1. City in Iowa (USA); zip code 50156.
2. The capital and largest city of Spain; home of the Museo del Prado (an outstanding art museum); Also called: capital of Spain, Spanish capital.
3. Town in Alabama (USA).
4. Village in Nebraska (USA); zip code 69150.
Industrial city (leather, chemicals, furniture, tobacco, paper) and capital of Spain and of Madrid province; Built on an elevated plateau in the center of the country, at 655 m/2,183 ft it is the highest capital city in Europe and has excesses of heat and cold. Madrid province has an area of 8,000 sq km/3,088 sq mi and a population of 4,855,000.
features.
The Real Academia de Bellas Artes (1752); the Museo del Prado (1785); the Palacio Real (1764), built for Philip V; the 15th century Retiro Park; the Plaza Mayor (1617–20); the Akalá Arch; and the basilica of San Francisco el Grande (1761–84).
history.
Madrid began as the Moorish city of Magerit. It was captured 1083 by King Alfonso VI of Castile. It remained a small provincial town until Philip II made it his capital 1561 because of its position at the center of the Iberian peninsula. In 1808 there was an uprising against the occupation by Napoleon's troops. During the Spanish Civil War it was the center of opposition to Franco, and was besieged by the Nationalists 1936–39.