plaza de oriente

The Congreso de los Diputados (Congress of Deputies of Spain)

It is the seat of the lower house of the Spanish Parliament, and the building where the Parliament is located is called the Palacio de las Cortes de España. It is considered to be one of the finest examples of late neoclassical architecture in Madrid and was built in 1843 under the direction of the architect Narciso Pascual y Colomer. Queen Isabel II laid the first stone in a ceremony in November of that year. It contained gold, silver and bronze coins, a copy of the Spanish constitution of 1837, copies of that day's newspapers and the silver spade with which the Queen poured the cement onto the first stone. In November 1850, the Queen presided over the first opening of Parliament in the new building.The building changed its name twice under dictatorships, finally reverting to its original name of "Congress" with the arrival of democracy in the 1980s. The Spanish political system involves an upper and lower house (the Senate and the Congress of Deputies), and the King is the head of a parliamentary democracy.
This Spanish Parliament building is located on the Carrera de San Jerónimo street, opposite the Plaza de las Cortes. It is just a short walk from here to the nearby Thyssen-Bornemisza museum in one direction, and to the central Puerta del Sol Square in the other.
The nearest metro station is Sevilla.
For further information, visit:
http://www.gomadrid.com/sights/congreso-diputados.html

Puerta de Alcalá

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It is one of the most emblematic monuments of Madrid.

It is located in the Plaza de la Independencia, immersed in a nerve centre of the traffic in Madrid. It commemorates the arrival of Carlos III to the capital city. It is decorated with sculptures, relieves, capitals, a headstone which says “Carlos III. Año 1778” and the coat of arms is held by the fame and the genius. It is built with granite and white stone and is 1.95 metres height. It consists of five openings, three round arches and two trabeated arches.

Over the central arch, there is a curved gable that has another triangular gable inside. This monument presents two different faces. The military trophies and the sculptures of children and the coat of arms that decorates the upper section are Francisco Gutiérrez´ s works, and the rest of the ornamentation belongs to Roberto Michel. In this Savatini´ s work, elements of the international and academic Baroque are mixed in their monumental version, stressing the urban value of a strategic point of the city, due to the relation between the gate and the avenue.

When Carlos III entered to Madrid through the Puerta de Alcalá in 1759, he did not like it and he ordered to pull it down in 1764. The new gate was also ordered to be built by the king Carlos III, who wanted to replace another Baroque gate that had been ordered by Felipe III.

Lester & David 

Puerta del Sol (The Sun's door)

The Sun's door is one of the best known and most visited places in Madrid. This is in the town centre of Madrid and Spain. The square also contains the famous clock that strikes the bells in the traditional eating of "the twelve grapes" at the begining of a new year. The New Year celebration has been broadcasted live on TV since 31st December 1964.
Famous building or places in this square are: "Tío Pepe",  The Bear and the "Madroño", "Doña Manolita" (Lotery shop), Madrid Automous Community Council, among others.

CIBELES

The "Plaza de Cibeles" is a square with a neo-classical complex of marble sculptures with fountains that has become an iconic symbol for the city of Madrid.
The fountain of Cibeles is in the "Paseo de Recoletos" street.

CIBELES PALACE.
The most prominent of the buildings at the "Plaza de Cibeles" is the Cibeles Palace. The cathedral-like landmark was built as the headquarters of the postal service. This building was home to the Postal and Telegraphic Museum until 2007 when it became the Madrid City Hall.

The fountain of Cibeles is the place where the Real Madrid football players and supporters celebrate its triumphs in competitions such as La Liga, the Champions League or the "Copa del Rey".

PLAZA DE ORIENTE:The Plaza de Oriente was promoted by Jose I in 1844. In this place there are different historic gardens and many sculptures, but the most important one is the sculpture of Felipe IV. Near Plaza de Oriente is the Plaza de la Armeria, and de Royal Monastery ofthe Incarnation (Encarnación).

In Plaza de Oriente you can also find:

TEATRO REAL (Royal Theatre):

The Teatro Real (literally Royal theatre) or simply El Real (as it is know colloquially), is the major opera house in Madrid. The royal theatre is located just in fornt of the Royal Palace.

