MADRID', the capital city of Spain, in the province of the same name in New Castile (see CASTILE), is situated near the center of the country, on the left bank of the Manzan ares, a small stream whose waters join those of the Jamara, an affluent of the Tagus. It is built on a hilly, barren, and ill-watered plateau, 2,060 ft. above sea-level, offering on the one hand, no protection against the bitter n. winds from the snowy peaks of the Guadurrama mountains, and on the other, open to the Solimo, the south-eastern wind, which, aided by a glaring sun, often raises the temperature to DO° and even to 105° in the shade. In winter, the temperature sometimes falls to 18°. Summer, however, is the most trying period. During this seacon, the sunny and shady sides of the same street may differ 20° in temperature. Not without justice has the climate of Madrid been pro verbially described as tres 9neses de tinrierno y nuere del infzerno (three months. of winter and nine months of hell). The rate of mortality is 1 in 30 to 34. The city is circular in shape, and is surrounded by low Nvalls pierced by 16 gates. It contains 32 churches, 14 barracks, 13 hospitals, 18 public libraries, 4 foundling hospitals, 13 royal academies, numerous elementary schools, a university, 7 leading and numerous minor theaters, an ample supply of newspapers, many literary and artistic institutions, above a dozen nun neries-44 monasteries Nvere suppressed in 1836. The number of palaces is great. The Trincipal architectural feature is the royal palace (palacio real), a splendid edifice, built of granite, and of a stone resembling white marble. It is a square 470ft. in length on each side, aud 100 ft. in height, and incloses a court 240 ft. square. There are two libraries, the public and the private royal libraries; the former, containing 230,000 vols., is well kept and tended; the latter, with 100,000 vols., is rapidly falling to decay. The royal armory is one of the finest in the world; the Toledo blades, the artistic armor, and shields from Augsburg and Milan, are superb. The armory contains relics of the great ,est Spanish epochs, and furnishes in itself a realization of Spanish history. The Museo, said to be one of the finest picture-galleries in the world, besides specimens of many -other famous painters, contains 10 of Claude, 22 of Van Dyck, 16 of Guido, 46 of Mu rillo, 21 of N. Poussin, 10 of Raphael, 62 of Rubens, 52 of Teniers, 43 of Titian, 27 of
'Tintoretto, 62 of Velasquez, 24 of Paul Veronese, and 10 of Wouvermans. Of all these pictures, the most wonderful are those by Velasquez, whose finest work is here, and who, indeed, can here only be studied to advantage. The general'aspect of Madrid is that of a new city, with fine houses, streets, and squares. In the squares are numerous statues--as that of Philip IV. (in the plaza de Oriente), a splendid equestrian work, 19 ft. in height, and weighing 180 cwt.; the statue of Cervantes, etc. ln and around the .city, also, are numerous public walks. The manufactures of the city are unimportant. 'The artisans and tradesmen are supported by the court, the nobility, the officials, and the innumerable body of place-hunters. Pop. '70, 332,024; of the province, 484,541.
The first historical mention of Madrid occurs under Ramiro II., king of Leon, who took this city in 932. In 1083, when Madrid, or, as it was then called, IVIajerit, was .captured by AlfonsoVI. of Castile, it was merely a Moorish fortified outpost of Toledo. It rose into some importance in the beginning of the 16th c., when Charles I. (afterwards .the emperor Charles V.) removed his court hither. In 1560 is was declared the only court by Philip II. A number of memorable treaties have been concluded in Madnd, and bear its name, particularly that between Charles V. and Francis I. of France in 1526; that between Spain and Venice in 1617; and that between Portugal and Spain in 1800. In the Spanish war of succession, it favored the French party; and in the war of free .,dom against France, it gave the signal for a general rising by an insurrection against .3Iurat on May 2, 1808, in which 1500 of the citizens of Madrid lost their lives. From. 1809 till 1812 it was held by the French; but in the latter year, the duke of Wellington .entered it and replaced it in the hands of its legitimate rulers. Madrid, always opposed to the Carlists during the recent civil strife of Spain, adopted the cause of king Alfonso in 1874.