Destination Madrid

To experience Madrid is to explore its restaurants and eateries, prop up its countless bars, and be swept up in the nocturnal madness of its music scene and clubs. Madrid has always been a city of immigrants and transients, and the result is an unusually open and accessible city. Ambitious programs to modernize the city are afoot, but the gatos (locals) of Madrid can rest assured that their town remains as refreshingly unlike Paris, London or Rome as ever.

In no other European capital will you find the city center so thronged so late into the night, as though some unwritten law forbade sleeping before dawn. This is Spain's headiest city, where the reveling lasts long into the night and life is seized with the teeth and both hands.

It always seems like there's a party going on in Madrid, but the city goes particularly crazy during Carnevale (February/March), the Fiesta de la Comunidad de Madrid (2 May) and Fiestas de San Isidro (15 May). There's localized mayhem in June-July when the city's districts celebrate their various saints' days. Offices, banks and some shops close on public holidays, and they often also close on the intervening day if the holiday falls close to a weekend. Madrid is just about evacuated in August, as the locals head off on their holidays, and you may find that some restaurants and shops will be closed for the month.

OK, a picture of Madrid wouldn't be complete without mention of the city's bullfights. Those with the machismo of Hemingway and the sensibilities of Sid Vicious can taste the blood and sand at the Plaza de Toros Monumental de Las Ventas, the world's biggest bullfighting ring. The season kicks off in February, and there are small local corridas throughout summer and spring. The main event on the bullfighting calendar is the mid-May feria, the four weeks of bloodletting that are part of the festival of San Isidro.

Moorish quarter Just to the south of Palacio Real is the Moorish quarter, one of Madrid's oldest districts. There's a short stretch of city wall here, built by the early-medieval Muslim rulers in the 9th century. In summer the area is a venue for open-air theater and music performances.

Museo del Prado Converted in 1819 from a natural history museum to a repository of Spanish art held in royal collections, the Museo del Prado hosts over 7000 works. The strongest collections are the 17th- and 18th-century Spanish paintings on the first floor, featuring the likes of Velázquez, Goya and da Ribera. There's also a fair sprinkling of Flemish and Italian masters. Of course, with a museum this size you really should visit more than once, particularly as fewer than half of the collection are ever on view at any given time.

Museo Municipal If you can't tell your Felipe II from your Alfonso XIII, head to this interesting (but hardly masterful) museum. Pedro de Ribera's Baroque entrance to the former hospice building is a highlight, as is the huge model of the city dating from 1830. The collection begins with Iron and Bronze Age artifacts, with odds and ends from the Visigoths and Muslims thrown in for good measure. The Habsburg and Bourbon periods are brought to life with paintings, models and period furniture, and there are a couple of Goyas on display.

Parque del Buen Retiro After a heavy round of the art galleries and city sights, a stroll in Madrid's loveliest public gardens is one of the best ways to end the day. There are boats for hire on the lake, summertime puppet shows for kids, and a plethora of buskers and tarot readers at weekends. The artificial lake at the park's center is watched over by Alfonso XII's massive mausoleum and the sphinx-laden Egyptian Fountain. The park has a particularly beautiful rose garden, La Rosaleda, and a somewhat sinister statue of El Ángel Caído, said to be the first statue ever dedicated to the dark lord.

Palacio Real de El Pardo Just 15km (9mi) north of Madrid is the nearest of several regal escape hatches. This particular palace ended up as Franco's favored residence, and was also enjoyed by Felipe II in the 1550s. Several hundred tapestries are displayed, some based on cartoons by Goya. In the grounds is an elaborate 'cottage', built for Carlos IV in 1786.

San Lorenzo de El Escorial This majestic palace/monastery complex was designed between 1562 and 1584 by Renaissance master-architect Juan de Herrera, on the orders of Felipe II, who died there in 1598. It includes a basilica, Felipe II's palace, the royal mausoleum, several art collections, a library and a museum. The complex nestles against the protective wall of the Sierra de Guadarrama, one hour northwest of Madrid by bus or train. The site's mild and healthy climate has for centuries made it a refuge for kings and madrileños alike.

