipal agreement baptized it with the name of the 19C politician Antonio Cánovas del Castillo.

The square is framed by the Paseo del Prado, with the Palacio de Villahermosa, and the landscaped space of the Plaza de la Lealtad and the Ritz hotel, which facing diagonally has the Westin Palace hotel (stayed here!) occupying the plaza to Poniente in the confluence of the Carrera de San Jerónimo with the Plazuela de las Cortes streets. You have the Calle de Felipe IV, with the entrance of Murillo to the Prado National Art Gallery, the continuation of the walk to the neighboring Glorieta de Atocha, and the entrance of the Calle de Cervantes.

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The whole of the Westin Palace Hotel and its services were seized, looted and mistreated by the French occupation army in the course of the Spanish War of Independence (May 1808). Half a century later, in 1857 part of the land was urbanized to extend Calle Lope de Vega to Paseo del Prado; A similar process was carried out at the beginning of the 20C so that Calle de Cervantes reached the Prado and Calle Jesús reached the Cortes (parliament). After the death of the fiftieth Duke of Medinaceli in 1873, his widow moved to the new ducal palace on the Paseo de Recoletos corner of the Plaza de Colón. The old palace was demolished in 1910 to build part of the estate of the Westin Palace Hotel you see today.

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The Neptuno Fountain is located in the middle of the Plaza de Cánovas del Castillo. It is nothing less than between the Prado Museum and the Thyssen Bornemisza Museum, between the Ritz and Palace hotels. It has also become popular for being the place chosen by Atlético de Madrid fans to celebrate their titles. This monumental fountain was proposed in 1777 and its construction, begun in 1782, ended in 1786. Originally it was located at the bottom of the Carrera de San Jerónimo street, looking at the Cibeles fountain, but it was moved to the center of the aforementioned square in 1898. The authorship of the sculpture is not very clear, since it was commissioned to sculptor Juan Pascual de Mena, who died before the completion of the piece; However, documents exist which indicate the work was continued by his apprentice José Arias. Regarding the whole monument, a carriage in the form of a shell emerges from a rocky base and is pulled by two hippocampi, symbol of storms and agitated sea. The sculpture represents the god of the sea with his trident upon a chariot, pulled by two sea horses.

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The Madrid tourist office on the Neptune fountain: https://www.esmadrid.com/en/tourist-information/fuente-de-neptuno

There you go folks another dandy combination in my beloved Madrid; never ceased to amazed me on its architecture and historical beauty. Again, hope you enjoy this post on the Plaza de Cànovas del Castillo of Madrid !!! as I

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

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Published by pedmar10

I am a lover of travels to Europe , Americas , Africa and Asia as well ,who like to share my experiences of the last 53 years with the world, visiting so far 81 countries; living in 6, working in 5, and Citizen of 4, speaking fluently 4 languages. I can deal with sports especially football/soccer and love music, arts, wine collector/drinker, and go out to restaurants, and just visit the world. My background comes all the way from Candelaria and Pajara in Tenerife, Spain where my grandparents came from ;not knowing each other then, to Punta Brava, west of Havana, Cuba. There , my parents born in Cuba met and later on I was born there too. 100% guanche (annexed Tenerife to Spain on April 10 ,1496). I left Cuba as many have to Madrid, Spain where I lived for 4 years. Then, move to Perth Amboy ,New Jersey USA (living there 13 yrs) ; where I completed high school, became a US Citizen, learned to drive a car, and learned English. Afterward, went to the university in Florida, ERAU, and upon graduation decided to moved there to Ormond by the Sea, near Daytona Beach, finally moving North Miami, then Hialeah, then another moved to Silver Lakes division in Miramar, Broward county, Florida; in Florida I lived a total of 18 years. Finally , moved to France in 2003 ,Versailles call me for its royalty, and working in Paris was great. It was time to seek frontiers again and moved to Brech near Auray, Morbihan in Brittany , and later move to not too far Pluvigner. Total so far in France has been 20 years, and counting. Moving average a home every 5.5 years hopefully this will be my last. Cheers All rights reserved. No part of this blog may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means or stored in a retrieval system of any nature, without the written permission of the copyright holder, me. No part of this work may be modified, without the written permission of the holder, me.No part of this work may be exposed to public view in any form or by any means, without identifying the holder as the author, and with the before mentioned permission.

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