As we’ll discover in this Bourbons Madrid walking tour, some of the most famous monuments and squares of this city were built since the arrival of this dynasty, which is the current one on the throne of Spain. Their goal was changing the style of this city, erecting new constructions, modern at that time. And they promoted the art style they loved: baroque and neoclassicism. Some of them were designed by European architects, especially Italian and French, who brought here the new trends: Filippo Juvarra, Francesco Sabatini, Jamie Marquet, Giacomo Bonavia… In other occasions, they relied on local architects, like Juan de Villanueva and Ventura Rodríguez.
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Unlike Habsburg Madrid borough, we see these monuments spread in different zones. But most of them are in Paseo del Prado and surroundings. That boulevard, born at the end of 18th century as a popular garden, was the key project during king Charles III period, the most important monarch of this dynasty. Cibeles Square, Neptuno Square, Apollo Statue and Alcalá Gate are part of that. Anyway, we’ll also talk about other kings: Philip V, Ferdinand VI, Charles IV, Ferdinand VII, Elisabeth II, Alfonso XII and Alfonso XIII.
Architecture in Bourbons Madrid walking tour
In Bourbons Madrid walking tour we’ll see how the city changed since 18th century. This new dynasty, coming from France, didn’t like the austere style of Habsburgs. So they decided to develop a new art, more monumental and European, according to their point of view. Right at that time, the Viejo Alcazar (Old Castle) suffered a fire ‘by accident’, so they began to build a new one, the Royal Palace we see nowadays, masterpiece of that period. After that, they erected other important buildings, like the Royal Theatre, the Royal House of the Post Office in Puerta del Sol or the Congress of Deputies, among others.
We’ll mention Charles III many times. We call him ‘the best Major of Madrid’, even if he never was it. But that monarch promoted monuments like Museo del Prado (he wanted it to be a Natural History Museum). In fact, the Bourbons Madrid walking tour spreads on what he wanted to become a scientific pole, with other projects like a big hospital (nowadays, Reina Sofía Museum), the Royal Botanical Garden and the Royal Astronomical Observatory.
Popular culture in this visit
Bourbons Madrid walking tour includes many anecdotes and facts of popular culture. For instance, do you know how the typical dance of Madrid is? And do you know where they danced it for the first time? Would you like to discover where Perez the Mouse live, who is our ‘tooth fairy’? Have you ever seen the squares where Real Madrid and Atletico de Madrid supporters go to celebrate their victories? We’ll see all this and many other things during our route.
Besides, we’ll put in context all this information: we’ll talk about present matters like politics, monarchy, events that take place nowadays and everything you think is important to understand the capital of Spain. Come and join Bourbons Madrid walking tour and feel the daily heartbeat of this amazing city!
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