The plaza mayor is located in the centre of Madrid in the Sol neighbourhood, next to the Calle Mayor and 300 metres from the Puerta del Sol.
Its construction dates back to the 16th century and at the beginning, it had the name of Plaza del Arrabal where the main market of the town was located. In 1561, the Court moved to Madrid and in 1580, Felipe II commissioned Juan de Herrera to remodel it.
The construction of the first building of the square was the Casa de la Panadería and began in 1590 by Diego Sillero. In 1617, work on the square was completed by Juan Gómez de Mora.
This square has suffered three significant fires throughout its history. The first one occurred in 1631 and it was Juan Gómez de Mora who rebuilt it. The second fire took place in 1670 and Tomás Román was in charge of the reconstruction. The last one took place in 1790 and the person in charge was Juan de Villanueva.
Finally, an equestrian statue of Philip III was placed in the middle of the square in 1616.
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