Madrid
2 of the 7 encyclopedias on this shelf carry an entry for Madrid. Both are reproduced below, so you can see where they agree and where they differ.
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
the capital of Spain and of the province of Madrid, a part of New Castile, situated near the heart of the country, on the left bank of the Manzanares, a sub-affluent of the Tagus, and on a hilly, sandy plateau, 2,200 feet above the sea, treeless save in the vicinity of the city, and stretching away in the N. to the snow-capped Sierra de Guadarrama. One of the handsomest of European cities, it has a very modern aspect, and is partly surrounded by a brick wall 20 feet high, and pierced by 16 gates, the most notable being the Puerta de Alcalá (1759), a triumphal arch 72 feet high at the foot of the Calle de Alcalá, a magnificent street that traverses the city from N. E. to S. W. The city is girt with fine promenades and stately suburban villas embowered in beautiful gardens. On the E. side is the famous Prado, the evening resort of the people, with parterres, trees, and marble fountains. Outside the Puerta de Alcalá in the Plaza de Toros, stood the circus for bull-fights erected by Philip V. to accommodate 12,400 persons, which was taken down in 1874, when a new one was begun a little farther N. Madrid has over 70 public squares, of which the chief are the Puerta del Sol, the center of pleasure and business, the Plaza Mayor, 398 by 306 feet, the scene of the auto-da-fé, surrounded by colonnades, the Plaza Oriente in front of the royal palace, containing an equestrian statue in bronze of Philip III. and 44 other statues of kings and queens, and the Plaza de las Cortes, with a' fine bronze statue of Cervantes. The great building in Madrid is the Real Palacio, on the W. side, between the city and the river. It is a square, 470 feet on each side, and 100 feet high, built (1737-1750), of granite and white marble, occupying an area of 220,900 square feet, inclosing a court of 240 feet square, and contain ing a library of over 100,000 volumes, an armory and numismatic collection. a Madrid has also about 60 churches, several decorated by old masters, over 40 monasteries, used since 1836 for secular purposes, 24 nunneries, many large and well-equipped hospitals, several colleges or higher schools, a university, a medical school, a conservatory of music, many theaters, public libraries (the National with 650,000 volumes), several museums, a botanical garden, an observatory, an academy modeled on that of Paris, etc. The royal museum in the Prado contains one of the most famous picture galleries of the world with many paintings by Velasquez, Ribera, Murillo, Raphael, Rubens, Titian, and Van Dyck. The Escurial, a royal palace, is 26 miles N. W. of the city. The chief manufactures are tobacco, chocolate, beer, shoes, boots, plated ware, coaches, gloves, and fans. The commerce is important, as Madrid is the entrepôt for all the interior provinces. Retail business is mainly in the hands of foreigners, mostly French, but most of the wholesale trade is carried on by native houses. The climate is described in a Spanish proverb as "three months of winter and nine months of hell." The temperature, which ranges from 18° to 105° F., is subject to frequent and sudden changes. Between the sunny and shady sides of a street the difference of temperature is sometimes as great as 20°. The prevailing winds are the parching solano from the S. E. and the icy N. wind from the Guadarrama. Madrid, or Majerit, is first mentioned in history in the year 932, when it was taken by Ramiro II. of Leon. A strong outpost of the Arabs, it was captured by captured by Alfonso VI. of Castile in 1083. Philip II. made it his capital in 1560, when it was_still surrounded by extensive forests. From this time it grew rapidly into a fine city and became the center of the history of the Spanish people. Pop. about 650,000.
Aiton's Encyclopedia (1910)
ma-drid', the capital and largest city of Spain. It stands on a plateau of sandy hills, 2,450 feet above sea level, near the geographical center of the kingdom. It lies on a small stream, whose waters finally reach the Tagus. The place was taken from the Moors in 1083 and was for centuries a hunting seat of the Spanish monarchs. Charles V, deriving benefit from the keen air, made it an occasional place of residence. Philip II made it his capital in 1560. The city has over seventy public squares. The architecture of Madrid does not compare favorably with that of other European capitals, nor, indeed, do the public buildings equal those erected elsewhere by the Moors, whom the Spaniards drove out. The city has no cathedral. The royal palace is by all odds the most imposing building. It is 470 feet square and 100 feet in height. The material is a white granite, resembling marble. It was built, it is said, to rival the palace of Versailles. The armory near by contains the best known collection of military antiquities in Europe. The royal gallery contains many paintings by Titian, Raphael, Vandyke, Rubens, and other artists. It ranks among the half dozen great picture galleries of the world. A bull ring, dating from 1674, is situated near the east side of the city. It is large enough to accommodate 12,000 spectators. A university of 5,000 students is the leading educational institution. There are also schools of agriculture, architecture, engineering, and music. The national library contains half a million volumes. During the last twenty years Madrid has shown signs of an industrial revival. Manufactures of tobacco, chocolate, leather, boots and shoes , plated ware, gloves and fans, carpets, and tapestry are prosperous. The city is the center of the railroad system of the country but has no natural advantages. It is remote from the sea and is situated in the midst of a waterless, barren region. During the winter, blasts from the Sierras on the north are piercing and keen. During the summer hot winds from the south parch the plateau, giving rise to a popular Spanish proverb that the climate consists of "three months of winter and nine of hell." "An ice house and a furnace" is the way a recent writer puts it. During the Napoleonic wars the French army occupied Madrid twice. It was also entered by the Duke of Wellington, who restored it to the Spaniards. Many of the edifices, statues, and decorations of the public squares suffered during the uprisings of the Carlists and Socialists during the period of anarchy following 1873. The population of the city in 1900 was 540,109. See Spain 2026 Editor's Note: By way of comparison, Madrid today has about 3.3 million residents, up from the 540,109 this article reports for 1900. (Ed: BR 2026-06-22)