Paris1972-Versailles2003

Another emblematic monument of my dear Madrid that I have written several posts before but this is an emblematic building that should be told more, I used to lived not too far from it and was my entry into City center or Centro Madrid, Therefore, let me tell you more about the Palacio de Cibeles of Madrid !!! Hope you enjoy the post as I.

This was not far from my former apartment (piso), and always brings beautiful nostalgic memories when I write about it, and always a must visit for me in Madrid, The memories of my younger days, the Madrid of bringing my girlfriend, and later wife, the Madrid of bringing my kids growing older with time. Madrid is and will be a hole on the sky to look down on the city every day! On sunny days, cold days, rainy days, snow days , Madrid is awesome ,full of memories and great times. My boys and my dear late wife Martine came to love it too. Cibeles and Madrid, you get the idea, thanks The Palacio de Comunicaciones  or central post office or the  Palacio de Cibeles well you will get the idea. It has a long history already told in previous posts,

The Plaza de Cibeles is located at the union of the districts of Centro, Retiro, and Salamanca and the intersection of the 
Paseo de Recoletos and Paseo del Prado . The Square is cross by the Calle de Alcalà (mine), In the Plaza de Cibeles you have the famous fountain of Cibeles or Fuente de Cibeles; representing the Greek goddess of Cybil a work of architect Ventura Rodriguez and sculptors Francisco Gutierrez Arribas for the Cibeles figure, and Roberto Michel for the lions, Miguel Jimenez for the decoration elements of the chariot. The fountain was built between 1777 and 1782 in front of the palace of Buenavista, and move here in 1895 showing the Greek goddess Cibeles of fertility ,holding a scepter and a key while being pulled by two lions on a chariot.  The pull of the wild lions symbolize the power of nature or of the goddess; the figures took about 10K kg of stones !

Around the square or Plaza de Cibeles ,you will see important buildings (see posts) ;such as the Palacio de Communicaciones (post office)  or Cibeles or CentroCentro according to the times ,  and today its the mayor’s office of Madrid, built between 1905-1917. At the northeast side of the square you have the Palacio de Linares, built in 1875, now houses the Casa de America or House of America displaying a collection of paintings from Latin America artists. In the northwest portion of the square, you have the guarded Army headquarters which is house in the building of the old Palacio de Buenavista, first ordered built by the Duchess of Alba in 1777. On the opposite corner you have the Banco de España or the Bank of Spain, built between 1884-1891. The curious thing is that each of these monuments belongs to a different neighborhood of Madrid.

You should go inside for if anything accessing the central tower of about 70 meters on floor no 8  that is opened to the public , and use it as a mirador or lookout of the city for a small fee. In the courtyard, at both ends, two social areas have been created, dedicated to citizen information and a reading room. There is now an exhibition space called  CentroCentro,  this space is incorporated with a couple of exhibition halls and an auditorium with capacity for a little more than three hundred people. In the central tower there is a huge electric clock face of about three meters in diameter that lights up at night ,and officially replacing the Puerta del Sol clock. Sublime !!

The Madrid tourist office on the Palace of Cibeles : https://www.esmadrid.com/en/tourist-information/cibeles-palace

The Madrid tourist office on CentroCentro : https://www.esmadrid.com/en/tourist-information/centrocentro

There you go folks, this whole area is very nice for walks and wonderful architecture and history abound, not to mention very near the Retiro park as well! All part of my growing up as a teenager in my Madrid !!! Memories forever and repeat every year, Madrid is it, and the Palacio de Cibeles is a big part of it.  Again, hope you enjoy this post on the Palacio de Cibeles !!! as I.

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