Madrid - Our Plaza Mayor Neighborhood

As mentioned our apartment is located just outside of Plaza Mayor and it's very central as no major site is more than a 20 minute walk from here.  We started by exploring our immediate neighborhood.

 Standing at one corner inside of the huge Plaza Mayor (Main Square) which measures 129m x 94m (423ft x 308ft).  During the middle ages the site was a market place outside the city walls.  In 1561, King Philip 11 requested the marketplace be turned into a proper square.  But it was construction was not started until 1617 under the reign of King Philip 111.  The square was surrounded by six story wooden buildings and was rebuilt three times to massive fires.  After the last fire the buildings were rebuilt with bricks and concrete in 1790 and this is what we see today.  The Plaza has hosted bull fights, royal coronations, public inquisitions and executions with up to 50,000 spectators attending these festivities.  Several Guilds occupied the shops in the square including the very powerful Bakers and Butchers Guilds.  Today it's tourists that throng to the Plaza to enjoy a drink or a meal while people watching or being entertained by a wide myriad of street artists.

 One of the 9 arched entrances into the Plaza Mayor

The quirky Marcado de San Miguel sits just outside the Plaza selling a wide variety of trendy foods, local wines and spirits.  And yes, that includes a wide variety of the famous local Jamon (cured ham)

La Cava de San Miguel is one of the most special streets in Madrid.  The colorful facades, the multitude of restaurants, cafes and bars create a very happy, relaxed and fun atmosphere which makes for a very popular tourist spot.  The street was once a defensive moat filled with water that helped protect the outer walls of the Plaza Mayor but when the city expanded, the moat was filled in and this street was created

 The Arch of Cuchilleros (Cutlers Arch) was built in 1617 and is the most famous of the nine arched portico's of the Plaza Mayor.  It's name derives from the Cutlers Guild workshops located nearby that supplied their products to the Butchers Guild shops located within the square.