Plaza de Oriente
مدريد
The Plaza de Oriente is a square of Baroque gardens in the centre of Madrid. In the middle stands a bronze equestrian statue from the 1600s, surrounded by twenty stone kings.
A square born from demolitions
In the early 1800s Joseph Bonaparte, Napoleon's brother, was King of Spain. He had the houses facing the palace's east façade pulled down. He wanted to open up a grand view.
For years the space stayed almost empty. In 1844, under Isabella II, it was laid out to a design by the architect Narciso Pascual y Colomer.
What to look at
In the middle is the monument to Philip IV, a bronze statue from the 1600s. It was brought here in 1843. At that time it received a new base, with reliefs, fountains and figures of rivers.
Along the sides of the central gardens run rows of white stone statues. They are twenty ancient kings from the kingdoms of Spain.
The kings who came down from the roof
Many artists carved the statues in the mid-1700s. They were meant to stand on top of the palace, along the cornice.
In the end they were placed elsewhere, in different parts of the city and even in other provinces.
Since the 1990s, cars have driven through a tunnel under the square. On the surface remain gardens, benches and statues for people on foot.
