Plaza Mayor, Madrid

The most unique feature of the Plaza Mayor is the "Casa de la Panadería" (Bakery House), which was built by Diego Silero. The style and dimensions of its facade were copied all along the rest of the square.
Around 1581, it was the meant as the centre of trade in what was a suburb beyond the town halls.
Successive fires destroyed the Casa de la Panadería which was restored some years later by Tomás Román and juan de Villanueva.

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Plaza Mayor is a very big market place in the middle of Madrid. It is more than 370 years old. The square was used for bull fighting, public executions, tournaments and burnings by the Spanish inquisition. The square is big enough to accommodate 100.000 people. Even now Plaza Mayor is still used for big events like concerts. It is a very impressive place and all appartments have balconies.

See link:
http://filipdemuinck-kristelpardon.blogspot.com/2010/04/plaza-mayor-madrid.html

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This is the typical square which should have every city. Full of tourists, famous, alive statue in every corner, expensive souvenirs in gift shops and all this i always enjoy. Just sitting and watching around, relaxing after whole day walking. These places always bring the good feeling of travelling, summer and holidays.
Plaza Mayor is square-shaped, red houses around have renaissance character. It was built in 1619 when a king of Spain was Phillip III. You can see his statue on the square.
There are many restaurants offering Tapas in the arcades, but overpriced. So I think Plaza Mayor - relax for a while and leave, there is not much to see.

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Shortly after leaving the Puerta del Sol plaza and its bustling activity related to the Three Kings festivities, we soon found ourselves in the amazing four-sided courtyard of Plaza Mayor. Things were also happening there with buskers and other forms of entertainment starting to take place, all probably part of the same festival.

However, in our case we were more interested in taking in this impressive piece of architecture with its 237 balconies and nine entrance portals, originally inaugurated in 1620 under the rule of King Philip III. Fires sweeping through cities were relatively common in the following eras, so it was necessary to reconstruct Plaza Mayor in its present form by 1790. The surrounding rooms are now used for residential purposes, along with traditional old shops around its lower level.

In the central part of the plaza is a bronze statue of King Philip III, the work of two Italian sculptors and completed in 1616 (2nd photo). It was not moved to Plaza Mayor until 1848, but is still a fine looking piece of work. After spending some time admiring the architecture and watching a few of the activities, we continued our walk through more quaint streets as we headed toward nearby Plaza de la Villa, another historic location that is now the seat of Madrid's elected officials.

It is the most poplar building in Plaza Mayor. Casa de la Panaderia is the seat of the powerful bakers guilt. It was finished as early as 1590, before the square was even laid out. Its current design with symmetric towers dates from 1790. But most interesting for me on the building are colorful murals which are added in 1992.

Just a few minutes walk from the Puerta del Sol you will be on the great and big square Plaza Mayor. It is the main plaza in Madrid very popular with tourists and locals. In the past it was a market place. At the center is a bronze Statue of King Philips III. For centuries the Plaza Mayor has been the center of festivities, bull fights, royal coronations and executions. Today there it is using for lot of public celebrations.

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The Casa de la Panaderia has some amazing allegorical paintings on its façade which were originally created by Jose Jimenez Donoso and Claudio Coello. They also were responsible for much of the decoration of the interior.

The Casa de la Panaderia is open free to the public from 11.00am – 2.00pm and from 5.00pm – 8.00pm daily.

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The Casa de la Panderia is one of the impressive buildings of the Plaza Mayor. Standing on the north side of the square it was originally built by Juan Gomez de Mora of wood in 1590 however in 1670 it was destroyed by fire and had to be rebuilt this time by Juan de Villanueva. The building was originally Royal House bakery but later also housed the Royal Standard Weights and Measures Offices, the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando headquarters, the Madrid City Council and then the Municipal Library and Archives.

Arco de Cuchilleros is also known as the Cutlers Arch. This arched steep stairway is one of the entrances into the Plaza Mayor from the square of Cava de San Miguel. It was built during the 17th century to connect the lower levels into the Plaza Mayor.

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Down one end of one the Plaza Mayor is a sculpture of Felipe III which dates back to the 17th century. It was created by Giovanni de Bologna and Piertro Tacco and originally sat at Casa deCampo. It wasn’t until 1848 that it was moved to Plaza Mayor.