Madrid's Plaza Mayor once held the gruesome spectacle of 117 people being sentenced by the Spanish Inquisition in a single day, with 21 condemned to death by burning.

This rectangular masterpiece of Habsburg architecture began as the humble Plaza del Arrabal marketplace before Philip III transformed it into Spain's grandest public stage in 1619. The square's 237 balconies once commanded premium prices when rented to aristocrats for bullfights and public ceremonies.

Three devastating fires meant it had to be rebuilt, each time stronger, with the final 1790 blaze reducing the buildings from five stories to today's elegant three-story uniformity. King Philip III's bronze equestrian statue harboured a curious secret until 1930, when a Molotov attack revealed bird bones tumbling from inside the horse's hollow stomach.

VoiceMap's self-guided audio tours use Plaza Mayor as the starting point to trace Madrid's evolution from medieval market town to multicultural capital, revealing how this square witnessed everything from royal proclamations to revolutionary change.