Plaza de las Cortes (Madrid)

Cortes square is a public space in Madrid, Community of Madrid, Spain, located between the mouth of Carrera de San Jerónimo and Calle del Prado. The square was formerly an entry point to the capital. It houses the Congress of Deputies, the Spanish Medical Association, the Plus Ultra Building, a statue of Cervantes and the Hotel Palace.

History

Since the end of the 16th century, the convent of minor clerics of the Holy Spirit was built on the site where the Congress of Deputies is located. In 1823 the church of the convent burned down while the Duke of Angoulême was there with his entire staff.

Upon the death of Ferdinand VII, the Cortes met in 1834, designating the remains of the Church of the Holy Spirit as the place of parliamentary sessions of the Estate of Procurators. In 1818, houses were built at the same time that the Plaza was expanded.

In 1834, the statue of Miguel de Cervantes was placed in the square; this statue was paid for by the commissioner of the Crusade Manuel Fernández Varela. The Hotel Palace, located at number 7 of the square, was built during the period 1911-1912 by Leon Monnoyer et Fils.

In 2005, the mayor of Madrid Alberto Ruiz-Gallardón asked the team of architects Siza Hernández de León and Riaño Rueda y Terán to work on the project of remodelling the square in order to study the possibility of the works. Finally, the pavements were widened and the area around the square was expanded, which was set at 3,764 square metres. The works lasted several years and officially ended in 2011.