THE ROYAL PALACE:The Royal Palace of Madrid is the official residence of the king of Spain, but it is only used for state ceremonies. King Juan Carlos I and the Royal Family do not live in this palace, they live in "Palacio de la Zarzuela" in a nearby area outside Madrid city centre.

Neptune.

The Neptune Fountain is a Neoclasic monument, it was made between 1780-1784.

This monument is in “Plaza Canovas del Castillo".

The creator of this fountain was the arquitect Ventura Rodriguez under the comands of Carlos III.

The material of this fountain is white marble from Toledo. It is some of the iconographic programe inspirated in the Gerco-Roman Mythology (Neptune was the Roman god of the seas)
Other details of Neptune fountain: 

Nowadays the Athletico de Madrid football club celebrate here when it wins.

Other important buildings and sites in this area are:  

 - Museums like "El Prado", "Thyssen Bornemisza", "Cosmo Caixa", "Reina Sofía", Sorolla and others
- Ritz and Palace hotels are not far from here
- Bars: "El museo del jamon" Is a tipical bar of Madrid to eat Spanish Ham, it isn't a real museum. 

It is important to mention and worth visiting "The old Jeronimos church" and "La plaza de la lealtad" (Loyalty Square) and the financial area: here is the Madrid stock exchange.
For further information: http://www.77madrid.com/fuente_de_neptuno.html

Plaza Mayor

Trasy and Delia

The Plaza Mayor was built during the Habsburg period and it is a central plaza in Madrid city. The Plaza Mayor has rectangular shape, measures between 129 and 94 metres, and is surrounded by three-story residential buildings having 237 breathtaking balconies facing the Plaza. It has a total of nine entranceways. The Casa de la Panadería, serving municipal and cultural functions, dominates the Plaza Mayor.

The Plaza Mayor has been the scene of multitudinous events: markets, theaters, music entertainments… The Plaza Mayor also has a ring of old and traditional shops and cafes under its porticoes. Celebrations for San Isidro, patron saint of Madrid, are also held here. The Plaza Mayor is now a major tourist attraction, visited by thousands of tourists a year.

San Miguel (Saint Michael) market, adjacent to Plaza Mayor is a cultural heritage. The iron structure of the market dates back to 1916, but the site dates back to the middle ages as an area for trade. Today’s market is a new gastronomic and delicatessen centre in Madrid.

The 34 stalls offer some excellent fare in food and wines including fish, meat, cakes, fresh pasta, vegetables, coffee and sweets. Other stalls can provide, books, flowers and kitchen tools and utensils. The bars also serve a selection of wines and drinks from Spain and other countries.

The market is open seven days a week from 10 am till 10pm and on Thursday, Friday and Saturday the bars stay open till 2am.
For furthe information visit: http://madrid.cityseekr.com/

SLOVAKIAN STUDENTS IN OUR SCHOOL
 Let's show them our city: Madrid

MY CITY: MADRID            Wednesday 9^th November 2011

1.       PALACIO DE ORIENTE (The Royal palace / Oriental Palace)

a.    Royal Theatre (Teatro Real)

2.       PLAZA MAYOR (The Big Square)

a.    Saint Michael’s Market (Mercado de San Miguel)

b.    Plaza de la Villa

3.       PUERTA DEL SOL (The Sun’s Door)

a.    The Buildings

b.    New year’s Eve Clock

4.       CONGRESO DE LOS DIPUTADOS (HOUSES OF PARLIAMENT) 

5.       FUENTE Y PLAZA DE NEPTUNO (NEPTUNE FOUNTAIN AND SQUARE) 

a.    The Prado Museum

b.    Memorial (Plaza de la Lealtad)

c.     Museums

d.    Jerónimos Church

6.       FUENTE Y PLAZA DE CIBELES (CYBELE’S FOUNTAIN AND SQUARE) 

a.    Cybele’s Palace (City Council / Postal Service Office)

b.    House of América (Casa de América): Superstitions

7.       PUERTA DE ALCALÁ: (DOOR TO ALCALÁ)

a.    Symbol of Spanish Rebellion: French

b.    Alcalá de henares (Historic) University…

              Retiro Park