
Plaza de la Villa
Medieval stone tower and adjoining palace ringing a tiny historic square, once a royal city hall.
Location
About this audio guide
This guide to Plaza de la Villa in Madrid opens with a Madrid legend: after France's King Francis I lost the Battle of Pavia in 1525, he was said to have been held in the squat stone Torre de los Lujanes overlooking this square, and refused to bow to his captor, King Carlos V. It weighs that story against what historians actually know about the Mudéjar tower, built by the Lujan family in the 1400s. Take a moment at its low, thick doorway before moving on.
This audio guide was created using AI.
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