This huge, multi-tiered church between Puerta de Toledo and the Palacio Real is difficult to miss. A monastery on the site, reputedly founded by Saint...
Plaza de San Francisco
In the same plaza as the Hotel Ritz, Madrid's stock exchange is a landmark as well as a business centre. Enrique María Repullés won the competition to...
Plaza de la Lealtad 1
This vast garden was named after a Muslim leader in the Middle Ages, Ali Ben Yusut, who attempted to capture the fortress that is now the Palacio Real....
Paseo de la Virgen del Puerto
Just to the north of the A-2 motorway, now surrounded by Madrid's eastern sprawl, there is a jewel of a romantic fantasy garden, a remarkably preserved...
Paseo de la Alameda de OsunaSpain's most prolific playwright and poet, Félix Lope de Vega Carpio (1562-1635) spent the last 25 years of his life in this simple, tranquil three-storey...
C/Cervantes 11This is not Spain's most impressive cathedral, and it's something of a miracle that it exists at all. For centuries, Church and State could not agree on...
C/Bailén 10
This exhibition space in the Retiro, close to the boating lake, is run by the local council and offers shows on a variety of subjects, ranging from...
Parque del Retiro
Housed in a former barracks, built in the 18th century for Philip V's guard by Pedro de Ribera, the magnificently restored Conde Duque is a multipurpose...
C/Conde Duque 11
The Círculo de Bellas Artes occupies a superb building, designed by Antonio Palacios and completed in 1926. It is a key player in every aspect of the Madrid...
C/Alcalá 42 & C/Marqués de Casa Riera 2Spain's parliament, the Cortes, was built in 1843-50 by Narciso Pascual y Colomer on the site of a recently demolished monastery, which has led to no end of...
Plaza de las Cortes
Before the Alcázar burned down, this understated convent was its treasury, connected by a concealed passageway. In 1611 it was inaugurated as a monastery by...
Plaza de la Encarnación 1This plain neo-classical chapel was completed by Felipe Fontana for Charles IV in 1798. Quite out of the way, north of Príncipe Pío station on the Paseo de...
Glorieta de San Antonio de la Florida 5
Madrid's classic wrought-iron and glass main rail station was built in 1888-92, to a design by Alberto del Palacio. It remained much the same, gathering a...
Glorieta del Emperador Carlos VThis radio and communications tower, at 92m (302ft), provides one of the best views of the whole of the city and the sierras in the distance. Diagrams along...
Avda de los Reyes CatólicosPart zoo, part theme park, Faunia recreates the world's different ecosystems in a series of domes. Best of the bunch is the Amazon jungle house, which...
Avda de las Comunidades 28