Madrid – the capital of the country, gave the world a lot of delicious dishes, fascinating Spanish language, great geographical discoveries and bullfighting. However, to the merits of the city itself it has nothing to do, but without it, Madrid deserves to be visited at least once. The indescribable atmosphere of the capital of Spain will not leave anyone indifferent, and walks along the streets of the old city will be dreamed of for a long time by a tourist who will visit here.
Madrid is exactly in the center of Spain.
In Madrid, the annual siesta championship is held, the participants of which must fall asleep amid the noise and din of the assembled crowd.
The football club of the Spanish capital is called “Real Madrid” thanks to King Alfonso XIII, who gave the team the prefix Real – “royal”. Interestingly, the goalkeeper of the club for a while was Julio Iglesias, after a car accident left the sport and became famous for the whole world singer. FIFA recognized Real Madrid as the best football club of the last century.
When in Spain there was a civil war, the Museum of Law in Madrid was led by the great artist Pablo Picasso.
The oldest restaurant in the world, according to the Guinness Book of Records, is Restaurante Botin S.L. in Madrid. The restaurant began serving visitors in 1725 and is still working, winning fame thanks to the amazingly delicious dish from the pig. Painter Francisco Goya once earned a living by washing dishes in this institution.
The famous filmmaker Pedro Almodovar began his career with a second-hand merchant in one of Madrid’s markets.
In the Madrid Retiro Park, the world’s only sculpture of the devil. It is quite difficult to find, but it’s worth trying, because the finder, according to the local legend, is waiting for luck and success.
The Zoo of Madrid was opened in 1770 and has been working successfully so far. Now it has 4 large pandas, which can boast of only a few zoos in the world.
In the Madrid watchmaking museum Grassi, hundreds of hours created in the XVII-XIX centuries are collected. All of them still show time precisely.
One of the central plazas of Madrid, Plaza Mayor was formerly the place of execution of heretics and equestrian bullfight. Now it is conducted less bloody activities, for which local residents can watch from 437 balconies overlooking the square.
Madrid’s Puerta del Sol is just 8 streets away. In this area there is a plate, which is the zero reference point of distances in Spain.
Madrid is considered one of the sunniest cities in Europe – according to weather forecasters, about 250 days a year the sky above the Spanish capital is blue and cloudless.
During the construction of the Tirso de Molina metro station, the workers stumbled upon human skeletons – presumably the remains of people who were buried in an old monastic cemetery located in this place. The Spaniards did not disturb the dead, left the bones in the ground and simply laid them with finishing materials.
Madrid Temple Debod was a gift to the Spanish authorities from the rulers of Egypt for their assistance in the construction of the Aswan Dam.
In the building of Atocha station, the largest in Spain, there is a winter garden where many turtles live.
The Royal Botanic Garden in Madrid is one of the largest in the world – it has collected more than 90 thousand plants, including one and a half thousand trees.
The roof of the Metropolis building in Madrid is covered in gold.
In the amusement park Warner Madrid there are roller coasters over 1200 meters long, entirely made of wood.
The Municipality of Madrid occupies the Palace of Communications – a majestic building was built at the beginning of the last century, and for a long time it housed a post office and a telegraph office.
