- Address: Plaza de España, Madrid
The main attraction of the Madrid Square of Spain is the monument to Don Quixote and Sancho Panse - the heroes of the famous, probably, every work of Miguel de Cervantes. In fact, the monument is devoted not only to this, let the most famous characters: this is a whole complex, which includes a fountain, a monument to the writer and many other sculptures and bas-reliefs.
Monument to Don Quixote is not only in Madrid - the Spaniards revere this character and monuments to it are installed in Alcalá de Henares, next to the house in which Cervantes lived, and in Mota del Cuervo (Cuenca) and in Puerto Lápice (Ciudad Real), but the Madrid Don Quixote is the most famous.
History of the monument
The creation of the monument to Cervantes in Madrid stretched for a long enough period: the contest was announced back in 1915, a year before the 300th anniversary of his death. The first place was given to the project, presented by architect Rafael Zapatera and sculptor Lorenzo Cullo-Valera. However, there was no money for erecting the monument, and in 1920 the collection of funds began for all countries for which the Spanish language is native. The required amount was collected only by 1925, at the same time, work began on the erection of the monument. They were attracted to the architect Pedro Muguruso, who made some changes to the project (for example, he removed the figure hovering over the monument of the goddess Victoria and simplified the balustrade decorations). The opening of the monument (not yet finished) was held on October 13, 1929.
In the fifties the work on the completion of the monument was resumed - the son of Lorenzo Cullo-Valera, Federico, added several sculptures to the composition.
Appearance of the monument
The composition of the monument, as mentioned above, is quite complex: besides the Cervantes and the main figures (Don Quixote and Sancho Panza, sitting on the Rossinant and the donkey named Gray), other characters and allegorical figures are depicted here. For example, on the back of the stele is a statue of Queen Isabella of Portugal sitting on the throne, at the feet of which is a fountain. The latter is decorated with the arms of countries, for which the state language is Spanish.
The stela is decorated with a globe, which symbolizes the fact that the Spanish language has spread across all five continents, and representatives of different nationalities reading books - most likely the very product of Cervantes, which in number of reissues is second only to the Bible.
In addition, the stela is decorated with other images, including statues of "Mysticism" and "Military Valor" and bas-reliefs, among which you can see a dancing gypsy and Ricone with Cortadillo. And next to the statues of Don Quixote and Sancho, you can see 2 female statues - right and left. This is Dulcinea and ... Dulcinea: in one version - a cheerful peasant girl, that is, that Dulcinea that existed in reality, in the second - most likely, that Dulcinea, which existed in the imagination of Mr. Knight of the Sad image. These two sculptures, like Riconee and Cortadillo, were added to the composition only in the 50-60s of the last century.
Other sights of the square
In addition to the monument, on the Plaza de España you can admire the Madrid tower, the building "Spain", Casa Gaillardo and the building of the Asturian mine company, which surround the square, as well as take a walk in the park and buy souvenirs for memory in the shopping arcade just outside the monument.
How to get to the square?
Walking through the city center, you can easily reach the Plaza of Spain on foot. And if you are going purposefully here, then it is best to take the metro and get off at the Plaza de España station.
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