Glorieta de las Pirámides

The roundabout owes its name to two obelisks crowned with a pyramid section that have risen at its centre since 1831. The architect Francisco Javier de Mariátegui designed them to dignify the entrance to Madrid over the Toledo Bridge, during the reign of Ferdinand VII. Each monolith stands about fourteen metres tall and is topped by a seven-metre pyramid tip resting on four gilded balls. Hence the popular nickname: no one spoke of obelisks, only of the pyramids. The original ensemble was more ambitious, with Doric columns, side fountains and royal sculptures brought from the Palace, pieces the churn of the city gradually erased. The base plaques were to carry a dedication to Queen María Cristina, but it was never engraved. For decades the spot was listed as glorieta del Puente de Toledo, and only in 1944 did the Council rename it glorieta de las Pirámides. So there stands a square called of the pyramids where there are none, only two spires pointing at the sky.