Plaza Mayor
Madrid's stately, arcaded city square
The grandiloquent Plaza Mayor is probably the city's most famous landmark. Designed in the 17th century by royal architect Juan Gómez de Mora, it has provided the backdrop to everything from bullfights and festivals to Inquisition burnings and royal wedding celebrations.
The iconic pointed spires and slate roofs top scores of balconied apartments that line the plaza, while one side is filled by the Casa Panadería palace with its gaudy frescoes, now home to the municipal tourist office. The cafés and restaurants are, inevitably, something of a tourist trap, but the square itself certainly merits a visit.