Linear Park of the Manzanares River

This park, created to inspire a return to nature and to recreate a traditional Mediterranean garden, is one of the most interesting architectural projects of the late 1990s and is located in the Doce de Octubre neighbourhood (Usera). Orchards, olive groves and the Manzanares riverbed surround Caja Mágica (the High Performance Tennis Centre), designed by Dominique Perrault.

Three elements are the backbone of the whole park: the course of the river, a pedestrian area that crosses the park in a straight line as an alternative to the river and an orthogonal grid of paths.

Crossing the park from north to south, you can find Plaza Verde, in the form of a half moon; the Walkway of the Senses, flanked by large trees with a spacious pedestrian walkway, squares with labyrinths, a lush conservatory and two fountains with water games; a Pergola; a Sports Area with two football pitches, multi-purpose courts, a children’s play area, changing rooms and toilets; the Meadow, a large lawn and Belvedere Park, with children’s games and petanca.

The highest point in the park is crowned by a bronze and steel sculpture, La Dama del Manzanares (2003), dedicated to the river that flows across the region of Madrid. Based on a design by Valencia-born artist Manolo Valdés, the sculpture is 13 metres in height. It stands at the top of La Atalaya, an man-mde hill on a 21-metre-high pyramid-shaped platform designed by architect Ricardo Bofill. La Dama del Manzanares is a woman’s head facing the city of Madrid. A lighting system was installed in 2005, consisting of 24 spotlights whose colours change with the seasons.