Walks in Madrid–Day and Night

Earlier on Day 9, I took in 3 museums. That’s a lot! But my work wasn’t done. 1st I took a stroll around 2 of Madrid’s historic neighborhoods. Then, after a much needed rest, I wandered up and down Madrid’s version of Broadway.

Lavapiés and Letras

I loved these hand-painted tiled street signs in Madrid’s historic neighborhoods. I’m surprised to learn they were only installed in the ’90s. Yes, the 1990s. About 1,500 in all, they were created by a 3rd-generation ceramic artist for the Madrid City Council using a method that was created by the Moors.

After I finished my visit to the Thyssen Museum, I began my stroll around 2 historic neighborhoods in the southeastern part of central Madrid, west of Paseo del Prado. Lavapiés is an ancient neighborhood that historically featured tenement-style housing for Madrid’s poor. It is now a very multicultural neighborhood as the housing has been filled with immigrants. Barrio de las Letras (Letras, for short) is so named because it was the home of prominent Spanish writers–including, most prominent of all, Cervantes. (“Barrio de las Letras” translates as “Literary Neighborhood”.)

I was surprised to come across a *Stolperstein* (“stumbling stone”) in Lavapiés. *Stolpersteine* are plaques placed throughout Europe outside the former homes of victims of the Holocaust, but the Nazis never occupied Spain.

The Francoists exiled many of their enemies to France. After occupying France, the Nazis were happy to deport enemies of Fascist Spain to Nazi concentration camps. Lavapiés pastry chef Manuel García had joined the Republican side against Franco’s Nationalists when the Civil War broke out in 1936. Sadly, he was captured and ended up as one of Franco’s political enemies who was exiled to France. He ultimately perished in a concentration camp.

And I feel fine…! Provocative mural outside a hostel in Lavapiés.

Historic Cine Doré in Lavapiés. It was built as a socio-cultural hall in 1912. In 1922, it was converted into a cinema.

The street honoring Spain’s main literary man, Miguel de Cervantes. It is appropriately located in Barrio de las Letras.

And here’s a perfect example of why the area is appropriately referred to as Barrio de las Letras. This is the house where Cervantes lived and died in the early 17th century.

I stopped in the pretty Basilica of Jesus de Medinaceli. It’s relatively modern, having been completed in 1930 to replace a church that had been demolished. The church’s most important object is the 17th-century sculpture Jesus of Medinaceli. The sculpture is kept above the altar.

The Jesus of Medinaceli sculpture, upstairs above the altar. The sculpture was crafted in Seville. It was brought to a Spanish colony in North Africa, where it was captured by locals. After the Spanish paid a ransom to get it back, it was taken to Madrid, where is has remained since the late 17th century.

At the end of my walk, I stopped in the Palace Hotel to get a bite. Just like in the Palm Court at the Hotel Ritz on Day 6, I was dining in luxury. This time, it was the Palace’s elegant La Cúpula restaurant.

After my early evening snack, I had some excitement. When I had entered the hotel for my snack, I noticed a police officer conspicuously standing outside the entrance. When I left the hotel after my snack, there was much more security. Soon there was a lot more activity as a motorcade sped up to the hotel with lights and sirens. Some of the vehicles in the motorcade had Brazilian flags on them. Sure enough, it was the motorcade of Lula, president of Brazil!

Gran Vía

On Day 6, I saw the Cibeles Fountain by day. Here it is, all lit up at night. Behind it is the Cybele Palace, which is Madrid’s city hall.

After visiting 3 museums and walking around Lavapiés and Barrio de las Letras, I headed back to my hotel for a much needed rest. It was on the late side when I got up for another city walk. This time it was along Gran Vía. Gran Vía is basically Madrid’s Broadway. It is a showcase for retail, dining, entertainment, and early 20th-century architecture. Because it was approaching 11 pm, I was stunned by how alive the city was. Entire families were out walking. And it was a Tuesday night. Such is the life of madrileños! I normally don’t do much sightseeing at nighttime, so it was such a great opportunity to see the city lit up at night.

I started my walk at the eastern end of Gran Vía. I actually went just past the end because I was drawn to the beautifully lit up Cibeles Fountain and Cybele Palace, pictured above, a little further away.

The interior of Museo Chicote, Spain’s oldest cocktail bar. Opened in 1931, it retains its Art Deco decor. Over the years, Museo Chicote has been patronized by such luminaries as Frank Sinatra and Ava Gardner.

When the Telefónica Building was completed in 1929, it was the tallest building in Europe. Its architectural style was inspired by New York skyscrapers of the time, with Spanish baroque features added to give it a more local feel. It was built to house Spain’s phone company, hence its name.

The Gran Vía 32 Building was completed in 1924 to house Madrid’s 1st department store. The rooftop phoenix was added in 1956 when major renovations were made to the structure.

Cine Avenida, an opulent movie theater opened in 1928. Its opulence faded over the years until 2007, when it became an H&M. Since 2022, it’s been a Uniqlo. Fortunately, the building’s facade and lobby decorations are required to be preserved. So we still get to see this beautiful stained glass window, which is much, much larger than it looks in this picture. 20 feet tall, maybe.

If Gran Vía is Madrid’s Broadway, than Plaza de Callao is definitely Madrid’s Times Square. The Cine Capitol movie theater opened in 1933 in the building that is named for it. The building, built in the expressionist style, and the Schweppes ad, which has been on display since 1972, are 2 of the most recognizable sights on Gran Vía. (It reminds me of the Citgo sign in Boston!)

Yet another movie palace around Plaza del Callao. The Art Deco Cines Callao opened in 1926. In 1929, *The Jazz Singer* opened here, becoming the 1st “talkie” to be shown in Spain. The outdoor screen uses the latest technology to present dazzling moving images.

More evidence that Plaza del Callao is the Times Square of Madrid. The display on the left is on 1 of the flagship stores of the El Corte Inglés chain of department stores. The Samsung ad is on display the Plaza del Callao outlet of French electronics chain Fnac.

You can see plenty of people walking about at the bottom of the picture above. This was pretty impressive to me considering it was well after 11 pm on a Tuesday night.

Atlas was installed atop the building that now houses NH Collection Madrid Gran Vía hotel in 2019.

Atlas bears the weight of the world upon his shoulders. And after the day I had, so did I. Good night!

[Factual information is primarily gathered from Wikipedia, so you know it must be true.]

Walks in Madrid–Day and Night

Lavapiés and Letras

Gran Vía

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