Wax Museum of Madrid

museum

The Wax Museum of Madrid opened in February nineteen seventy two with a debut figure of the explorer Christopher Columbus. The project brought together a diverse team of film industry professionals, including set decorators, lighting technicians, and makeup artists, who aimed to create immersive historical scenes rather than simple galleries of statues. The museum gained a reputation for its sometimes volatile relationship with the public figures it immortalized. The Spanish singer Manolo Escobar once expressed such intense dislike for his own wax likeness that the museum removed it and destroyed the figure with explosives in a field outside the city. They eventually sculpted a new version that was more to the singer's satisfaction. Each of the hundreds of figures currently on display requires extensive technical preparation to achieve its final look. Artisans use up to five hundred thousand individual strands of real human hair for a single figure, painstakingly inserting them one by one. The museum also frequently acquires authentic clothing, sometimes receiving garments donated directly by celebrities or sports teams to ensure the displays maintain a sense of realism.

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Nearby

National Museum of Archaeology

museum

Neoclassical building housing ancient & more modern artifacts including cave art & Islamic pottery.

Café Gijón

landmark

Café Gijón (Also known as Gran Café de Gijón) is a culturally significant coffeehouse situated at No. 21, in the boulevard of central Madrid, Spain, which is known as Paseo de Recoletos. The café is opposite both a railway station of the same name and the National Library of Spain (BNE).

Convento de los Agustinos Recoletos (Madrid)

religious

The Convento de los Agustinos Recoletos or Convento de Copacabana, in the city of Madrid, was a convent located in the land now occupied by the National Library, the Museo Arqueológico Nacional, and several city blocks. This convent named the known Paseo de Recoletos of Madrid, name that refers to the Augustinian Recollects (Agustinos Recoletos), former owners of the convent and of the adjacent properties. In this convent the painter Francisco de Zurbarán was buried.

Biblioteca Nacional de España

educational

18th-century public library with an extensive collection of manuscripts, books & photographs.

Monument to Christopher Columbus

landmark

Plaza de Colón

landmark

Plaza de Colón (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈplaθa ðe koˈlon]; lit. 'Columbus Square') is located in the encounter of Chamberí, Centro and Salamanca districts of Madrid, Spain. This plaza and its fountain commemorate the explorer Christopher Columbus, whose name in Spanish was Cristóbal Colón, whose voyages to the Americas would lead to the creation of the Spanish Empire.

Monumento a Blas de Lezo

monument

Museum of the National Library

museum

Books, manuscripts & period costumes displayed in a colonnaded, neoclassical mansion from 1712.

Historical American Exposition

event

The 1892 Historical American Exposition held in Madrid was intended to mark the four hundredth year of the discovery of America.

Monumento a Jorge Juan y Santacilia

historic

Torres de Colón

landmark

Completed in 1976, this architecturally notable office building features twin towers with 23 floors.

Teatro Fernán Gómez

cultural

The Teatro Fernán Gómez (previously Centro Cultural de la Villa de Madrid) is a theatre and cultural centre in Madrid, Spain.

Statue of Marcelino Menéndez y Pelayo

monument

The statue of Marcelino Menéndez y Pelayo is a monument in Madrid, Spain. A work by Lorenzo Coullaut Valera, it consists of a limestone statue of the aforementioned philologist and it is installed in the lobby of the National Library of Spain.

Palacio del Duque de Uceda (Plaza de Colón)

event

The Palacio del Duque de Uceda, also known as Palacio de los Duques de Medinaceli was a palace located in Plaza de Colón in Madrid. This palace had two floors and superior body with slate roofing with elegant mansards, was built in 1864 by the Puerto Rican architect Mariano Andrés Avenoza, in a large site along the Plaza de Colón, between the Paseo de Recoletos and Calle de Génova. It was the palace first property of the Duke of Uceda, to be acquired in 1876 by the Marquis of Salamanca, without ever living in it, and later, around 1890 it was purchased by Doña Ángela Pérez de Barradas y Bernuy, widow Duchess of Medinaceli, plus Duchess of Denia y Tarifa.

Paseo de Recoletos

other

Paseo de Recoletos is a wide boulevard in central Madrid leading from Plaza de Cibeles to Plaza de Colón. From west to east it consists of: Two southward lanes The pedestrian walk A southward bus lane Three southward lanes Three northward lanes A median strip lined with trees, flowerbeds, etc. Two northward lanes A northward Bus lane.