Tourist information - Madrid
Madrid, a city in central Spain, capital of the country and of the autonomous region along with province of Madrid, around the Manzanares River. Found at an altitude of about 655 m, Madrid is Spain's largest city along with its chief administrative, financial, and transportation center. The massive and fast-growing Madrid metropolitan area, incorporating such industrial suburbs as Villaverde, Barajas, as well as Getafe, vies with Barcelona as the nation's principal manufacturing center. Primary products include motor vehicles, aircraft, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, processed food, printed materials, and leather goods. Large numbers of tourists visit the city each year.
Among the several institutions of higher education at the city are the University of Madrid, the Comillas Pontifical University (1892), the Autonomous University of Madrid (1968), the Polytechnic University of Madrid (1971), the Open University (1972), as well as the Royal Academy of Music (1830). The traditional center of Madrid is the historic Puerta Del Sol, a crescent-shaped square. Several other major squares include the arcaded Plaza Mayor (begun 1617), where bullfights, executions of heretics, along with other spectacles were staged in the 17th and also 18th centuries; the large Plaza de la Cibeles, with fountains as well as a statue of Cybele (Mother Earth); as well as the Plaza de Toros Monumental, accommodating the bullring, to the northeast. The city has various tree-lined boulevards and is recognized for its stylish shops.
The Prado Museum, with exhibits of famous paintings by El Greco, Francisco Goya, as well as Diego Velázquez, is a major landmark. Other points of interest are the massive Royal Palace (1737-1764), used for state functions; the 18th-century church of San Francisco el Grande; the National Archaeological Museum; the Natural Science Museum; the National Anthropological Museum; as well as Buen Retiro park, with botanical as well as zoological gardens. Located in the metropolitan area are Zarzuela Palace, residence of the country's monarch, and also the Pardo, a palace built by Philip II (reigned 1556-1598) as well as formerly the home of Francisco Franco. The large granite Monastery of El Escorial as well as the Valley of the Fallen, a monument commemorating those who died in the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939), is nearby.
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