The Habsburgs´ Madrid
In the year 1561, King Philip II chose Madrid as the new capital of the kingdom. At the time, it was just a small Castillian town with only 20,000 inhabitants, but within a few years it grew into the center of a great Empire. Narrow streets lined with medieval churches rapidly sprouted to the east of the old Muslim fortress, which was initially replaced by a Gothic palace that burned down and eventually substituted by the Classicist-Baroque style Royal Palace we can visit today. Many monasteries, churches and palaces were built in Madrid during the Habsburgs´ Era.

The Bourbon´s Madrid
The once idyllic fields covered with orchards called “el Prado” (the meadow) was chosen by the Bourbon dynasty, and especially King Charles III, to expand and embellish the city of Madrid. Among numerous other works, Charles III commissioned the construction of the Prado promenade with elegant fountains, a botanic garden and a building that would eventually host the Prado Museum.

Modern Madrid
The long and tree-lined Paseo de la Castellana represents the central axis of modern Madrid, with the highest concentration of contemporary and high-rise buildings in the city. An extension of the long avenue formed by the Paseo del Prado and Recoletos which culminates in the Plaza de Colón (Columbus´ Square), the Castellana was designed as part of the 19th century Castro Plan for the enlargement of Madrid.

The first investors in the development of this major artery were the aristocrats, who lined the Castellana with their mansions throughout the 19th century. To the east of the Castellana, the elegant neighborhood of Salamanca- thus named to honor the marquis of Salamanca, who commissioned its construction-, has become a place renowned for hosting the flagship stores of the main European and Spanish fashion designers. The neighborhoods of Chueca and Malasaña, southeast of the Castellana, have a more typically Madrilian flavor.

The National Museum of Archaeology near Plaza de Colón was founded by Queen Isabel II in 1867, next to the National Library inaugurated by King Philip V in 1712 as the Public Library of the Palace, and Café Gijón, nucleus of the cultural scene in the early 20th century.

In the heart of the Castellana avenue, Real Madrid Soccer Club built its mythical stadium, Santiago Bernabéu, which currently hosts its own museum and has become the fourth most visited exhibition space in the city, after the Prado, Reina Sofía and Thyssen-Bornemizsa museums.

The Castellana crosses Madrid from North to South. The Northern part of the avenue hosts the financial complex of AZCA, as well as the new Four Towers Business Area. Built on the site of Real Madrid´s former sports complex, the Four Towers Business Area (CTBA) includes the highest four skyscrapers in Spain and is currently the third most important financial complex in the European Union, after London and Paris.