Evening star., 1921-03-25
HISTORY OF MADRID
STANDS OUT UNIQUE
Spain's Capital, Chosen as
Compromise, Flourishes Aft
er Ages of Drawbacks.

Madrid, capital Of Spain. which was
almost alone among European coun-
tries to emerge from the war period
with a. balance Of trade in it's favor
sHd with surplus cash in its Golfers.
is described in the following bulle-
tin issued by the National Geo
graphic Society.
While Madrid was not made from
the whole CLOTH, as Canberra, the
new capital of Australia is being
fashioned" says the bulletin. lin a
way 1t is as truly an artificial cap
ital. Physically. the rather bleak
uated had little to commend it as
site for a capital or great city
save that it is almost the exact CEN
ter of Spain. But it was political
pressure that really pushed the Span
ish court to the former Moorish viii
lage of Madjrit: because of jeal-
ousy the Castilians. the Aragonese.
the people of Toledo and Seville. and
all the other groups would not per-
nit the selection of an existing city
of Importance when Spain became
united.
Like American Midwest.
Picture a. bare plateau in the
semi-arid American west. an insig-
nif1cant stream several hundred feet
below and it's top and, sides deeply
carved by erosion. Madrid must have
been much like this when the Span
ish captured the place from the Moors
in 1888. Castilian monarchs lived in
the unimportant Madrid off and on
for several hundred years. but it
was first made the seat of the gov
egnment in 1850. 1t is thus one of
capitals of Europe.
The smallness of Madrid when
Philip II made it the Spanish capital
brought about the institution of
queer tax. from which followed queer
sons possessing houses above a GER
tain size must take in as guests cour-
tiers and mobiles who attended the
court The canny Spaniards who car
ried on any building operations took
care to build houses just short of the
mark. They were termed spite
houses by the courtiers and the Mad
rid of. few hundred years ago be-
came full of them.
French Once Held City.
The small houses naturally did not
bcing beauty to old Madrid. In addi-
tion the town was poorly cleaned and
even in the middle of the eighteenth
century had the reputation of being
one of the dirtiest capitals in Europe.
The Bourbons early in the eighteenth
century began to build palaces and
public buildings, however. and the
they had in Madrid at the height of
Napoleon's power, started =. number
of improvements The network of
railroads which covered Spain during
the nineteenth century. with Madrid
as their focus. gave the capital its
"Manufacture. trade, wealth and
population have come In the wake of
the railroads. The population has
passed well beyond the $50. 900 mark
streets. fine buildings and wonderful
parks and pronnenades have trans
formed the cfty's appearance in the
laSt half century. "a
famous Pfe3nre Gallery. -
ITO the east, less than. half a mile
from the city's heart-the Puerta del
Sol. where ten streets meets the
famous Prado and the 'Paseos,' or
promenades- These great wide spaces
and boulevards. with rows of from
five to eight trees in their center.
form $one off the most handsome
promenades and show streets in the
world. .
Across the space of the Prado is
the renowned Museo deAPrado'-often
called merely The Prado'-a picture
gallery which houses one of the
Worlds most wonderful collections. of
the paintings of the masters. The
Prado gallery. is particularly famous
for it's group Of the best works of the
great Spanish master, Velazquez. who
lived and worked in Madrid. Statues
to Velazquez aad@ to other famous
Madrilenos. Cergantes and the Span
ish Shakespeare, Calderon de Ia Barca,
adorn the parks.
"A mile or more to the northeast of
the Prado. acrosssthe city's most ex-
iensive park. THE. Retreat is what
may be considered the antithesis OF
the wcrld-famous> picture gallery. 1t
Is a great circular ampitheater.
somewhat smaller Roman colosseum.
1t is the Plaza de ToroS-the bull
ring-in which 1900 Madrilenos
gather on feast days TO see their IA
vorite matadores kill bull after bulk