The Plaza de Cibeles is one of the greatest
squares in Madrid. From a touristic point of view, the buildings and monuments
are interesting, and from a political and economic point of view, they are
important for Madrid and Spain: the City Hall and the National Bank are two
examples of this. The best way to get to Plaza de Cibeles is going in public
transport: Banco de España Metro Station leaves you right there and many buses,
including the night buses, depart from and arrive to the square.
A beautiful marble fountain dominates the Plaza
de Cibeles. The sculpture represents Cybele, the Anatolian and Greek goddess
associated with nature and fertility, carried by cart by two lions: Hippomenes
and Atalanta. This monument of Plaza de Cibeles was made by Ventura Rodríguez,
an important sculptor and architect from Madrid.
Origins of
the Plaza de Cibeles
The Plaza de Cibeles was originally part of
the Salón del Prado, a green
boulevard that Bourbon King Charles III ordered to construct in the late 18th
century. This boulevard started at Atocha and finished right here, at the Plaza
de Cibeles.
At that time, the Plaza de Cibeles and the Salón del Prado were quiet places and
Madrilenians used to have a walk by here: the fountains, the gardens, the flowers…
It was a relaxing place. Now, the Plaza de Cibeles has a very different look:
it is a square with a lot of traffic, full of cars everyday and everytime.
The
buildings in the Plaza de Cibeles
The buildings you find in the Plaza de Cibeles
are magnificent and very important. The biggest one is the Palacio de Comunicaciones, projected in a personal style by the
architect Antonio Palacios in the 30s. Now it acts as the seat of the City Hall
and has served for many years as the headquarters of the Post Service.
Recently, the Palacio de Comunicaciones
of the Plaza de Cibeles has been rebuilt inside, in order to adapt it to the
new function. It is worth noting the glass roof of the hall, which resembles
the one of the British Museum’s Great Court in London, and the café at the
attic floor, where you can enjoy a very nice view of the Plaza de Cibeles.
The seat of the National Bank is also located
in Plaza de Cibeles. Its building was built in the late 19th and early 20th
centuries, in an European style. When you walk down that sidewalk of the Plaza
de Cibeles, you should know that 35 meters below your feet lies the greatest
gold reserve of Spain.
At the other side of the Plaza de Cibeles, it’s
the Palacio de Linares, the most
important place for the Latin American culture in Madrid. It houses
exhibitions, conferences, concerts and many other events, always related to that
continent. The Palacio de Linares is
also well known in the ‘black history’ of Madrid: they say that the spirit of a
young girl, who was buried in the garden, shows herself along the corridors of
this palace of the Plaza de Cibeles.
Just in front of the Palacio de Linares, you will find the Palacio de Buenavista. Rather, you will intuit it because several
big trees don’t make visible this building of the Plaza de Cibeles. The Palacio de Buenavista was built in the
18th century in the tradicional style of Madrid: it is made of brick, which
gives it a red tone.
Attractions close to the Plaza de Cibeles
The Plaza de Cibeles is located in a privilegedplace of Madrid, close to many tourist attractions. The Retiro Park is only a
hundred meters eastward from the Plaza de Cibeles, the Golden Triangle of Art
is reacheble in five minutes walking southward down the Paseo del Prado and
other important cultural institutions are in the surroundings of the square,
like Círculo de Bellas Artes westward and the National Library northward.
