All Madrid [antikvár]

A partial view of Madrid from the Segovia bridge. A fine close-up of tfie popular Puerta del Sol. MADRID, CAPITAL OF SPAIN The name Madrid apparently comes from the Arab word Magerit, although according to Menendez Pidal, it could also be derived from the word Mageterito, of Celtic origin. Situated in the geographical centre of the Iberian peninsula at a height of 650 metres above sea level, Madrid is built right in the middle of the Castilian plateau on hills at whose feet flows the river Manzanares. Judging by finds from the paleolithic and neolithic periods and the Bronze Age in the valley of the Manzanares, near to what is now Madrid, the region was already inhabited in prehistoric times. But the real history of Madrid began with the Arabs when, in the year 852, Mohammed I captured the Visigothic settlement which then occupied the area between the calle Mayor and the calle Bailen. In 1083, Alfonso VI during whose reign the patron saint of Madrid, St. Isidro was born, took the town for the Christians. Almost two centuries later, in 1262, Alfonso X, the Wise, gave Madrid its Royal Rights. Madrid's historical rank began to be established around 1392 when the parliament convened by Fernando IV met there, and when Enrique III was proclaimed king. Ferdinand and Isabella went to Madrid for the first time in 1477 and the modernization and extension of the city is due to them. The consecration of Madrid as the capital of Spain was carried out by Philip II in 1561, and this was a definite step forward historically, although in the time of Philip III, the court was for several years in Valladolid. The House of Austria made Madrid a capital with a distinctive architectural style. Later on, Philip V and Charles III made it into a modern city with an extraordinary wealth of monuments. Madrid kept on growing throughout the XIX and XX centuries until it became, after 1939, one of the most densely populated and dynamic capitals in Europe, with broad avenues, residential areas and ultra modern buildings.