About This Location
Pause here in Plaza de la Villa and notice how different this place feels from the busier spaces nearby. The square is smaller, quieter, and more intimate, but it is one of the most important historic corners in Madrid. This was one of the main centers of medieval Madrid, and the three streets opening from here - Codo, Cordón, and Madrid - still preserve part of the city's old layout. In the fifteenth century, the square took its current name when Madrid received the title of Noble and Loyal from King Henry IV. Now look toward the statue in the middle. This is Don Álvaro de Bazán, one of the great admirals of sixteenth-century Spain. Britannica describes him as the foremost Spanish naval commander of his day, and he was closely linked with many major victories at sea. The monument was commissioned on the three hundredth anniversary of his death and was unveiled here on 19 December 1891. The bronze figure was created by Mariano Benlliure, with the pedestal designed by Miguel Aguado. Take a closer look at his pose. Bazán stands in armor, one hand near his sword and the other holding a staff of command. The sculpture was meant to show authority and victory, and even Cervantes praised him as a captain who was never defeated. That helps explain why Madrid gave him such a prominent place in this square. Facing the square, the large building with the tower is the Casa de la Villa. King Philip IV ordered it in 1629 as the meeting place of the city council. Construction began in 1644 and, after delays and changes of architect, the building was completed in 1696. Juan Gómez de Mora began the project, and Teodoro Ardemans gave it much of its final Baroque form. The gallery of Tuscan columns facing Calle Mayor was later added by Juan de Villanueva in 1789. This building was Madrid City Hall for centuries, right up to 2007, so this square was not only picturesque - it was also the working political heart of the city for a very long time. In 1915, architect Luis Bellido restored the building and added the elevated passage linking it to Casa de Cisneros, which you can also see from here. Around you, the square brings together three centuries at once: the fifteenth-century Lujanes complex, the sixteenth-century Casa de Cisneros, and the seventeenth-century Casa de la Villa. That is why Plaza de la Villa feels less like a single monument and more like a compact history of Madrid in stone.