I was looking in my Madrid map one afternoon after a  sightseeing in Prado Museum. Since the weather was so nice that day, I decided to go or a walk  from Puerta del Sol to Puerta de Toledo. It was quite a long walk aside. It made me more longer when I had to stop and take pictures of some interesting buildings and monuments going there. I also did entered some churches I passed along the road.

This gate was attached to the old city walls and marked the southern limit of the medieval town. It was the start of the old road to Toledo and is now the way out to new residential districts on the other side of the River Manzanares. The modern market with the same name nearby houses a wide variety of shops selling antiques and crafts.

Puerta de Toledo, Madrid

The Gate of  Toledo  is a semicircular arch with smaller rectangular doors on each side, Ionic columns and military coats-of-arms decorating the upper part. It was started during Jose Bonaparte’s reign and finished during the rule of his succesor, Fernando VII.

This was taken last March 23, 2012.