Copyright PBCPlaza Mayor de Madrid is located just few blocks away from Puerta del Sol. The Plaza Mayor is rectangular in shape, measuring 129 by 94 meters, and is surrounded by three-story residential buildings. 237 balconies face the Plaza. It has a total of nine entranceways. The Casa de la PanaderÃa (behind the statue in the picture), serving municipal and cultural functions, dominates the Plaza Mayor.
King Felipe II of Spain asked Juan de Herrera (the famous architect that also built El Escorial), to devise a plan to remodel the busy and chaotic area of the old Plaza del Arrabal. However construction didn't start until 1617, during king Felipe III's reign.
The king asked Juan Gomez de Mora to continue with the project, and he finished the porticoes in 1619. Nevertheless, the Plaza Mayor as we know it today is the work of the architect Juan de Villanueva who was entrusted with its reconstruction in 1790 after a spate of big fires.
Giambologna's equestrian statue of Felipe III (the statue was finished by Pietro Tacca after Giambologna's death) dates to 1616, but it was not placed in the center of the square until 1848. Nowadays the square is a tourist attraction and you can enjoy its terraces or watch some of the comedians or musicians that every day performance there.
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