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The well known MADRID of AUSTRIAS is one of the oldest and most beautiful areas in the Spanish Capital. Its architecture is medieval and dates back to The Austrias Empire (XVI cen.)

We started at Plaza Mayor, located in downtown Madrid, a few minutes away from Puerta del Sol. Its construction, as it is today, began around the XVI century. You can reload at any of its café terraces with a typical “caña” (glass of beer) accompanied by a delicious slice of bread with calamar topping or “bocata de calamar”, as they call it here. You can also feast your eyes around the stands that have a display of antique seals and coins. On Sundays, you’ll always run into the philately and numismatics street market.

Beside The Plaza Mayor, you’ll see The “Mercado de San Miguel” (Opera metro station). This is the only one of the three markets in Madrid (Latina, Mostenses) that has kept its metalic structure and that has been recently remodeled, therefore it’s a must see.

The Mercado de San Miguel was inagurated for the first time in May, 1916. It’s a single floor building that was declared Cultural Asset. It has a ceramic decoration that crowns the outside.

The highlight of the new Mercado de San Miguel are its 33 stands which are mostly wine cellars and bars, every single last detail is cared for. Plus, they close at 2am. It’s a bit expensive but, it’s worth buying something there. There’s a french butchery, bakeries, cheeses, fair commerce and a stand where people pile up to savour oysters and champagne at noon.

Following this itenerary, after filling up on good food, you’ll get to Plaza de Ramales. It seems that there was an ancient church here, demolished by Napoleon, that dated back to roman times. Inside was the body of Velázquez, the painter. On one side you’ll see the “Café de los Austrias”, located on the first floor of a small square from the beginning of the XX century.

From there, you can walk to La Latina neighborhood, (we were expected to continue filling up on goodies, hey it was reaally cold! We had to keep our stomachs full!)

Next Post: Places to eat in La Latina and Chueca, the gay area of Madrid.

Content by GayNest.

All photographs by Alejandra Gómez S

Comments (1)

allinejore 10-02-2010

I am usually pretty good finding things online, but not this time. The band is Madrid de los Austrias, the song is 'Buscando' (Karuan vs. Circus remix) and the cd is 'This is how we lounge 2'. It's a great song.

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