{"id":7979,"date":"2019-01-21T04:30:09","date_gmt":"2019-01-21T03:30:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.shmadrid.com\/blog\/en\/?p=7979"},"modified":"2019-01-21T04:30:09","modified_gmt":"2019-01-21T03:30:09","slug":"curiosities-of-the-spanish-capital","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shmadrid.com\/blog\/en\/curiosities-of-the-spanish-capital\/","title":{"rendered":"Curiosities of the Spanish Capital"},"content":{"rendered":"

There are more than three million people residing in the Spanish capital, an urban sprawl divided into 21 neighborhoods, each one with its particularities, customs, and mysteries to be discovered. All these things make Madrid an incredible city with thousands of options to explore. There are beautiful corners, huge parks, historical monuments, fascinating museums, lively shopping areas and a vast offering of cultural activities. Any travel guide you find is sure to highlight all of Madrid\u2019s most famous points and sights, but there is so much more to Madrid than what you\u2019ll find in your Rick Steves book; things that are more hidden, but no less fascinating. Today in this article from <\/span>ShMadrid<\/b><\/a>, we want to tell you about some of the <\/span>hidden<\/b> curiosities of the Spanish capital<\/b>. <\/span><\/p>\n

Related article: <\/span><\/i>Day Trips From Madrid: Explore the Region<\/span><\/i><\/a><\/p>\n

A city with so much to discover<\/h2>\n
\"\"<\/a>

Photo by Antonio Tajuelo via VisualHunt<\/p><\/div>\n

Walking through the city center, you\u2019ll arrive at\u00a0<\/span>calle Mayor 61<\/b> where you can see the thinnest house in the city, also the spot where the famous Spanish writer <\/span>Calder\u00f3n de la Barca<\/b> lived and eventually died. Also on this street at <\/span>Mayor 1, <\/b>you’ll find what is considered to be the one of the oldest apartment buildings in the city. Known as the <\/span>Casas de Cordero<\/b>, these buildings were constructed in 1845. Madrid also has a very, very small street that is only 20 meters long called <\/span>calle Reompelanzas<\/b>, between the streets <\/span>Preciados <\/b>and <\/span>del Carmen<\/b>. In addition, did you know that the Spanish capital has the oldest restaurant in the world? That\u2019s right – while many other restaurants in the world may try to claim this title, the <\/span>Casa Botin <\/b>(also known as <\/span>El Sobrino de Bot\u00edn<\/b>) has this recognition on behalf of the Guinness Book of World Records. Founded in <\/span>1725<\/b>, this restaurant has hosted <\/span>famous figures<\/b><\/a> throughout recent history such as <\/span>Truman Capote, Benito Per\u00e9z Glad\u00f3s <\/b>and Ernest Hemingway<\/b>. The Edificio de Telef\u00f3nica<\/strong>, right on <\/span>Gran V\u00eda<\/b>, was the tallest skyscraper in Europe during the 1920s and was also where the first phone call between the United States of America and Spain was made. If you\u2019re a fan of the Netflix show Chicas del Cable<\/em>, you\u2019ll know what we\u2019re talking about.<\/span><\/p>\n

Related article: <\/span><\/i>History of Madrid: The Capital of Spain<\/span><\/i><\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Photo via Pixabay<\/p><\/div>\n

Madrid, like any major European city, also has a metro station that is famously known to be haunted. The <\/span>Chamber\u00ed<\/b> metro station<\/b> closed in 1966 due to the inability to expand, but today is open and functioning like clockwork. However, the true <\/span>ghost station<\/b><\/a>\u00a0in Madrid is the <\/span>Arroyo de<\/b> Fresno,\u00a0which was never used. Another somewhat disturbing curiosity related to the metro is at the <\/span>Tirso de Molina<\/b> stop; buried at this stop are the monks of a former convent, whose cemetery was under the station when it was built. According to the legend, you can hear the cries of the dead monks at night. For other ghost tour lovers, there is also the option of visiting the statue of Satan himself in<\/span> Buen Retiro Park<\/b><\/a> – the Monumento del \u00c1ngel Ca\u00eddo, or the <\/span>Monument of the Fallen Angel<\/b>. You may not believe it, but this statue is also precisely 666 meters above sea level. Another sight that you\u2019ve surely heard of is\u00a0<\/span>Rastro<\/b><\/a>, a famous and incredibly crowded market that is celebrated on Sundays. Want to know where its name comes from? It was an old matador area where it was normal to come across <\/span>rastros<\/span><\/i>, or traces, of blood. Finally, we can\u2019t end this article without mentioning one of the most symbolic areas of Madrid. The <\/span>Puerta del Sol<\/b><\/a>, along with being famous in and of itself,\u00a0is also Kilometer Zero in Spain, meaning that from here, all distances to the other points of the country are measured.<\/span><\/p>\n

*Main photo by\u00a0netjcmv via VisualHunt\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

What other curiosities of Madrid do you want us to know?<\/b><\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n
\n
<\/div>\n <\/div>\n
\n
<\/div>\n <\/div>\n
\n
<\/div>\n <\/div>\n
\n
<\/div>\n <\/div>\n
\n
<\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n
\n
\n
<\/div>\n <\/div>\n
\n
<\/div>\n <\/div>\n
\n
<\/div>\n <\/div>\n
\n
<\/div>\n <\/div>\n
\n
<\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n <\/span>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There are more than three million people residing in the Spanish capital, an urban sprawl divided into 21 neighborhoods, each one with its particularities, customs, and mysteries to be discovered. All these things make Madrid an incredible city with thousands of options to explore. There are beautiful corners, huge parks, historical monuments, fascinating museums, lively […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":316,"featured_media":7980,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1567],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shmadrid.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7979"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shmadrid.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shmadrid.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shmadrid.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/316"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shmadrid.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7979"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.shmadrid.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7979\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7984,"href":"https:\/\/www.shmadrid.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7979\/revisions\/7984"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shmadrid.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7980"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shmadrid.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7979"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shmadrid.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7979"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shmadrid.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7979"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}