Madrid: A Spanish Masterpiece by Daphne Beames
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Intercontinental Castellana Madrid
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Like a grand galleon - the treasure house of Spain rides the Iberian waves. Her rich heritage includes the Moorish splendour of the Alhambra in Granada and the Alcazar in Seville; Barcelona offers La Rambla and the unique Gaudi experience; the Museo del Prado claims to be the greatest art gallery in the world - but all must bow before a Spanish masterpiece: the flamboyant, exciting, cultural city of Madrid.
An amazing feature of cities is that they have unique characters and Madrid - known in the 10th-century as ‘Magerit’ the Moorish fortress - displays a vibrant élan. The Spanish heart throbs with a living pulse all of its own and the highest capital in Europe possesses a colourful history, wide boulevards, dash, grandeur, priceless art and imposing, neo-classical architecture.
It is quintessential 21st-century but paradoxically exhibits a medieval mystique. The busy thoroughfares are alive with people and all day (except during the afternoon siesta when the sidewalks are deserted) and late into the night, countless thousands of inhabitants - the ‘Madrilenos’ – delight in walking the streets.
Often garbed in colourful, carnival dress they participate enthusiastically to celebrate the many festivals and one might confidently expect to find Sancho Panza around any corner! To arrive is to experience life lived at the threshold so if you feel a little breathless, simply sip a glass of sangria (a delicious blend of red wine, lemonade, ice and fruit) in a pavement café on the Grand Via - and step up a gear!
You, the sybaritic tourist, are about to discover a magnificent, imperial legacy. The 17th-century was Spain’s Golden Age and her all-powerful Emperor was able to bathe his capital in breathtaking luxury.
Surprisingly little has been pillaged and these priceless treasures are on splendid view today. Make your first stop the Museo del Prado - so that there will be plenty of time for a return visit. As you stroll up the leafy Calle de Alcala towards the Plaza de la Cibeles and on to one of the biggest art museums in the world - look upwards at the showcase of grand edificios with their intricate stone carving.
The ornate Prado building was begun in 1785, opened to the public in 1819, and houses perhaps the most spectacular of all art collections: over 8,600 paintings - more in store than other galleries exhibit. A whole room (number 12) is devoted to Velazquez, Goya features royally and Rubens and Titian hardly sleep in the shadows. Be sure to see the celebrated ‘Maids of Honour’ by Velazquez and Goya’s ‘Naked Maja’. Major works by El Greco, Tintoretto and Botticelli are also on display.
In addition the museum houses the ‘Treasure of the Dauphin’: gold, jewels, silver and pottery inherited by Philip IV from his father, the Grand Dauphin of France. An open-plan restaurant serves lunch (try a squid sandwich) and the museum shop - where one can buy wonderful reproductions of oil paintings - heat-pressed on linen backing - is definitely not to be missed. The texture and the embossed brush marks make these copies so authentic that it is almost like taking an old master back home!
The Prado is closed on Mondays and there is free entrance on Sundays. The frenetic centre of the old city is the Puerta del Sol - the medieval ‘Gateway of the Sun’. Etoile-like, many streets radiate outwards from this nodal point and it is also the site of ‘kilometre zero’ - from where all road distances in Spain are measured. Shopping is a delight in this lively precinct: there are mouthwatering chocolaterias and numerous speciality shops concentrating on leather goods, gloves, objets d’art and antiques.
The up-market department store, El Corte Ingles, offers a wide range of superior merchandise. The narrow streets beyond the Puerta open to reveal the huge Plaza Mayor: a stunning, 17th-century square, completely surrounded by beautiful buildings and graceful, Renaissance arcades. It is an arresting sight - reminiscent of another amazing, paved plaza: the Piazza del Campo in Siena. Built in the time of Philip III, it has witnessed bullfights, executions, royal coronations and some of the worst excesses of the Spanish Inquisition (some of the pathos even seems to have seeped into the stones).
Symmetrical, twin towers are a feature - as is the large, centrally placed, equestrian statue of its founder - Philip III. The Plaza Mayor is a must for ‘people-watching’ but the food here is generally overpriced - so try one of the numerous, excellent restaurants that have mushroomed in the cobbled streets around the square. (A speciality lunchtime dish is Cocido Madrileno – a rich stew consisting of chickpeas, potatoes, sausage and seasoning.) The best time to arrive is in the early evening when the tavernas and cafés of the Plaza are crammed with shoppers and tourists – sipping aperitifs, tasting tapas and soaking up the atmosphere.
The Madrilenos are known to keep ridiculously late hours - the bright lights of the nightspots beckon and the castanets and frilled skirts of colourful flamenco dancers whirl ever faster to the tempo of an ancient, gypsy culture. At the Casa Patas in Calle Canizares you can enjoy excellent tapas, a fixed-price menu, and a spectacular floorshow.
Even the most energetic tourist will eventually need a bed, so check into the Ritz - that grand old lady of the Paseo del Prado. Here, in the heart of Bourbon Madrid, you will find, comfort, luxury and the famous Goya Restaurant. Should you require something a little less opulent - the Best Western ‘Arosa Hotel’ is centrally placed, close to the Grand Via and offers excellent value for money.
