Plaza de la Villa is Madrid's oldest square. It's a compact triangle of stone holding six centuries of history in a single glance. Dating to the early 1400s, its three buildings span three different centuries. Each are in a distinct style: the Mudéjar Torre de los Lujanes, the Renaissance Casa de Cisneros, and the Baroque Casa de la Villa. No other plaza in the city tells time quite like this.

At its centre stands Admiral Álvaro de Bazán, never once defeated in battle. Philip II tasked him with devising the attack on England that became the Armada, yet he died before the fleet sailed, leaving an inexperienced duke in charge of one of Spain's most famous disasters.

VoiceMap's self-guided audio tours use the square's three buildings to trace Madrid's evolution from modest village to imperial capital, pausing at Bazán's statue to ask what might have happened if Spain's greatest admiral had lived.