Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain.

Madrid has a wide cultural offer, thanks to a rich culture heritage. The city has a lot of monuments that have become in a symbol for the city: the Cibeles Fountain (la fuente de La Cibeles), Neptuno Fountain, Alcalá Gate (la Puerta de Alcalá), Sol Gate (La Puerta del Sol)... You will love to walk along the streets and discover all of them: gardens, parks, palaces, charming buildings, historical places...

Besides, Madrid has three of the most important art galleries in the world. We are talking about the Prado Museum, the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum and the Reina Sofía Museum and Art Center. All of them house the most brilliant works of art of the whole painting History. Works that have been made by the most prestigious well knowm artists such as Goya, Velázquez, Picasso, Monet, Degas, Dalí, Rembrant... The three Musseums are located at the so-colled Art Walk (Paseo del Arte), a nice area, full of trees, monuments and emblematic buildings.

Madrid is located in the heart of the peninsula and right in the center of the Castillian plain (646 meters above sea level), has a population of over three million people. A cosmopolitan city, a business center, headquarters for the Public Administration, Government, Spanish Parliament and the home of the Spanish Royal Family, Madrid also plays a major role in both the banking and industrial sectors. Most of its industry is located in the Southern fringe of the city, where important textile, food and metal working factories are clustered. Madrid is characterized by an intense cultural and artistic activity and a very lively nightlife.

The grand metropolis of Madrid can trace its origins to the times of Arab Emir Mohamed I (852-886), who ordered the construction of a fortress on the left bank of the Manzanares river. Later, it became the subject of a dispute between the Christians and Arabs until it was conquered by Alonso VI in the 11th century. At the end of the 17th century, a defensive wall was built for the protection of the new outlying areas, tracing the roads of Segovia, Toledo and Valencia. During the 18th century, under the reign of Carlos III, the great arteries of the city were designed, such as the "Paseo del Prado" and "Paseo las Acacias".

At the beginning of the 19th century, Joseph Bonaparte undertook the reform of the "Puerta del Sol" (Sol Gate) and the vicinity. The commercial street known as the "Gran Vía" was built as an east-west avenue at the start of the century. In the 1950's, the north-south boulevard called "Paseo de la Castellana" was extended and modern buildings were erected, housing the major financial institutions. Memories of the distant past are mainly the Baroque and neoclassical structures of the 17th and 18th centuries, such as the "Plaza Mayor" (Main Square), the "Palacio Real" (Royal Palace) and others.

Links:
http://www.turismomadrid.es/en/
http://www.aboutmadrid.com/
http://www.esmadrid.com/en/portal.do