Calle de Ventura Rodríguez

Ventura Rodríguez Tizón was born in Ciempozuelos in 1717, the son of a master builder who set him to drawing plans as a boy. That apprentice ended up as Chief Master Architect of the City of Madrid and one of the great names of 18th-century Spanish architecture. His hand is seen above all along the Paseo del Prado. For the layout promoted by Charles III he designed the monumental fountains that preside over the city today: Cibeles, Neptuno and Apolo. The goddess on her lion-drawn chariot came from his drawings before passing to the sculptors' chisels. He died in Madrid in 1785, director of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando. The street lies a step from Plaza de España, on the edge of Argüelles.