The plaza de la Villa is an urban square in central Madrid, Spain. The square, bordering the Calle Mayor, houses some of the oldest buildings still around in the city.
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| Type | plaza |
|---|---|
| Maintained by | Ayuntamiento of Madrid |
| Location | Centro, Madrid, Spain |
| Coordinates | 40°24′55″N 3°42′38″W / 40.415285°N 3.710423°W |
History and description
editIt lies in the Palacio neighborhood, part of the Centro District.
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It was known as "Plaza de San Salvador" in ancient times, as it was located near the (now defunct) Church of San Salvador, in whose atrium the primitive municipal council convened[1] (the church was demolished in 1842).[2] In 1463 Henry IV of Castile granted a market day in the square on Tuesdays.[3] The Casa de los Lujanes (with its adjacent tower), dated from the 15th-century, is the oldest civil building in Madrid.[4] The tradition states the tower was the location where Francis I of France was held captive after his capture in the 1525 Battle of Pavia.[4]
Other buildings in the square are the 16th-century Casa de Cisneros and the old city hall, the Casa de la Villa de Madrid.[5] The primitive Fountain of San Salvador (or Fuente de la Villa), located in the centre of the square, also disappeared.[6]
In 1888, a statue of Álvaro de Bazán by sculptor Mariano Benlliure was commissioned for the 300th anniversary of his death; the square was chosen as location both because of its centrality and because of its small size the sculpture would stand out the most; the inauguration took place on 19 December 1891.[7]
See also
editReferences
edit- Citations
- ^ Dorado 1913, p. 4.
- ^ Mesonero Romanos 1861, pp. 218–219.
- ^ Revilla González 2018, p. 5.
- ^ a b Rodrigo 2019.
- ^ Mesonero Romanos 1861, pp. 215–216.
- ^ Mesonero Romanos 1861, pp. 216–217.
- ^ "Álvaro de Bazán" (PDF). Ayuntamiento de Madrid. Área de Gobierno de las Artes. Dirección General de Infraestructuras Culturales.
Bibliography
edit- Dorado, Facundo (1913). "Plaza de la Villa". Casa de la Villa (PDF). Madrid: Imprenta Municipal. pp. 3–6.
- Mesonero Romanos, Ramón de (1861). El antiguo Madrid. Paseos históricos-anecdóticos por las calles y casas de esta villa. Vol. I.
- Revilla González, Fidel (2018). La Plaza Mayor de Madrid. Cuatrocientos años de historia (PDF). Madrid.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - Rodrigo, Belén (7 April 2019). "La Casa de los Lujanes de Madrid, el centenario torreón donde estuvo preso el rey de Francia". ABC.