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<center><wz tip="Parade for the 2 of May (2014).">[[File:PlazaMayor_2Mayo2014.jpg|600px]]</wz></center> | <center><wz tip="Parade for the 2 of May (2014).">[[File:PlazaMayor_2Mayo2014.jpg|600px]]</wz></center> | ||
+ | |||
+ | == Gallery == | ||
+ | |||
+ | Aerial view (credits unknown). | ||
+ | |||
+ | <gallery widths=200px perrow=3> | ||
+ | File:PlazaMayor-aerial-1.jpg | ||
+ | File:PlazaMayor-aerial-2.jpg | ||
+ | File:PlazaMayor-aerial-3.jpg | ||
+ | </gallery> |
La plaza Mayor is the heart of Madrid.
Its location was right at the outskirt of the old city (Mayrit), when the Muslims ruled it. There was then damps, possibly a river. When the city expanded, it became a market and then the Plaza del Arrabal, which was a popular spot, both messy and unsanitary. Felipe II asked for its reform (in 1577). The construction started only under Felipe III's reign (in 1617). The Plaza Mayor as it s know it today dates from 1790, as modeled by the architect Juan de Villanueva.
Aerial view (credits unknown).