Palacio (Madrid)

The Palace of the Councils or Palace of the Duke of Uceda (in Spanish, Palacio de los Consejos or Palacio del duque de Uceda) is a building from the 17th century located in central Madrid, Spain. It is located on the Calle Mayor, corner of calle Bailén Street. The palace is representative of Spanish baroque architecture, and was commissioned by Cristóbal Gómez de Sandoval-Rojas, first Duke of Uceda, and powerful prime minister or valido of King Philip III of Spain. It was designed by Francisco de Mora, although works was directed by Juan Gómez de Mora and executed by Captain Alonso Turrillo from 1608 to 1613. The palace stands before the Church of Santa María de la Almudena. When it was built, decorated with the heraldic arms of the Sandoval family flanked by lions, it was judged too ostentatious for a nobleman. After the Duke's fall from grace, it became property of the Royal family, and housed the mother of Charles II of Spain, the queen mother, Mariana of Austria. She died there on the night of May 16, 1696. Upon his arrival to Madrid in 1701, the Bourbon king Philip V of Spain transferred many of the royal offices or councils from the then extant Real Alcázar of Madrid to the Palacio de Uceda, and since then, it has been known as the Palacio de los Consejos. The main council, however, remained in the palace. In the 19th century, the council of state and the Capitanía General were moved here.

The Council of State (Spanish: Consejo de Estado), is the supreme consultative council of the Spanish Government. The current Council of State was established in 1980 according to the article 107 of the Constitution of 1978. The institution of the Council of State, understood as supreme consultative council of the Government, has existed intermittently since 1812. During the Ancien Régime, the Council of State advised the King about foreign policy.

The Iglesia del Sacramento (English for: Church of the Sacrament ) is a 17th-century, Baroque-style, Roman Catholic church located in Madrid, Spain. Since 1980 is the Military Cathedral of Spain (Catedral de las Fuerzas Armadas) and the seat of the Military Archbishop of Spain. It was declared Bien de Interés Cultural in 1982.

Almudena Cathedral (Santa María la Real de La Almudena) is a Catholic church in Madrid, Spain. It is the seat of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Madrid. The cathedral was consecrated by Pope John Paul II in 1993.

The Walls of Madrid (Spanish: cerca de Madrid, tapia de 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 Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Madrid is one of Spain's fourteen Metropolitan Archbishoprics. Incumbent Archbishop of Madrid since 28 August 2014 is Carlos Osoro Sierra, until then Archbishop of Valencia. Despite Madrid having been the seat of the Spanish Crown since 1561, the diocese was only created in the late 19th century and gained archbishopric status in 1991. Its cathedral archiepiscopal see is the Catedral de Santa María la Real de la Almudena, in Spanish national capital Madrid. The metropolitan city area also has several Minor Basilicas: the Basílica Ex-Catedral de San Isidro (former Pro-cathedral), the Basílica de San Lorenzo (World Heritage Site, in El Escorial), the Basílica de la Asunción de Nuestra Señora (dedicated to the Assumption, in Colmenar Viejo), the Basílica de la Concepción de Nuestra Señora the Basílica de Nuestro Padre Jesús de Medinaceli, the Basílica de San Vicente de Paul (Milagrosa), the Basílica de Santa Cruz (dedicated to the Holy Cross, in El Valle de los Caídos), the Basílica Pontificia de San Miguel, the Real Basílica de Nuestra Señora de Atocha (royal, a National Shrine), the Real Basílica de San Francisco el Grande (also royal).

The Church of San Nicolás (Spanish: Iglesia de San Nicolás) also known as the church of Church of San Nicolas de Bari, or the Church of San Nicolas de los Servitas, is a Catholic parish church in central Madrid, Spain. The church dates back to medieval times, although it has been very altered over the centuries. The building was declared Bien de Interés Cultural in 1978. Its tower was already protected, having been declared a national monument in 1931. It is currently one of the oldest churches in Madrid. The bell tower was built in 12th century; also the rest of church, but that rest of the building was rebuilt between 15th-17th centuries.

A car bombing was carried out by the armed Basque separatist group ETA in Madrid, Spain on 6 February 1992, killing 5 people and injured a further 7. The target was a military vehicle transporting members of the army. The dead included three captains, a soldier driving the vehicle and a civilian working for the armed forces. This was ETA's deadliest attack of 1992.

The Reina Sofía School of Music (Escuela Superior de Música Reina Sofía in Spanish) is a private music school founded in Madrid, Spain, in 1991 by Paloma O'Shea. It belongs to the Albéniz Foundation, and it bears the name of its Honorary President, Queen Sofía of Spain.

The Muslim Walls of Madrid (also known as the Arab Walls of Madrid), of which some vestiges remain, are located in the Spanish city of Madrid. They are probably the oldest construction extant in the city. They were built in the 9th century, during the Muslim domination of the Iberian Peninsula, on a promontory next to Manzanares river. They were part of a fortress around which developed the urban nucleus of Madrid. They were declared an Artistic-Historic Monument in 1954.The remains of utmost importance, with more archaeological than artistic interest, are in the Cuesta de la Vega, next to the crypt of the Almudena Cathedral. They were built in the park of Mohamed I, named in reference to Muhammad I of Córdoba, considered the founder of the city. Along the Calle Mayor street, at number 83, next to the Viaduct that serves the Calle de Segovia, are still standing the ruins of the Tower of Narigües, which probably would have been an albarrana tower, with a separate location from the main wall itself, but connected thereto by a minor wall. Its function was to serve as a viewpoint. In the 20th century, some remains were destroyed. The rest once existing near number 12 Calle de Bailén were lost with the construction of an apartment block, although some walls were integrated into the building structure as its foundation. The remodeling of the Plaza de Oriente, completed in 1996 during the mayoral term of José María Álvarez del Manzano, meant the discovery and subsequent disappearance of numerous remains. This was not the case with the watchtower known as Tower of the Bones, whose base is on display in the underground car park of the same plaza.Between 1999 and 2000, another section was uncovered, about 70 metres (230 ft) long, under the Plaza de la Armería, formed by the main façades of the Royal Palace and Almudena Cathedral. It was excavated during the construction work of the Museum of Royal Collections (unfinished) and may correspond to the Puerta de la Sagra, one of the gates to the walled enclosure.

CEIP San Ildefonso is the second oldest school in Madrid, Spain. Its origins date from 1543, the year in which Carlos V granted a Royal Certificate to finance the school. It is dedicated to Saint Ildephonsus. For years, it catered to orphans of public servants but now the pupils are regular Madrid children including many immigrants.

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.