Discover Madrid: 8 Amazing Fun Facts You Never Knew About Spain's Capital City

1. World's Oldest Restaurant

In a city where culinary delights reign supreme, it's no surprise that even the world's oldest restaurant sets up camp here; after all, age is just a number, especially when your clientele have included the likes of Ernest Hemingway: Madrid's Casa Botín, founded in 1725, holds the Guinness World Record for being the oldest restaurant in existence, and still serves up mouth-watering dishes like roasted suckling pig and Castilian-style lamb, receiving shipments of fresh meat every few days. With a history that has fed the greatest literary minds, there's no doubting the timelessness of this iconic establishment.
Source => botin.es

2. Time Travel at Chamberí Station

Who needs a time machine when you can step into the Chamberí station: This once-functional metro stop, converted into a museum called Andén 0, offers a glimpse of 1919 Madrid with original ads and brilliantly-colored tiles lining the walls. During the Spanish Civil War, Chamberí protected Madrileños from bombings and powered parts of the city for the Republican government before it closed in 1966 due to train lengthening. Now, history buffs can visit this blast from the past free of charge!
Source => atlasobscura.com

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3. Picasso & Da Vinci's Dream Party

If Picasso and Da Vinci were to ever have a party, there's no doubt they'd host it at the Prado Museum in Madrid: This world-renowned gallery boasts one of the largest and most comprehensive collections of European art, including iconic masterpieces like Las Meninas by Diego Velázquez and The Garden of Earthly Delights by Hieronymus Bosch.
Source => en.wikipedia.org

4. Madrid's Bearly Believable History

Bearly believable but true: Madrid was once named URSA, meaning "bear" in Latin, and its emblem of a bear snacking on a strawberry tree has immortalized this fuzzy connection, while also highlighting the importance of the Madroño fruit in local and Italian culinary history!
Source => spainlifeexclusive.com

5. Madrid: The Water Capital

Whoever said water is the source of life must have had Madrid in mind: This bustling city boasts an impressive H2O infrastructure managed by Canal de Isabel II Gestión S.A., featuring 14 dams, 75 underground water intakes, 13 drinking water treatment plants, and 29 regulating reservoirs, covering a mind-boggling 17,163 kilometers! And if that didn't blow your socks off, the Canal de Isabel II has dived into the global market and scooped up a Brazilian water company, Emissão, quenching the thirst of over 6.5 million people in the community and beyond.
Source => en.wikipedia.org

6. Record-Breaking Telefónica Building

Before Jack and the Beanstalk, the proud Spaniards had their own towering fascination: The Telefónica Building in Madrid was the tallest European skyscraper from its completion in 1929, boasting a roof height of 89 meters, until it was overshadowed by the Terrazza Martini Tower in Genoa in 1940.
Source => en.wikipedia.org

7. UNESCO Botanical Wonderland

In a "garden variety" twist of fate, Madrid's botanical wonderland proves it's anything but run-of-the-mill: the Real Jardín Botánico de Madrid, founded by King Ferdinand VI in 1755, boasts seven outdoor sections and five greenhouses on over 8 hectares of land, making it a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the oldest botanical gardens in Europe. Not to mention, it's home to Spain's largest herbarium with over one million specimens, and the publishing hub of the Annals of the Botanical Garden of Madrid, a magazine dedicated to plant taxonomy and systematics.
Source => en.wikipedia.org

8. Nightlife Turned Dawnlife

In a city where "night owls" party like there's no mañana and the nightlife is more of a "dawnlife," Madrid's glorious era of the Movida Madrileña had people hitting the disco before the roosters even thought about crowing: During the 1980s, iconic clubs and bars like El Penta and La Vía Láctea kept the fun going until the early morning hours, but politely wrapped up the shenanigans before 10 am, allowing partygoers to catch a siesta before the day's tapas commenced.
Source => room-matehotels.com