Casa de la Villa

The Casa de la Villa is the old town hall of Madrid, standing on the Plaza de la Villa, one of the oldest and best-preserved squares in the historic centre. Together with the Casa de Cisneros and the Torre de los Lujanes, it forms a small group of buildings from three different centuries around the plaza, and the whole area is among the best places to appreciate the layers of the city's history. The square is quiet, in contrast to the busy Plaza Mayor and Puerta del Sol a few steps away, and its statue of Álvaro de Bazán, a famous admiral of the sixteenth century, stands in the centre.

The Casa de la Villa was designed in the early seventeenth century by the architect Juan Gómez de Mora, one of the leading figures of the Spanish Baroque in Madrid, though building work was slow and went on for decades, and the building was finished toward the end of the century. The style is sober Baroque, with a brick and granite façade, slate-roofed towers at the corners and balconies of wrought iron above stone doorways. It reflects the architecture of the Habsburg court, plain and austere, in contrast with the exuberance of other European Baroque buildings. A passage links it with the Casa de Cisneros, and this junction has long been used for ceremonies.

For centuries the building housed the city's government, the Ayuntamiento, and its rooms witnessed the formal life of the capital. In the early twenty-first century, the city council moved to the larger Palacio de Cibeles, and the Casa de la Villa is now used mainly for ceremonial purposes and official receptions. Because of this, the interior is not generally open as a museum, though guided visits are sometimes offered, and most visitors admire the exterior and the square. Inside there is a lavish staircase and rooms decorated with paintings and tapestries, which can be seen on those occasions.

The Casa de Cisneros, next door, is a sixteenth-century palace in the Plateresque style, and the Torre de los Lujanes, on the corner, is a medieval tower in Mudéjar and Gothic style, one of the oldest buildings in Madrid. Tradition says that King Francis I of France was held prisoner there after the Battle of Pavia in 1525. The three together make this one of the most picturesque corners of the old city.

From the plaza, it is a short walk to the Mercado de San Miguel, the Plaza Mayor and the Royal Palace of Madrid, and the Círculo de Bellas Artes is a little farther. It suits history and architecture lovers, and a visit takes about half an hour for the exterior. The square is best in the morning or evening, when it is quiet.