Madrid/Sol-Letras-Lavapiés

Sol, Letras and Lavapiés are neighborhoods in central Madrid, the capital of Spain.

Understand
The Puerta del Sol square is Madrid's centre of the centre and therefore the symbolic omphalos of the whole kingdom. Here is milestone zero of Spain's road network from which all distances are measured. At least once a year, the whole nation looks here, when national TV stations broadcast the New Year's celebrations on Puerta del Sol and Spaniards swallow their twelve grapes to the chimes of the post office's belfry. North of Puerta del Sol, around Calle de Preciados and Calle del Carmen, is the main shopping district of central Madrid.

The northern limit of this district, Gran Vía, is the Spanish capital's most splendid avenue. It is lined by tall, lavishly ornated banking, insurance and shopping palaces from the early 1900s.

The neighbourhood around the Spanish parliament (Cortes) and calle de las Huertas is commonly known as the barrio de las Letras, literally the "quarter of letters", given that the most important writers of classical Spanish literature—Miguel de Cervantes, Lope de Vega, Francisco de Quevedo, Luis de Góngora—lived here. Around the Plaza Santa Ana is one of Madrid's favourite areas for casual dining and drinking with friends at night.

Lavapiés is Madrid's most multicultural and multiethnic neighbourhood. About half of its population have their roots in Latin America, Africa or Asia. This is the place to go to encounter folk and dance music from around the world, unconventional cafés and individual shops.

The "museum strip" or Paseo del Arte, to the east of Letras and Lavapiés, including the world-famous Prado, the Thyssen-Bornemisza Foundation, Caixaforum and the National Museum of Modern Art "Reina Sofía", is covered in a separate article.

Get in
Madrid's main station,, is near the southeastern corner of Lavapiés.

Suburban trains (Cercanías lines C3 and C4) stop at an underground station directly below Puerta del Sol.

Most metro lines pass through this district. Apart from the central, there are Banco de España, Sevilla, Gran Vía, Callao, Santo Domingo, Plaza España along Gran Vía, Antón Martín near Letras, Tirso de Molinas and Lavapiés in the eponymous neighbourhood.

Landmarks and architecture




Eat
Many of the restaurants and cervecerías in the Sol area have generic poster board advertisements on the sidewalks with pictures advertising various paella dishes. These paellas are usually of bad quality and should be avoided. If you are looking for good, authentic Spanish paella, it is usually best to find a more expensive, 'sit-down' type of restaurant that offers a variety of paella dishes. There are also a number of deli-like shops along Calle Arenal that offer food para llevar (for take away).