The story of this place
Enclosed in 1620 under Philip III, whose bronze equestrian statue rides at its centre, the Plaza Mayor was Habsburg Madrid's stage for spectacle and terror. Its balconied façades looked down on royal proclamations, markets, bullfights, and the grim autos-da-fé of the Spanish Inquisition, where the condemned were paraded and sometimes executed before crowds. Fire gutted the square three times; it was rebuilt to its present sober red form after 1790. Beatifications, tournaments and public hangings all played out here. Today its 237 balconies overlook cafés and the frescoed Casa de la Panadería, the old bakery from which the king once watched the shows below.