Madrid Río

Madrid Río
Madrid Visitors & Convention Bureau, 2013. NoPhoto. Madrid Río
Would you like to discover by bike a hitherto unknown Madrid?
Join THE REAL THING on a bicycle tour through an exceptional area where outstanding examples of civil engineering from the Renaissance have been restored, along with six major gardens.

A few years ago, the city government moved Madrid’s ring road underground, below the Manzanares River, which brought to light an unknown landscape. We will pedal from the Royal Palace to the revitalized La Arganzuela district, along a smooth, well-kept bicycle route, to the western edge of the city, offering a unique, relaxed and leisurely way to experience Madrid.

Calle de la Ribera del Manzanares

Madrid Visitors & Convention Bureau, 2013.
Escarabajo Amarillo. Madrid Río
The journey will take us over bridges, such as those designed by Juan de Herrera (the architect behind El Escorial Monastery), Juan de Villanueva (Prado Museum architect) and Dominique Perrault (Mies van der Rohe prize in 1996), to the site of the former city slaughterhouse and cattle market. The building, known as Matadero-Madrid and built between 1908 and 1928 by Luis Bellido, is currently a leading international contemporary art center. The imposing Neo-Mudejar buildings comprising the complex, which have been refurbished by some of the leading 21st century architects, host visual arts exhibitions and concerts and include a seedling nursery, a theater and meeting rooms, the goal being to foster and support all kinds of alternative cultural activities.