Walking Tour 1

Walking Tour 1: Habsburg Madrid (The Austrias)

Start: Southeastern corner of the Palacio Real.

Finish: Calle del Arenal.

Time: 3 hours.

Best Times: Saturday or Sunday, when you can also visit the flea market of El Rastro.

Worst Times: Monday to Saturday from 7:30 to 9:30am and 5 to 7:30pm -- because of heavy traffic.

This tour encompasses 16th- and 17th-century Madrid, including the grand plazas and traffic arteries that the Habsburg families built to transform a quiet town into a world-class capital.

The tour begins at the:

1. Palacio Real (Royal Palace)

This palace is at the corner of Calle de Bailén and Calle Mayor. The latter was built by Philip II in the 1560s to provide easy access from the palace to his preferred church, San Jerónimo el Real.

Walk east to:

2. Calle Mayor

Walk on the south side of the street. Within a block, you'll reach a black bronze statue of a kneeling angel, erected in 1906 to commemorate the aborted assassination of King Alfonso XIII (grandfather of the present king, Juan Carlos).

Across the street from the kneeling angel is the:

3. Palacio de Abrantes

Today, this palace, at Calle Mayor 86, is occupied by the Italian Institute of Culture.

On the same side of the street as the kneeling angel, to the statue's left, is the:

4. Palacio de Uceda

This palace, at Calle Mayor 79, is now the headquarters of the Spanish military (their version of the Pentagon). Both of these palaces are among the best examples of 17th-century civil architecture in Madrid.

Walk half a block east, crossing to the north side of Calle Mayor and detouring about 18m (60 ft.) to the left, down narrow Calle de San Nicolás. You'll come to the somber facade of the oldest church in Madrid, the 12th-century:

5. Church of St. Nicolás

Only a brick tower remains from the original building at the Plaza de San Nicolás. It is one of the few examples of the Mudéjar style in the capital. The reredos at the high altar is the work of Juan de Herrera, also the architect of El Escorial.

Retrace your steps to Calle Mayor. Turn left and continue to walk east. You'll pass Plaza de la Villa on your right, and, 1 block later:

6. Plaza de San Miguel

This is an iron-canopied meat-and-vegetable market (Mon-Fri 9am-2pm and 5-8pm, Sat 9am-2pm). You might stock up on ingredients for a picnic here.

Leave Plaza de San Miguel by Ciudad Rodrigo (there might not be a sign), which leads under a soaring granite archway and up a sloping street to the northwestern corner of:

7. Plaza Mayor

This landmark square is at the heart of Old Madrid.

Take a Break -- Café Bar Los Galayos, Plaza Mayor 1 (tel. 91-366-30-28), has long been one of the best places for tapas along this square. If you're taking the walking tour during the day, you may want to return to this cafe/bar at night, when it is most lively. In summer you can select one of the outdoor tables for your drinks and tapas. The cafe is open daily from noon to 1am.

Stroll through Plaza Mayor, crossing it diagonally and exiting at the closer of its two southern exits. A steep, dingy flight of stone stairs leads down to the beginning of the:

8. Calle de Toledo

Note in the distance the twin domes of the yellow-stucco and granite:

9. Iglesia de San Isidro

This is the legendary burial place of Madrid's patron saint and his wife, Santa María de la Cabeza. The church lost its status as a cathedral in 1992, when the honor went to the larger Church of La Almudena.

Adjacent to San Isidro is the baroque facade of the:

10. Colegio Imperial

Lope de Vega, Calderón, and many other famous men studied at this institute, which was also run by the Jesuits.

If your tour takes place on a Saturday or Sunday before 3pm, visit:

11. El Rastro

This is Madrid's world-famous flea market. Continue along Calle de Toledo, then fork left onto Calle Estudios, and proceed to Plaza de Cascorro, named after a hero of the Cuban wars. El Rastro begins here.

If your tour takes place Monday to Friday, skip the Rastro neighborhood. Instead, turn right onto:

12. Calle de Segovia

This street intersects Calle de Toledo just before it passes in front of the Catedral de San Isidro.

Walk 1 block and turn right onto the first street:

13. Calle de Cuchilleros

Follow this street north past 16th- and 17th-century stone-fronted houses. Within a block, a flight of granite steps forks to the right. Climb the steps (a sign identifies the new street as Calle Arco de Cuchilleros) and you'll pass one of the most famous mesones (typical Castilian restaurants) of Madrid, the Cueva de Luis Candelas.

Once again you will have entered Plaza Mayor, this time on the southwestern corner. Walk beneath the southernmost arcade and promenade counterclockwise beneath the arcades, walking north underneath the square's eastern arcade. Then walk west beneath its northern arcade. At the northwest corner, exit through the archway onto Calle 7 de Julio. Fifteen meters (50 ft.) later, cross Calle Mayor and take the right-hand narrow street before you. This is:

14. Calle Bordadores

During the 17th century, this street housed Madrid's embroidery workshops, staffed exclusively by men.

As you proceed, notice the 17th-century brick walls and towers of the:

15. Church of San Ginés

This church at Arenal 15 is one of Madrid's oldest parishes. It owes its present look to the architects who reconstructed it after a devastating fire in 1872.

At the end of this tour, you'll find yourself on traffic-congested Calle del Arenal, at the doorstep of many interesting old streets.