10 Best Historical sites to visit in Madrid

10 Best Historical sites to visit in Madrid

Madrid’s extensive and varied history, from its Moorish roots to the present day, making the Spanish city a fascinating site to explore. We look at some of the city’s most intriguing historical places, from world-famous landmarks to lesser-known gems.

1. The oldest restaurant in the world

El Sobrino de Botn, located on a cobblestone lane near Madrid’s Plaza Mayor, is the world’s oldest restaurant (and even has the Guinness World Record certificate proudly displayed in its window to prove it). The restaurant, which first opened its doors in 1725, has seen several famous people pass through its doors.

While waiting to be enrolled into the Royal Academy of Fine Arts, the artist Francisco de Goya worked as a server there, and the novelist Ernest Hemingway would frequently accompany guests there to try Botn’s delicacy: roast suckling pig. Hemingway enjoyed the restaurant so much that he put the closing scene of his novel, The Sun Also Rises, there.

2. Civil War bunkers

Bunker of Albendin in Albendin by Edmundo Sáez from Wikimedia Commons

There is a surprising lack of information on the Spanish Civil War in Madrid, as well as few relics of the fight to see, but if you know where to look, you may find some intriguing places right in the city’s core. During the Civil War, Madrid resisted General Franco’s nationalists, resulting in the siege of Madrid and the iconic Republican slogan “No pasarán!” (‘They shall not pass!’).

What was once a battleground on Madrid’s western outskirts is now home to Parque Oeste and the University Campus. Civil War bunkers may be found at Parque Oeste, the Casa de Campo park in western Madrid, and Parque El Capricho in the city’s north.

3. Valley of the Fallen

The enormous Valley of the Fallen (Valle de los Cados), a massive church and monument to those murdered during the Spanish Civil War, but considered mostly as a symbol of Spanish dictator Francisco Franco, who commissioned it, is one of Spain’s most terrifying tourist attractions.

It is also the last resting site of Franco, which has caused much controversy in Spain. As you fly into Madrid, you can see the massive stone cross that stands over the church.

4. Templo de Debod

Templo de Debod by Victor Rivera from Wikimedia Commons

Outside of Egypt, there are just a few sites where you may see an Egyptian temple, but Madrid is one of them. Egypt presented the Debod Temple to Spain in 1968 as a token of gratitude for its assistance in preserving some of Egypt’s most valuable ancient monuments amid the flooding caused by the construction of the Aswan Dam.

The temple was built south of Aswan in the early 2nd century BC, with expansions made by the Ptolemaic dynasty and, subsequently, Roman emperors Augustus and Tiberius.

5. Gran Vía

Gran Via by Tim Adams from Wikimedia Commons

The construction of Madrid’s most renowned street began in 1906 as a great roadway connecting Calle de Alcalá and Plaza de Espaa. Gran Via has a variety of forms of twentieth-century architecture as well as some of Madrid’s most iconic structures, including one of Europe’s first skyscrapers, the Telefonica Building. Initially, the street was home to hundreds of cinemas and served as the hub of the city’s nightlife.

During the Spanish Civil War, it was dubbed “howitzer avenue” because of the repeated bombardment it received from Nationalist forces (who could easily pick it out for shelling because of the height of the Telefonica Building). Gran Va is now the capital’s principal retail strip, with many pubs, restaurants, and hotels.

6. Chamberí metro station

This ghost station allows tourists to travel back in time and explore a long-lost Madrid from the early part of the twentieth century. It recreates what the station would have looked like when it first opened in 1919, complete with modern ads on the walls and the original ticket booths and turnstiles at the entrance.

Chamber, designed by Antonio Palacios, was one of the eight initial metro stations of Madrid’s first metro line, but it was closed in the 1960s when metro trains were lengthened and the station could not be expanded. The station is open from Thursday through Sunday and admission is free.

7. Arab city walls

A far more under-the-radar, and much older, historical landmark close to Madrid’s Royal Palace is the city’s Medieval Moorish fortifications. During the Moorish dominance of the Iberian Peninsula, Madrid’s early-medieval Muslim rulers built the first wall surrounding the city, and its construction is intimately tied to the creation of Madrid. The wall goes back to the 9th century when it protected the Muslim fortress of Mayrit – Madrid’s initial name.

8. Royal Place 

The city’s Medieval Moorish defences are a far more under-the-radar, and much older, historical site near Madrid’s Royal Palace. Madrid’s early-medieval Muslim rulers erected the first wall enclosing the city during the Moorish dominion of the Iberian Peninsula, and its construction is inextricably linked to the establishment of Madrid. The wall dates back to the 9th century when it served as a defence for the Muslim fortress of Mayrit – Madrid’s original name.

9. Puerta Del Sol

Puerta del Sol by tnarik from Wikimedia Commons

This bustling intersection serves as Madrid’s principal gathering point, and people are usually gathered around the statue of the bear and the madro?o (“strawberry tree”) at the bottom of C/Carmen. It also holds the kil metro cero (a plaque on the pavement outside the Casa de Correos, near the clock): the point from which all distances from the city are measured.

At midnight on New Year’s Eve, thousands of people assemble here to eat grapes, one for each chime of the clock and drink champagne. On 2 May 1808, Napoleon’s Egyptian cavalry assaulted townspeople through the Puerta del Sol, as shown in one of Goya’s most renowned paintings, El Dos de Mayo.

10. Plaza De Cibeles 

Plaza de Cibeles by Roy Luck from Wikimedia Commons

This bustling intersection serves as Madrid’s principal gathering point, and people are usually gathered around the statue of the bear and the madro?o (“strawberry tree”) at the bottom of C/Carmen.

It also holds the kil metro cero (a plaque on the pavement outside the Casa de Correos, near the clock): the point from which all distances from the city are measured. At midnight on New Year’s Eve, thousands of people assemble here to eat grapes, one for each chime of the clock and drink champagne.

On 2 May 1808, Napoleon’s Egyptian cavalry assaulted townspeople through the Puerta del Sol, as shown in one of Goya’s most renowned paintings, El Dos de Mayo.

Why should you visit Madrid? Madrid is the one country that is well-known for its historical structures, food markets, and royals. It’s also noted for its museums of Renaissance and modern art, beautiful blue skies, diverse neighbourhoods, and a thriving nightlife. Madrid is a city full of vitality and joy.