Oviedo is the capital city of the Principality of Asturias in northern Spain and the administrative and commercial centre of the region. It is also the name of the municipality that contains the city. Oviedo is located approximately 24 km (15 mi) southwest of Gijón and 23 km (14 mi) south of Avilés, both of which lie on the shoreline of the Bay of Biscay. Oviedo's proximity to the ocean of less than 30 kilometres (19 mi) in combination with its elevated position with areas of the city more than 300 metres above sea level causes the city to have a maritime climate, in spite of its not being located on the shoreline itself.
Ramiro I was king of Asturias from 842 until his death in 850. Son of King Bermudo I, he became king following a succession struggle after his predecessor, Alfonso II, died without children. During his turbulent reign, he fended off attacks from both Vikings and Moors. Architecturally, his recreational palace Santa María del Naranco and other buildings used the ramirense style that prefigured Romanesque architecture. He was a contemporary of Abd ar-Rahman II, Umayyad Emir of Córdoba.
Letizia Ortiz Rocasolano is Queen of Spain as the wife of King Felipe VI. She came from a middle-class family and worked as a journalist for ABC and EFE before becoming a news anchor at CNN+ and Televisión Española. In 2004, she married Felipe, then Prince of Asturias and heir apparent to the Spanish throne. Their daughters, Leonor and Sofía, were born in 2005 and 2007 respectively. As Princess of Asturias, Letizia represented her father-in-law, King Juan Carlos, in Spain and abroad. On her father-in-law's abdication in June 2014, Felipe and Letizia became king and queen.
The Royal Palace of Madrid is the official residence of the Spanish royal family at the city of Madrid, although now used only for state ceremonies. The palace has 135,000 m2 (1,450,000 sq ft) of floor space and contains 3,418 rooms. It is the second largest functioning royal palace after the Apostolic Palace, in Vatican City, and the second largest by floor area in Europe, after the Apostolic Palace.
The Puerta de Alcalá is a Neo-classical gate in the Plaza de la Independencia in Madrid, Spain.
Plaza de Colón 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.
The Plaza de Cibeles is a square with a neo-classical complex of marble sculptures with fountains that has become a symbol for the city of Madrid. It sits at the intersection of Calle de Alcalá, Paseo de Recoletos and Paseo del Prado. Plaza de Cibeles was originally named Plaza de Madrid, but in 1900, the City Council named it Plaza de Castelar, which was eventually replaced by its current name.
The Metropolitan Cathedral Basilica of the Holy Saviour or Cathedral of San Salvador is a Roman Catholic church and minor basilica in the centre of Oviedo, in the Asturias region of northern Spain.
Ramal (Branch) or Línea R of the Madrid Metro is a shuttle train connecting the stations of Ópera and Príncipe Pío. It is located in the Centro district of Madrid, Spain. It is currently the only line in the system to be known by a letter instead of a number, and its name refers to its origins as a branch of Line 2. The line consists of 1.092 km (0.679 mi) of wide-profile tunnels, and its stations have 60-metre (200 ft) platforms.
Saint Jerome the Royal is a Roman Catholic church from the early 16th-century in central Madrid (Spain).
The Royal Alcázar of Madrid was a fortress located at the site of today's Royal Palace of Madrid, Madrid, Spain. The structure was originally built in the second half of the ninth century by the Muslims, then extended and enlarged over the centuries, particularly after 1560. It was at this time that the fortress was converted into a royal palace, and Madrid became the capital of the Spanish Empire. Despite being a palace, the great building kept its original arabic title of Alcázar.
The Monument to Philip IV or Fountain of Philip IV is a memorial to Philip IV of Spain in the centre of Plaza de Oriente in Madrid, Spain. It was raised at the insistence of Isabella II of Spain in the first half of the 19th century, opening on 17 November 1843, a year before Narciso Pascual y Colomer came up with the square's final layout. However, its equestrian statue of the king dates to the 17th century and was produced by the Italian sculptor Pietro Tacca. It was begun in 1634 and shipped to Madrid in 1640, the year of his death. The sculpture, atop a complicated fountain composition, forms the centerpiece of the façade of the Royal Palace. The statue was based in drawings by Diego Velázquez and a bust by Juan Martínez Montañés. The daring stability of the statue was calculated by Galileo Galilei: the horse rears, and the entire weight of the sculpture balances on the two rear legs—and, discreetly, its tail— a feat that had never been attempted in a figure on a heroic scale, of which Leonardo had dreamed.
The Church of San Pedro el Real, also known as San Pedro el Viejo is a small medieval church in central Madrid, Spain.
Plaza de Santa Ana is a plaza located in central Madrid, Spain, nearby Puerta del Sol and Calle de Huertas, in the Barrio de las Letras. It features monuments to Spanish Golden Age writer Pedro Calderón de la Barca and to the poet and playwright Federico García Lorca and numerous restaurants, cafes and tapas bars, with its terraces covering most of the sides surfaces.
Ópera is a station on Line 2, Line 5 and Ramal of the Metro de Madrid. It is located in fare Zone A, in the Plaza de Isabel II, in the central district of Madrid. The station provides access to an area with tourist landmarks such as Teatro Real, Plaza de Oriente and the Royal Palace. Its name comes from nearby Madrid opera house, the Teatro Real.
The Walls of Madrid are the five successive sets of walls that surrounded the city of Madrid from the Middle Ages until the end of the 19th century. Some of the walls had a defensive or military function, while others made it easy to tax goods entering the city. Towards the end of the 19th century the demographic explosion that came with the Industrial Revolution prompted urban expansion throughout Spain. Older walls were torn down to enable the expansion of the city under the grid plan of Carlos María de Castro.
The Christian Walls of Madrid, also known as Medieval Walls, were built in the Spanish city of Madrid between the 11th and 12th centuries, once the city passed to the Crown of Castile. They were built as an extension of the original walled enclosure of Muslim origin,to accommodate the new districts which emerged after the Reconquista.
The Fountain of the Pear Tree Canals is an ancient fountain discovered buried under the Plaza de Isabel II in Madrid, Spain, in 2009. The name comes from a 13th-century pear tree that shaded the source spring at the fountain's location. The fountain is also known as the Spanish: Lavadero de los Caños del Peral.
The Plaza de Isabel II is a historic public square between the Sol and Palacio wards in the central district of Madrid. The plaza is at the convergence of Arenal Street and the minor roads Arrieta, Calle de Campomanes, Caños del Peral, Escalinata and Vergara. It was formed by filling the ravine created by the Arenal stream and the source of the Fountain of the Canals of the Pear Tree. The square occupies part of the site where the old Theater of the Caños del Peral stood between 1738 and 1817.
The Tower of Bones is an Islamic watchtower, the remains of which are exhibited in the underground parking structure in the Plaza de Oriente, in the Spanish city of Madrid. It was built in the 11th century by the Muslim population that founded the Mayrit fortress two centuries earlier, as an integral part of its defensive system.
