Gran+Via

=Gran Via= The Gran Via is an upscale and meticulously designed shopping street that is located in Central Madrid. It is one of the most important shopping areas for the city, and has a large number of hotels and movie theaters. It is located near the Plaza De Spain and the Plaza De Cibeles. It feeds in from the street of Alcala, which is well known for its 20th century architecture. This includes everything from plasetque, Neo-Mudejar, and Vienna Secession, to Art Deco. The Gran Via was originally designed in the 19th Century to connect the street of Alcala and the Plaza of Spain. The street was engineered by Madrid's urban planners. In the early years, there was a lot of criticism from the media and the town folks because many buildings were knocked down in the creation of the city.

The street was not built all at once. The building project was divided into three sections which each took a long while to complete. The first project was complete in 1917, the second in 1921, and the third around 1927. The years following the construction gave many famous architects and designers the chance they'd never had before - to build building like no other using the latest trends. There are quite a few small towers atop the buildings, and the buildings are made out of all different types of architecture, making each individual building different in its own way. You do have to be sure to tilt your head to the sky, though, in order to see all the details within the buildings. The street name translates to " the Great Way" in English, which symbolizes it really is great and has proven to us today that it lives up to its standards.