Madrid Cibeles Fountain - Madrid City Guide-Madrid Apartments for Rent

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The Cybeles fountain Symbol of the City

Also known as the Great Mother or Mother of the Gods, Cibeles is more than a fountain for the citizens of Madrid. A symbol of the city since 1782, no visitor can leave the capital without having included the beautiful goddess in the list of sights to see. The fountain formed part of a brilliant project by Carlos III at the end of the XVIII century for an urban and monumental area in the style of those already existing in other European capitals, which resulted in the Paseo del Prado.

The fountain was designed by Ventura Rodríguez. Sculpted in marble, the Phrygian god of nature and fertility Cibeles, seats on a throne on a carriage pulled by lions. In her right hand she holds the sceptre and in her left the keys of the city.
When Real Madrid football team wins the Spanish league, this is their celebratory spot. Keep up Alcalá and you arrive at Puerta de Alcalá and the Retiro Park in the Salamanca area.


Cibeles is surrounded in her privileged position by four trusty and unique companions: in the direction of the Puerta del Sol is the Bank of Spain - built in 1891 and Eclectistic style - and the Neo-Classic Palacio de Buenavista, built in 1777. Behind the goddess is the Palacio de Linares, today known as the Casa de America, dating from 1873, and the monumental Palacio de Comunicaciones, from 1919. Even further behind is the silhouette of the Puerta del Alcalá, and on either side of the fountain the start of the Paseos del Prado and Recoletos.