Historical American Exposition

event

The Historical American Exposition of 1892 occupied the massive halls of the Palacio de Biblioteca y Museos Nacionales right here on the Paseo de Recoletos. This event served as the centerpiece for the fourth centennial of the arrival of Christopher Columbus in the Americas. Organizers filled twenty-seven different rooms with rare artifacts to demonstrate the cultural state of Spain and Portugal during the era of early exploration. The exhibition featured a unique international assembly of history. The Mexican delegation presented intricate scale models of major archaeological sites like El Tajin and Xochicalco. Costa Rican organizers transported over one thousand relics recovered from a cemetery at Guayabo de Turrialba specifically for this display. Many of these pieces were eventually relocated to the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago the following year. Spain contributed its own treasures to the collection, including the Troano codex, a vital document for understanding Mayan history. The entire endeavor transformed these halls into a temporary hub of transatlantic scholarly exchange and national celebration.

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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).

Biblioteca Nacional de España

educational

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

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.

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.

Museum of the National Library

museum

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

Monumento a Blas de Lezo

monument

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.

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.

Wax Museum of Madrid

museum

The Madrid Wax Museum (Spanish: Museo de cera de Madrid) is a wax museum located in Plaza de Colón in Madrid, 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.