Cibeles Fountain

This guide to the Cibeles Fountain in Madrid follows the marble goddess Cybele, carved from stone hauled from Montesclaros and set on her lion-drawn chariot in the 1780s when Charles III commissioned architect Ventura Rodríguez to remake this stretch of the city. It traces her practical early years supplying water to the city's carriers and horses, her repositioning to face the boulevard in 1895, and the football tradition that took hold after Emilio Butragueño's four goals in 1986. Best heard standing at Plaza de Cibeles, facing the boulevard she was turned to overlook.