The Plaza de Colon of Madrid, part II !!!

Posted in Europe, Madrid, Spain

Another dandy full of memories for me and family, well as you can read, Madrid is all happy memories that will last all my life. Madrid to heavens and a hole in the sky to look down on it every day! Once again found me pictures in my cd rom vaults that should be in my blog for you and me, Therefore, let me tell you a bit more on the Plaza de Colon of Madrid, part II !!! Hope you enjoy the post as I

The Plaza de Colón is named after Christopher Columbus (Cristobal Colon). Located at the intersection of the districts of the Centro, Chamberí and Salamanca, delimited by the streets of Goya, Jorge Juan and Serrano. The west side of the square consists of a crossroads at the center of which rises the monument to Columbus, where the Paseo de la Castellana is to the north and the Paseo de Recoletos to the south. The square was originally called Plaza de Santiago, or St, James Square. In 1893 it was decided to rename the square to Plaza de Colón in honor of Christopher Columbus. On the south side is the large building that houses the National Archaeological Museum on one side and the National Library on the other. Nearby are the Café Gijón, the Wax Museum, and the Casino Gran Madrid.

The Jardines del Descubrimiento or Discovery Gardens, inaugurated in 1970, are made up of several tree-lined areas, including the Monumento al Descubrimiento de América or Monument to the Discovery of America, a group consisting of three enormous concrete sculptures with reliefs and inscriptions. The Monumento al Descubrimiento de América, stands over a pond and is composed of three large concrete volumes with reliefs alluding to the aforementioned historical event. It was erected in 1977, when the remodeling of the Plaza de Colón was completed and the Fernán Gómez Cultural Center of the City of Madrid was inaugurated. One of the most unique elements of the complex was the waterfall that plunged from the gardens to the confluence of the Paseo de la Castellana and Paseo de Recoletos, forming, beneath it, the access to the Cultural Center. The waterfall was fed by the waters of a pond located at the foot of the Monumento a Colón or Columbus Monument, but it was drained in the 21C to prevent the deterioration of the aforementioned cultural center, and the waterfall was replaced with translucent plastic material. The enclosure houses a 50 meters high flagpole with a 1.10 meters base, from which flies a 14 x 21 meters polyester Spanish flag , the largest Spanish flag in the world, . A rotating head allows the flag to change its orientation depending on the direction of the wind. They stand on the site of the former Mint and Stamp Office, an 18C building that was demolished during the aforementioned renovation. Much of its surface area serves as a roof for the Cultural Center, built underground, as well as for an underground car park. There are stairs at the end that take you down to the Oficina de Turismo Colón.(Tourist office at Colon).

The Madrid tourist office on the Plaza de Colon: https://www.esmadrid.com/en/tourist-information/plaza-colon

The Madrid tourist office on the Discovery America garden: https://www.esmadrid.com/en/tourist-information/jardines-descubrimiento

The Madrid tourist office on the Fernan Gomez Cultural Center: https://www.esmadrid.com/en/tourist-information/fernan-gomez-centro-cultural-de-la-villa

There you go folks, a nice place to walk , when you want to be away from the tourist centro areas and see the real working Madrid a bit. The Plaza de Colon is another must stop for me when in town, it brings lots of good memories for my soul. Again, hope you enjoy the post on the Plaza de Colon of Madrid, part II !!! 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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