The oldest part of Madrid combines the majestic Royal Palace with the popular atmosphere of Plaza Mayor and surroundings

Plaza Mayor, La Encarnación Monastery and Plaza de la Villa, with buildings erected in the fifteenth, sixteenth and seventeenth centuries – Casa de la Villa (formerly, Madrid City Hall), Los Lujanes Tower, Cisneros House –, are the main architectural complexes built under the Hapsburgs. Another must-see landmark is the Descalzas Reales Monastery, a nunnery that was the royal seat of Charles I of Spain. In it, you can view the permanent collection, containing works of art from the sixteenth century on. Finally, the Santa Cruz Palace, built in 1629, is home to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

This part of Madrid, peppered with churches and crowned by the Alcázar (a huge building destroyed by fire in 1737), was chosen by the Bourbons to raise the Royal Palace. Nearby are Plaza de Oriente, La Almudena Cathedral, which has a museum that gives access to the dome, affording beautiful views of the sierras, and other buildings from the seventeenth to the nineteenth centuries. Some of these sights are the Collegiate Church of San Isidro (Madrid’s cathedral until 1993), the Basilica of San Miguel, the Basilica of San Francisco el Grande and the Teatro Real opera house.

Following your sightseeing tour of the area, head for the Sabatini Gardens, across the north façade of the Royal Palace.