Sierra de Guadarrama The hills of the Sierra de Guadarrama offer a welcome escape for madrileños. There are tiny pueblos (villages) to explore and plenty of walking trails for the more energetic. The village of Manzanares El Real is home to a 15th-century castle, and nearby trails lead to gorgeous freshwater pools. The area around the mountain town of Cercedilla is popular with hikers and mountain bikers, and skiing is possible on the pistes of Navacerrada and Costos.

Monasterio de las Descalzas Reales In the mid-16th century, aristocratic women--either disappointed in love or 'wanting to be the bride of Christ'--stole away to this convent to take the veil. Each brought a dowry, making this one of the richest convents in the land. By the mid-20th century it sheltered mostly poor women. True, it still contained a priceless collection of art treasures, but the sisters were forbidden to auction anything; in fact, they were literally starving. The state intervened, and the pope granted special dispensation to open the convent as a museum. Today the public can look behind the walls of what had been a mysterious presence on one of the most beautiful squares in Old Madrid.In the Reliquary are the noblewomen's dowries, one of which is said to contain bits of wood from Christ's Cross; another, some of the bones of St. Sebastian. The most valuable painting is Titian's Caesar's Money. The Flemish Hall shelters other fine works, including paintings by Hans de Beken and Breughel the Elder. All of the tapestries were based on Rubens's cartoons, displaying his chubby matrons. Tours are in Spanish.

Panteón de Goya (Goya's Tomb) In a remote part of town beyond the North Station lies Goya's tomb, containing one of his masterpieces--an elaborately beautiful fresco depicting the miracles of St. Anthony on the dome and cupola of the little hermitage of San Antonio de la Florida. This has been called Goya's Sistine Chapel. Already deaf when he began the painting, Goya labored dawn to dusk for 16 weeks, painting with sponges rather than brushes. By depicting common street life--stonemasons, prostitutes, and beggars--Goya raised the ire of the nobility who held judgment until the patron, Carlos IV, viewed it. When the monarch approved, the formerly outrageous painting was deemed acceptable. The tomb and fresco are in one of the twin chapels (visit the one on the right) that were built in the latter part of the 18th century. Discreetly placed mirrors will help you see the ceiling better.

Plaza Mayor In the heart of Madrid, this famous square was known as the Plaza de Arrabal during medieval times, when it stood outside the city wall. The original architect of Plaza Mayor itself was Juan Gómez de Mora, who worked during the reign of Philip III. Under the Hapsburgs, the square rose in importance as the site of public spectacles, including the abominable autos de fe, in which heretics were burned. Bullfights, knightly tournaments, and festivals were also staged here. Three times the buildings on the square burned--in 1631, 1672, and 1790--but each time the plaza bounced back. After the last big fire, it was completely redesigned by Juan de Villanueva. Nowadays a Christmas fair is held around the equestrian statue of Philip III (dating from 1616) in the center of the square. On summer nights the Plaza Mayor becomes the virtual living room of Madrid, as tourists sip sangria at the numerous cafes and listen to the music performances, many of which are spontaneous.

Real Basílica de San Francisco el Grande Ironically, Madrid, the capital of cathedral-rich Spain, does not itself possess a famous cathedral--but it does have an important church, with a dome larger than that of St. Paul's in London. This 18th-century church is filled with a number of ecclesiastical works, notably a Goya painting of St. Bernardinus of Siena. A guide will show you through.

Real Fábrica de Tapices (Royal Tapestry Factory) At this factory, the age-old process of making exquisite (and very expensive) tapestries is still carried on with consummate skill. Nearly every tapestry is based on a cartoon of Goya, who was the factory's most famous employee. Many of these patterns, such as The Pottery Salesman, are still in production today. (Goya's original drawings are in the Prado.) Many of the other designs are based on cartoons by Francisco Bayeu, Goya's brother-in-law.

Templo de Debod This Egyptian temple near Plaza de España once stood in the Valley of the Nile, 31km (19 miles) from Aswan. When the new dam threatened the temple, the Egyptian government dismantled and presented it to Spain. Taken down stone by stone in 1969 and 1970, it was shipped to Valencia and taken by rail to Madrid, where it was reconstructed and opened to the public in 1971. Photos upstairs depict the temple's long history.