History of Madrid "Madrid" evolved from the Mozarabic "Matrit", which is still in the Madrilenian gentilic. The site of modern-day Madrid has been controlled since prehistoric times, and archaeological research found a small Visigothic village nearby. In the mid-9th century, Muhammad I of Córdoba constructed a small castle where the Palacio Real stands today. The Moors built a citadel, al-Mudayna, around this castle. They named the area after the nearby Manzanares River, which the Muslims called al-Majrīṭ (Arabic: "source of water"). From this came the name "Majerit", later spelled "Madrid". The Moors controlled the citadel until Alfonso VI of León and Castile conquered
Matadero Madrid Matadero Madrid Matadero Madrid is a former slaughterhouse in the Arganzuela district of Madrid, which has been converted to an arts centre. Matadero Madrid is a lively, constantly changing space at the service of creative processes, participatory artistic training and dialogue between the arts. It was set up to help reflect on the contemporary sociocultural environment and support processes to build the culture of today and tomorrow. A lab for experimentation and promoting new cross-disciplinary formulae. On 21 June 1911, construction began on the slaughterhouse (“matadero”) and livestock market, one of the most singular industrial establishments of 20th-century Madrid architecture.