The Main Plaza in Madrid also known as “Plaza Mayor” is one of the things that if you are in that city you must never decide to not visit. Like the Prado museum this is one of the things that goes onto the must see list. Especially if you want to see the important monument there.

In this hard economic times many airlines decide to have low cost airplane tickets that help people traveling. For example in certain times there might be very low cost airline ticket such as in the months that people usually do not vacation there. Many hotels also have budget cost weekends that help people visit Spain such as the city of Madrid.

If you are in Madrid and are walking through the Puerta del Sol then it really is not much of a distance from there to Plaza Mayor. This plaza is 129 x 94 metres wide and and is surrounded by buildings that were build around the plaza. They are three stories high and have at least 237 balconies. This building has only apartments.

The plaza was designed by the arquitect Juan de Herrera, who was know to have renaissance influences in his creations. Plaza Mayor was known as the Plaza del Arrabal. When King Phillip II decided that plaza needed some renovations then Juan de Herrera came into the picture. Construction began until 1617 when King Phillip III was working there. The King at some point had to have extra help from Juan Gómes de Mora in order to finish the renovations that were taking place.

Juan de Villanueva finally was able to finish the contruction because every time it was interrupted by fires or riots so no one was able to finish it except for him. This was in 1790. The statue that is located in the middle of the Plaza is of King Phillip III and it was placed there in 1848 although it was made in 1616. Many years before that bull fighting took place there and if you are ever there then you must look closely at the walls because you just might see a sprinkle of blood from those past fights. 

Today many public events are taken place in the Plaza Mayor. Tourists swarm the plaza to see all these things happening during the day and at night.

• Puerta del Sol
• Visit the Spanish Alhambra
• La Coruña
• Santander
• Strolling in Valencia