One of Madrid’s major drawcards is the wealth of day and half-day excursions on offer and a tour to Toledo, the ‘hundred-towered city’, will become a treasured memory. This erstwhile Roman, Visigoth and Moorish stronghold - and former capital of Spain - lies 70 kms to the south and is still the seat of the Primate of all Spain.
Your journey into La Mancha country swoops through historic sites and the enduring images are of dry, umber terrain. Then, brush-stroked in many shades of brown - its Mudéjar towers silhouetted against the skyline - Toledo rises from a landscape that is pure El Greco. The medieval city and National Heritage Site stands on a raised promontory, flanked by tall trees and surrounded on three sides by an unusual bend in the River Tagus.
A wide bridge across a deep ravine affords entrance to the twisted streets of the old city. Little has changed here since the Middle Ages. At least five attractions should be ticked on your checklist. The high Alcazar (or castle) has been - in turn - a fortress for Romans, Goths, Moors and Christians. Another towering monument is the huge Gothic Cathedral that took three hundred years to construct - is a symphony of carving in wood, marble and alabastor and exhibits paintings by El Greco, Goya and van Dyck in its vestry.
Third on the list is the Church of Santo Tomé - proudly displaying the El Greco masterpiece commissioned by a local priest: the world famous ‘Burial of the Count of Orgaz’. The El Transito Synagogue, now a museum to the influence of the Jews, hides behind a humble façade but boasts a rich and elaborate interior. Finally, visit the small house of El Greco – a compact showcase for many of the artist’s distinctive works.
Toledo is famous for hand-crafted steel items and its shops are crammed with a wide selection of shining souvenirs: swords, scissors, and knives - there are also delicious alternatives like Toledo marzipan and Manchego cheese. If you are still on your feet the next morning - stroll to Grand Via 68 and take a five-hour, combined tour to El Escorial and the Valle de Los Caidos. (Bus tours depart at 9.00 a.m. and 3.00 p.m. and there is a hotel pick-up service.)
El Escorial, the majestic Monastery-Palace of Philip II, is described on the cover of the definitive coffee-table book as the ‘Eighth Wonder of the World’ and this is not an exaggeration! Nothing can prepare one for the first spectacular sight of the massive dome and immense, square towers. Above a forest of pines, ash trees and oaks - the sleeping, stone giant of El Escorial rises from the Spanish plain.
This National Heritage Site (a monastery, a palace, a church and a pantheon) is situated about 50 kms north-west of Madrid and was founded to commemorate the victory at St. Quentin on St Laurence’s Day 1557. Go there; buy the book – it is almost worth making the trip to Spain just for this sight alone! A calm peace pervades; the air is scented with wild thyme and rock rose; the façades are exquisitely proportioned and the treasures inside are worth a king’s ransom.
Enter through the western portal where six marble and stone statues keep watch over the Courtyard of the Kings. Request a ticket that includes a visit to the library as only the Vatican can rival this superb collection of 40,000 books, illuminated texts and priceless manuscripts. Inside an ornate pantheon - resplendent in blue marble and bronze sarcophagi - lie the bones of all the monarchs of Spain from the time of Charles V.
The rich paintings, sculptures and frescoes are in stark contrast to the humbler apartments of the devout founder-king who conceived this sacred monument as a royal retreat, and whose last wish was to be carried here, on his litter, to die.
The next stop on this combined tour is 10kms further north in the Guadarrama Valley. Here, soaring heavenward above the granite mountains and visible for many miles around, stands the tallest memorial cross in the world (152,4m). The Valle de Los Caidos or the ‘Valley of the Fallen’ commemorates those who fell in the Spanish Civil War (1936 –1939).
Excavated from inside the mountain is a huge, underground crypt that is also one of the world’s largest basilicas. General Franco, who died in 1975, is interred here - in a simple tomb behind the high altar. Although blessed by Pope John XXIII and outwardly a memorial to both sides in the war, the monumental site remains controversial because of its Fascist associations.
Back in Madrid there are still more discoveries to be made and another ‘must see’ sight is the vast, 18th-century Palacio Real. Located at the Plaza de Oriente, this 2800 room Bourbon palace overlooks a large, formal garden (the Field of the Moors) and was the home of the Spanish royal family until 1931.
Today it is still the official residence but is only used for state functions. It is open to the public daily. The magnificent ballroom could be twinned with the Hall of Mirrors in Versailles – except that there is more gold and less mirror.
The museum houses a mesmerising collection of antique, chiming and ticking clocks, a lavish State Dining Room, a unique Armory and a Porcelain Room where walls and ceiling are covered in exquisite green and white porcelain. Fine Flemish tapestries adorn the salons and the opera-red décor of the Throne Room defies description.
Bullfights are a weekly afternoon spectacle. Not everyone appreciates the art of the matador, and personally I did not watch, but for Spaniards this is almost a religious ritual. The Madrilenos flock to the Plaza de Toros de Las Ventas, and many tourists also enjoy the colourful pageantry and drama of the contest in the sandy ring.
No loom could weave tapestry rich enough to epitomise the Spanish heartland; but the Real Fabrica de Tapices (Royal Tapestry Factory) still operates antique hand looms from the 18th-century and produces work of rare quality.
Demonstrations are held on weekday mornings and are a joy to watch. No grand tour of Europe can be grand if it omits Spain - and no traveller can truly know Spain if he has not experienced Madrid. Include this vibrant city on your next European itinerary.
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