Madrid

PART ONE: LECTURE

From Wikipedia: Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.5 million. The population of the great Madrid is calculated in 7.2 million. It is the third-largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan area is the third-largest in the European Union after London and Paris. The city spans a total of 604.3 km2 (233.3 sq mi). The city is located on the Manzanares river in the center of both the country and the Community of Madrid (which comprises the city of Madrid, its conurbation and extended suburbs and villages); this community is bordered by the autonomous communities of Castile and Leon and Castile-La Mancha. As the capital city of Spain, seat of government, and residence of the Spanish monarch, Madrid is also the political center of Spain. The Madrid urban agglomeration has the third-largest GDP in the European Union and its influences in politics, education, entertainment, environment, media, fashion, science, culture, and the arts all contribute to its status as one of the world’s major global cities.Due to its economic output, high standard of living, and market size, Madrid is considered the major financial Centrex of Southern Europe and the Iberian Peninsula; it hosts the head offices of the vast majority of the major Spanish companies, such as Teleamerica, Iberia or Repsol. Madrid is the most touristy city of Spain, the third in the EU the fourth-most tourist ic of the continent and the seventh in the world according to Forbes. Is the 10th most livable city in the world according to Monocle magazine, in its 2010 index. Madrid is currently a Candidate City for the 2020 Summer Olympics. Madrid houses the headquarters of the World Tourism Organization (WTO), belonging to the United Nations Organization (UN), the SEGIB and the Organization of Ibero-American States (OEI). It also hosts major international institutions regulators of Spanish: the Standing Committee of the Association of Spanish Language Academies, headquarters of the Royal Spanish Academy (RAE), the Cervantes Institute and the Foundation of Urgent Spanish (Fund©u). While Madrid possesses a modern infrastructure, it has preserved the look and feel of many of its historic neighborhoods and streets. Its landmarks include the Royal Palace of Madrid; the Teatro Real (Royal theatre) with its restored 1850 Opera House; the Buen Retiro Park, founded in 1631; the 19th-century National Library building (founded in 1712) containing some of Spain’s historical archives; a large number of National museums,[25] and the Golden Triangle of Art, located along the Paseo del Prado and comprising three art museums: Prado Museum, the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, a museum of modern art, and the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum.

There are several theories regarding the origin of the name “Madrid”. According to legend Madrid was founded by Ocno Bianor (son of King Tyrrhenius of Tuscany and Mantua) and was named “Metragirta” or “Mantua Carpetana”. Others contend that the original name of the city was “Ursaria” (“land of bears” in Latin), because of the many bears that were to be found in the nearby forests, which, together with the strawberry tree, have been the emblem of the city from the Middle Ages. The most ancient recorded name of the city Magerit (for *Materit or *Mageterit ?) comes from the name of a fortress built on the Manzanares River in the 9th century AD, and means “Place of abundant water”. If the form is correct, it could be a Celtic place-name from ‘ford’ (Old Welsh) and a first element, that is not clearly identified The Roman Empire established a settlement on the banks of the Manzanares river. The name of this first village was “Matrice” (a reference to the river that crossed the settlement). Following the invasions carried out by the Germanic Sueves and Vandals, as well as the Sarmatic Alans during the 5th century AD, the Roman Empire no longer had the military presence required to defend its territories on the Iberian Peninsula, and as a consequence, these territories were soon occupied by the Vandals, who were in turn dispelled by the Visigoths, who then ruled Hispania in the name of the Roman emperor, also taking control of “Matrice”. In the 7th century, the Islamic conquest of the Iberian Peninsula saw the name changed to “Mayrit”, from the Arabic term referencing water as a “trees” or “giver of life”) and the Ibero-Roman suffix “it” that means “place”. The modern “Madrid” evolved from the Mozarabic “Matrit.” Middle Ages Although the site of modern-day Madrid has been occupied since prehistoric times, and there are archeological remains of a small Visigoth basilica near the church of Santa Maria de la Almudena and two visigoth necropolises near Casa de campo, the first historical certainty about the existence of an established settlement in Madrid dates from the Muslim age. At the second half of the 9th century, Emir Muhammad I of Cordoba built a fortress on a headland near the river Manzanares, as one of the many fortress he ordered to be built on the border between Al-Andalus and the kingdoms of Leon and Castile, with the objective of protecting Toledo from the Christian invasions and also as a starting point for Muslim offensives. After the disintegration of the Caliphate of Cordoba, Madrid was integrated in the Taifa of Toledo. With the surrender of Toledo by Alfonso VI of Leon and Castile, the city was conquered by Christians in 1085, and it was integrated into the kingdom of Castile as a property of the Crown. ] Christians replaced Muslims in the occupation of the center of the city, while Arabs and Jews settled in the suburbs. The city was thriving and was given the title of “villa”, whose administrative district extended from the Jarama in the east to the river Guadarrama in the west. The government of the town was vested to the neighboring of Madrid since 1346, when king Alfonso XI of Castile implements the regiment, for which only the local oligarchy was taking sides in city decisions. Since 1188, Madrid won the right to be a city with representation in the courts of Castile. In 1202, King Alfonso VIII of Castile gave Madrid its first charter to regulate the municipal council, which was expanded in 1222 by Fernando III of Castile. The first time the Courts of Castile were joined in Madrid was in 1309 under Ferdinand IV of Castile, and later in 1329, 1339, 1391, 1393, 1419 and twice in 1435. Since the unification of the kingdoms of Spain under a common Crown, the Courts were convened in Madrid more often.

PART TWO: Pictures of Madrid

Christmas Vacation  (3 Weeks) Dec 16, 2013 to Jan 5, 2014

Christmas Vacation.
No class:
Dec 16, 2013 to Jan 5, 2014
Winter Quarter begins January 6 in our new year of 2014.