Plaza de España (Madrid)

Plaza de España (or "Spain Square" in English) is a large square, and popular tourist destination, located in central Madrid at the western end of the Gran Vía. It features a monument to Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra and is bordered by two of Madrid's most prominent skyscrapers; also the Palacio Real (Royal Palace) is a short walk south from the plaza.

Cervantes Monument

In the center of the plaza is a monument to Spanish novelist, poet and playwright Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra. Designed by architects Rafael Martínez Zapatero and Pedro Muguruza and sculptor Lorenzo Coullaut Valera. Most of the monument was built between 1925 and 1930. It was finished between 1956 and 1957 by Federico Coullaut-Valera Mendigutia, the son of the original sculptor. [http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/
]

The tower portion of the monument includes a stone sculpture of Cervantes, which overlooks bronze sculptures of Don Quixote and Sancho Panza. Next to the tower are stone sculptures of two representations of Don Quixote's "true love", one as the simple peasant woman Aldonza Lorenzo and one as the beautiful, imaginary Dulcinea del Toboso.

urrounding buildings

Adjacent to the plaza are two of the tallest buildings in Madrid, the 142m (466 ft) Torre de Madrid ("Madrid Tower"), built in 1957 and the 117m (384 ft) tall Edificio España ("Spain Building"), built in 1953. [http://skyscraperpage.com/diagrams/?c815]

Metro station

Plaza de España is also the name of a Metro station located on the eastern corner of the plaza, serviced by the #3 and #10 lines, with a connection to the #2 line. [http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plaza_de_España_%28Metro_de_Madrid%29]

History

In 1808, the area was part of the Principe Pío hill.It was one of the locations used by the French firing squads to execute prisoners taken during the May 2nd uprising.

References

* [http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/
] in the Wikimedia Commons. Retrieved May 20, 2006.
* [http://skyscraperpage.com/diagrams/?c815 Madrid Skyscrapers at skyscraperpage.com]
* [http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plaza_de_España_%28Metro_de_Madrid%29 Estación de Plaza de España / Noviciado] from the Spanish-language Wikipedia article. Retrieved May 20, 2006.
* [http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plaza_de_España_%28Madrid%29 Plaza de España (Madrid)] from the Spanish-language Wikipedia article. Retrieved May 20, 2006.