Madrid hosts exhibitions, shows, film screenings, conferences and workshops; its radio programming and magazine "Minerva" play an important part in the country's cultural life. Matadero Madrid, literally "Madrid Abattoir", is a complex situated by the river Manzanares whose buildings are an architectural ensemble devoted to performance arts, managed and programmed by the Teatro Español (Madrid). Matadero is a flexible area that allows the autonomous operation of three interconnected spaces: a theatre café, which accommodates small-scale shows; a large stage, for all sorts of genres and more experimental options; and a third building for dressing rooms and areas for training, debate, analysis
Madrid zones of urbanisation can be distinguished: The largest suburbs are to the South, and in general along the main routes leading out of Madrid. "Submetropolitan areas" inside Madrid metropolitan area: Little medieval architecture is preserved in Madrid, mostly in the Almendra central, including the San Nicolás and San Pedro el Viejo church towers, the church of St. Jerome, and the Bishop's Chapel. Nor has Madrid retained much Renaissance architecture, other than the Bridge of Segovia and the Convent of Las Descalzas Reales. Many of the historic buildings of Madrid date from the Spanish Golden Age, which coincided with the Habsburgs