Classy VII
Madrid - de Fernando Garrido
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The Moncloa area in Madrid is outside the tourist heart of the city but is an oasis to be discovered: although not far from the centre, it seems light years away from the hustle and bustle of the grand boulevards beaten daily by hundreds of tourists and residents.
Here you will find mostly students, fresh from a lecture at the Universidad Computense, Spain’s largest university, which is located in this very area.
Some tourists venture out here lured by the desire to climb Madrid’s most famous belvedere, a tower that soars into the sky of the university city and on which you can climb to enjoy the unique experience of admiring the enormous Spanish capital from above. At night, the illuminated tower looks like a lighthouse marking the way for Madrid’s tireless citizens.
Other interesting attractions await you if you decide to take the metro and get off at Moncloa!
Even a less famous neighbourhood like Moncloa is full of interesting things to see!
The main reason tourists come to this area is the Moncloa Lighthouse, a tourist attraction 92 metres high!
A modern lift will quickly take you up along a lighting tower on which a viewing terrace has been built. When you reach the top, i.e. your destination, look out the large windows of the terrace to admire the splendid view of the city of Madrid stretching out below you.
You will easily recognise some of the most famous tourist attractions, such as the Almudena Cathedral, the Royal Palace, the Gran Vía and, in the background, the mountains of the Sierra da Guadarrama; if you cannot recognise them, let the scale models help you.
Information panels inside the terrace tell the story of Madrid’s growth and evolution over the centuries, with lots of interesting facts and historical data.
The second attraction that attracts the most tourists to the Moncloa area is the Temple of Debod, one of Madrid’s most curious monuments. Would you expect to find an authentic temple of ancient Egypt in Spain? Well, here it is, dismantled from its original location along the Nile and brought to Madrid piece by piece as a gift from the Egyptian government.
Not far from the Moncloa lighthouse is the Museo de América , which exhibits an interesting collection of pre-Columbian, ethnographic and colonial artefacts; the highlight of the collection is the Treasure of the Quimbayas, an exceptional trove of American goldsmithing. Don’t miss this unique museum, which represents a very rare opportunity to see pre-Columbian art in Europe.
The most beautiful green space in the area is the Parque del Oeste, which covers 100 hectares between A Coruña street, the Ciudad Universitaria and Moncloa. Commissioned by the then mayor of Madrid Alberto Aguiler to provide a resting place for Madrileños, it was built in 1906 and designed by landscape architect Cecilio Rodriguez.
Moncloa is a very extensive neighbourhood, although much of it is occupied by a huge park. The best area to stay in Moncloa is close to the Moncloa, Arguelles and Ciudad Universitaria metro stations, a stone’s throw from the Chamberí neighbourhood and well placed with respect to the city’s main attractions, which you won’t be able to visit on foot because they are too far away (with the exception of the Temple of Debod) but by metro or bus.
The area of Moncloa is well connected to the centre of Madrid: you can easily get here or back to the centre by metro (lines L3 and L6, stop Moncloa) and by bus.
The district of Moncloa is located northwest of the city centre, along the Manzanares River. Within Moncloa are the areas known as Aravaca, Argüelles, Casa de Campo, Ciudad Universitaria, El Plantío, Valdemarín and Valdezarza.
City Card allow you to save on public transport and / or on the entrances to the main tourist attractions.
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