Obelisco de la Castellana

Like the Fountain of the Galápagos, the well-known Fountain of the Castellana (also referred to as Fountain of the Castellana Obelisk, Fountain of Isabel II or Fountain of the Arganzuela Park) was commissioned by Ferdinand VII to celebrate the birth of his daughter, the future Isabella II.

 The Madrid City Council gave orders for work to begin on 10 October 1833, but the death of Ferdinand VII eleven days earlier nearly led to the suspension of the project. Queen María Cristina wanted work to begin immediately and ordered arrangements for the inauguration to proceed. Together with the foundation stone, a glass urn was laid down containing certain mementoes: the names of the councillors and various coins from 1833 (five pesetas, one peseta, a gold doubloon, a silver real, one and two cuartos and an ochavo).

The original location of the monument was supposed to be the recently inaugurated Paseo de la Castellana, but it was finally decided upon the Plaza del Obelisco, what is now called Glorieta de Emilio Castelar. Later it was moved to the Plaza de Manuel Becerra, where it remained until 1969 when it was placed at the Parque de la Arganzuela as the central element of the elliptical fountain that was the focal point of the park. After the M-30 motorway was moved underground and the Madrid Río was created, in 2011, the monument found its place close to its previous location with its sphynx pipes closed.