La Moncloa area to Madrid it is outside the tourist heart of the city but it is an oasis to discover: although not far from the center, it seems light years away from the chaos of the large avenues beaten daily by hundreds of tourists and residents.
Here you will find mostly students, who have just come out of a lesson atComputense University, the largest Spanish university based in this area.
Some tourists venture to these parts attracted by the desire to get on most famous viewpoint in Madrid, a tower that rises in the sky of the university city and on which it is possible to climb to live the unique experience of admiring the huge Spanish capital from above. At night, the illuminated tower looks like a lighthouse that marks the way for the indefatigable citizens of Madrid.
Other interesting attractions await you if you decide to take the metro and get off at Moncloa!
What to see in Moncloa
Even a less famous neighborhood like Moncloa is full of interesting things to see!
Moncloa Lighthouse
The main reason tourists come to this area is the Moncloa Lighthouse, a tourist attraction 92 meters high!
A modern lift will quickly take you up a lighting tower on which a panoramic terrace has been built: once you reach your destination, look out from the large windows of the terrace to admire the splendid view of the city of Madrid that extends below. you.
You will easily recognize some of the most famous tourist attractions, such as the Almudena Cathedral, the Royal Palace, the Gran Vía and, in the background, the Sierra da Guadarrama mountains; if you can't recognize them, get help from the scale models.
The information panels inside the terrace tell the growth and evolution of Madrid over the centuries, with lots of curiosities and historical data.
Other attractions
The second attraction that attracts more tourists to the Moncloa area is the Debod Temple, one of the most curious monuments in Madrid. Would you expect to find an authentic ancient Egyptian temple in Spain? Well, here it is, disassembled from its original location along the Nile and brought to Madrid piece by piece as a gift from the Egyptian government.
Not far from the lighthouse of Moncloa is the Museum of America which exhibits an interesting collection of pre-Columbian, ethnographic and colonial artifacts; the highlight of the collection is the Tesoro dei Quimbayas, an exceptional set of American goldsmiths. Don't miss this one-of-a-kind museum, which is a very rare opportunity to see pre-Columbian art in Europe.
The most beautiful green space in the area is the West Park which extends for 100 hectares between the A Coruña road, the Ciudad Universitaria and Moncloa. Wanted by the then mayor of Madrid Alberto Aguiler to offer a place of rest to the people of Madrid, it was built in 1906 on a project by the landscape architect Cecilio Rodriguez.
How to reach Moncloa from the center of Madrid
The Moncloa area is well connected to the center of Madrid: you can easily get here or and then return to the center by metro (lines L3 and L6, Moncloa stop) and by bus.
