I'm in charge of creating a walking tour of Madrid composed of sights/important locations dealing with the Spanish Civil War for a college history class. I've never been to Madrid and was hoping for some advice. Any mouments or memorials would be a great help!

I found some pictures taken in Madrid during the Spanish Civil War at http://www.ucm.es/info/hcontemp/madr...ra%20civil.htm. You may be able to recognized Puerta del Sol on the 10th picture down the page.

What about a visit to El Pardo Palace, home to El Caudillo? El Valle de los Caidos is definitely a must see near El Escorial?

One place you certainly need to visit is outside of Madrid, but not far. It's called "El Valle de los Caídos"(Valley of the Fallen). Two Spanish dictators are buried there who impacted the Spanish Civil War. The most imposing structure was built by slave labor(the spoils of war)and serves as a reminder of a shameful period in the country's history--the war and the post-war Franco era. Only now, with a democracy in place, can Spaniards learn more of the truth about that time.

A 'must' is the Centro de Arte de la Reina Sofia (near Atocha station) where you can see Picasso's 'Guernika.' It is a painting of the Basque village that was destroyed by German (and Spanish?) air power.

The front was located very near, in the Ciudad Universitaria, in the north of the city. Most of it was just built when the war broke out, and the buildings were destroyed and had to be reconstructed afterwards.

There is a metro stop at the University, located in the Circular Line.

You must see "guernica" - it really is one of those icons that deserves the title. But fascinated by the idea that someone who has never been there gets to lead a group. Please explain.

Thanks for all the suggestions... They are very helpful.

Let me a explain a little more.

I am doing research for a professor who has been there and is planning to teach a class there next summer. He wants me to plan the tour...why? Well because professors are interesting people and I think it's a test of my research ability since he'll probably re-work what I initially plan.

Any more suggestions of any historical sights or monuments/memorials would still be appreciated.

Not directly related to the Siege of Madrid, there's the Military Academy in Toledo. You'll have to do some research on this but as I recall the story, the son of a Franco General was a Cadet and being held hostage by the Republicans.

They made a demand of the General and in reply, he asked to speak with his son. He said something like: "Die with honor, son."

Having worked in academia, I imagine it's because he's too lazy to do it himself.

If you really had good research skills, you be looking at Madrid web sites and other such info to find these, not asking strangers on a travel forum. The fact that you haven't been there is not that important. It's incredible that you are incapable of finding out the names of monuments or memorials in Madrid on your own through the internet or real books.

"Having worked in academia" Perhaps you should keep your nasty comments to yourself seeing as how you have no idea what types of research I am doing. As to my supposed "incapability" I have already been looking up websites in both spanish and english, in addition to checking out several books. I am devoting the entirity of my alotted time to that particular type of research. Your assumption that this is the only venue I am persuing is ridiculous. I was asking for help from people who had been there because maybe, just maybe, not every single small memorial is available for view on a website or published in a book. Thanks for you "academic" and snobby remarks but this site is something I decided to use on my own time. Pehaps there is a reason your verb "worked" is in the past tense. Haughty and overly assumptuous people tend to not make the best teachers.

What a great idea. I can't give you any help here but perhaps you can help me, as I will be going to Madrid in June. Can you recommend a book to read about the Civil War that is readable and interesting.
Good luck with your research.

As with my earlier post about Toledo, it might come down to reading about the Spanish Civil War with City and regional maps at your side, annotating the maps as you go. As far as I know, there are few Gettysburg-type battlefields of that war preserved as National Monuments; but you can read for example about an Italian Brigade (leftists) in pitched battle with some of Il Duce's (Fascist) army units near Guadalajara (about 70km northeast of Madrid): Italian 'Regulars' against Italian volunteers. Then you can visit the place and picture the battle based on your readings.

There were other battles northeast of Madrid: at Alcala de Henares and San Fernando de Jarama.

The siege of Madrid lasted the better part of 3-years. When Franco died, many of the streets that had been named for Generals were changed back to their original names (i.e., authors, poets and composers). It's how strongly the people felt about anything related to the Francisco Franco regime and the Spanish Civil War.

Try to find an old (pre-1975) Madrid street map to trace some of those things.

Dodocrust,
Sorry for the delay I took a trip to NYC with my summer class and just got back.

I'm currently reviewing a couple books about the civil war but I think the best one for your purposes is "A Concise History of the Spanish Civil War" by Gabriel Jackson. Great pictures and a pretty quick read!

Thanks for your reply. I started reading Hugh Thomas's book, THE SPANISH CIVIL WAR, which is a great read but over 1000 pages so your sugestion looks very appealing and I will see if I can find a copy before I leave for Madrid next week.
Is there a sight pertaining to the War that i shouldn't miss in the City ?
Thanks again and good luck in your research.