Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 15.djvu/209

Rh MADRID 191 statue of Cervantes, by Sola, erected in 1835. The Calle de Carretas ranks with the Carrera de San Geronimo and Calle de la Montera for the excellence of its shops. From the Calle Mayor is entered the Plaza Mayor, a rectangle of about 430 feet by 330, formerly the scene of tournaments, bull fights, autos-de-fe, and similar exhibitions, which used to be viewed by the royal family from the balcony of one of the houses called the Panaderia (belonging to the guild of bakers). The square, which was built under Philip III. in 1619, is surrounded by an arcade; the houses are uniform in height and decoration. In the centre stands a bronze equestrian statue of Philip III., designed by Pantoja, cast by Juan de Bologna, and finished by Pedro Tacca. From the south-east angle of the Plaza Mayor the Calle de Atocha, one of the principal thoroughfares of Madrid, leads to the outskirts of the city; at the south west angle of the same square the Calle de Toledo begins, the chief mart for the various woollen and silken fabrics from which the picturesque costumes peculiar to the peninsula are made. In the Plaza de Isabel IE., at the western extremity of the Calle del Arenal, stands the royal opera-house, the principal front of which faces the Plaza del Ociente and the royal palace. In the centre of the plaza is a fine bronze equestrian statue of Philip IV. ; it was designed by Velazquez and cast by Tacca, while Galileo is said to have suggested the means by which the balance is preserved. The gift of the grand-duke of Tuscany in 1640, it stood in the Buen Retire gardens until 1844. As compared with other capitals, Madrid has very few buildings of much interest architecturally or otherwise. There is no cathedral. The Basilica de Nuestra Sefiora de Atocha, on the Paseo de Atocha, a continuation of the Calle de Atocha, originally founded in 1523, after being destroyed by the French was rebuilt by Ferdinand VII. ; it contains one of those miraculous images attributed to St Luke with which Spain abounds, and is specially associated in history with the name of Queen Isabella II. The collegiate church of San Isidro el Real, in the Calle de Toledo, dates from 1651 ; it has no architectural merit, but contains one or two valuable pictures and other works of art. The modern Gothic church of San Geronimo el Real occupies a conspicuous site eastward of the town ; it is not at present used as a place of worship. Of secular buildings unquestionably the most important is the royal palace (Palacio Real) on the west side of the town, on a rising ground overhanging the Manzanares. It occupies the site of the ancient Moorish alcazar, where a hunting seat was built by Henry IV.; this was enlarged and improved by Charles V. when he first made Madrid his residence in 1532, was further developed by Philip IL,but ultimately was destroyed by fire in 1734. The present edifice was begun under Philip V. in 1737 by Sacchetti of Turin, and was finished in 1764. It is in the Tuscan style, and is 470 feet square and 100 feet in height, the material being white Colmenar granite, resembling marble. To the north of the palace are the royal stables and coach houses, remarkable for their extent ; to the south is the armoury (Museo de la Real Armeria), containing what is probably the best collection of the kind anywhere to be met with. After the Palacio Real may be mentioned the royal picture gallery (Real Museo de Pinturas), adjoining the Salon del Prado ; it was built about 1785 for Charles III. by Juan de Villanueva, as a museum of natural history and academy of sciences. It contains the collections of Charles V., Philip II., and Philip IV., and the pictures number upwards of two thousand. The specimens of Titian, Raphael, Veronese, Tintoretto, Velazquez, Vandyck, Rubens, and Teniers are numerous and remarkable, giving it a claim to be regarded as the finest picture gallery in the world. The palaces of the grandees are generally noteworthy only for their size. There are some seventeen theatres of all classes. The bull-ring (Plaza de Toros), to the east of the town, accommodates 12,000 spectators; the present building dates from 1874. Of the promenades and open places of public resort the most fashionable and most fre quented is the Prado (Paseo del Prado, Salon del Pmdo) on the east side of the town, with its northward continuation the Paseo de Recoletos. To the south of the town is the Paseo de las Delicias, and on the west, below the royal palace, and skirting the Manzanare?, is the Paseo de la Virgen del Puerto, used chiefly by the poorer classes. East ward from the Prado are the Buen Retiro gardens, with the usual ponds and pavilions, and a poor menagerie. The gar dens were formerly the grounds surrounding a royal hunting seat, on the site of which a palace was built for Philip IV. in 1633 ; it was destroyed during the French occupation. Modern educational movements have not left Madrid unaffected, and considerable improvements in this respect have taken place within recent years. There are upwards of 100 official primary schools (attended by 4810 boys and 3958 girls), and a large number of private ones ; among the other educational instrumentalities the numerous schools connected with various Protestant missions claim special mention. There are two normal schools. The university of Alcala, founded by Cardinal Ximenes in 1508, was transferred in 1836 to Madrid, and has since that time undergone much reform and extension. In 1882 the teach ing staff numbered 88, and the students 7000. Of these 2400 belonged to the faculty of law, 2500 to that of medicine, 400 to that of science, 1400 to that of pharmacy, and 250 to that of philosophy and literature. The faculty of theology was suppressed in 1868, and has not been re-established. Madrid also has schools of agriculture, architecture, civil and mining engineering, the fine arts, veterinary science, and music. The school of military en gineering is at Guadalajara. Among the educational insti tutions may be reckoned the botanical garden, originated in 1781, the national library, with those of the palace, the university, and San Isidro, and the museum of natural science, exceedingly rich in the mineralogical department. The principal learned society is the Royal Spanish Academy, founded in 1713 for the cultivation and improvement of the Spanish tongue. The Academy of History possesses a good library, rich in MSS. and incunabula, as well as a fine collection of coins and medals. There are likewise academies of the fine arts, the exact sciences, moral and political science, medicine arid surgery, and jurisprudence and legislation, all possessing libraries. There are also anthropological, economical, and geographical societies, and a scientific and literary athenaeum. The charitable institutions include upwards of eighteen hospitals, the largest of which contains 1200 beds; there are three foundling hospitals and six for orphans. The military hospital is large and well conducted. There are very good schools for the blind and for deaf mutes, and a number of asylums of various kinds. The manufactures of Madrid are inconsiderable ; every article of food and clothing, almost without exception, is imported. The most important industries are the manu factures of tobacco aud cigars, gold and silver wares, tapestry and carpets, porcelain, hats, mirrors, and beer. Little wine is grown near the capital, and not much fruit ; but the markets are well supplied, and regularly, from all quarters of the kingdom. Madrid is still the principal, one might almost say the only, focus of the now largely developed railway system of the peninsula. The suburbs of the town are rapidly extending, especially towards the north and south. The immediate environs are uninterest ing. About 6 miles to the north-west lies the fine hunting seat El Pardo, restored by Charles III.