Plaza Mayor (Main Square)
Chapter 2/11 · Madrid
This is the Plaza Mayor, the heart of Habsburg Madrid. Here, on the outskirts of the medieval town, was the Plaza del Arrabal, where the busiest market was held. After Philip II moved the royal court to Madrid in 1561, it was given a monumental form, and in 1617 Philip III commissioned the architect Juan Gómez de Mora to make its buildings uniform. The square was completed in 1619.
On the north side stands the Casa de la Panadería, the Bakery House, with its towers and painted façade. Diego Sillero began it around 1590, and the town's main bakery was on its ground floor. The present paintings, with mythological figures such as the goddess Cybele, are by Carlos Franco and date from 1992. Today it houses the Madrid Tourist Centre.
The square has suffered several fires. After the most devastating one, in 1790, the architect Juan de Villanueva rebuilt it: he lowered the façades by two storeys and closed the corners with entrance arches, such as the famous Arco de Cuchilleros. For centuries it hosted festivities, bullfights, coronations, beatifications and also the occasional auto-da-fé.
In the centre, the equestrian statue of Philip III, from 1616, begun by Giambologna and finished by Pietro Tacca, was a gift from the Grand Duke of Tuscany. It stood in the Casa de Campo until Isabella II had it moved here in 1848. In April 1931, when the Second Republic was proclaimed, it was toppled and smashed. It is said that many tiny bird bones poured out of the horse, from birds that had slipped in through its mouth over the centuries; when it was restored, the mouth was sealed.
Now we leave by the south-west corner, go down the Escalerilla de Piedra stone steps and follow Cava de San Miguel to the market.
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