Plaza Mayor Design

This little Madrid square is a nice change from the city’s much bigger, more famous plazas. Worth a look.

I like the older Habsburg-era buildings here, and Plaza Mayor and the Royal Palace are close by. It’s usually quieter than Madrid’s major plazas and sights, with the feel of a small Spanish town square. One of my favourite plazas in the city, and its oldest. Definitely worth stopping when you’re nearby.

There isn’t a single bench here, which may be part of why the square feels so empty. Still, this was one of Madrid’s most important squares until about 500 years ago, and it has buildings from the 15th and 16th centuries. The town hall served from 1693 to 2007. It was built in the Austrian style because the ruling Hapsburg royal family at the time was Austrian.

It looks modest at first, but there’s a lot of Madrid’s history here. Buildings from different periods sit together, each with its own architecture. An information sign about the plaza would make the story easier to understand.