2 Spots in Madrid You Didn’t Know Existed

If Madrid is next up on your travel plans but you haven’t quite put together a schedule, check out these tips. These are 2 spots in Madrid you didn’t know existed.

In fact, you may have already spent countless hours researching on the internet what spots you should visit. Well, for a city with a history spanning more than 1,100 years, you’re going to be spoiled for choice. So, what are the stops that you really need to make?

There are literally hundreds of spots to visit or quirky sites to see in Madrid. Those items that are at the top of every travel blogger’s list of must-dos for this Spanish city. Go ahead and throw some of those on your list, too, and when you’re finished with all those tourist hotspots, consider some of the more “only the locals know” types of activities.

For instance, would you have thought there’s an Egyptian temple in the very heart of this Spanish city? What’s more, a temple that’s over 2,200 years old? When Egypt needed help building the original Aswan Dam (today known as the Lower Aswan) in 1902, people from Madrid and other Spanish cities helped the country move and preserve ancient artifacts and other monuments. One such monument was the Templo de Debod. To build the dam, the temple would have to be destroyed, but instead, the peoples joined together and dismantled the temple, stone by stone, and rebuilt it exactly only in Madrid — this was Egypt’s way of saying, “Thank you for helping us preserve our history.”

The temple was built over 2,200 years prior as a way of honoring the god Amun Ra and the goddess Isis. Today, the temple sits at Parque de la Montaña near Madrid’s Royal Palace.

Another place in Madrid, Ikono, is perfect for the kid in all of us. Most museums have strict rules about where you can go, what you can do, and what you can see — the strictest rule of all being don’t touch anything!

Well, Ikono is a different type of museum built to celebrate all five senses. For each sense, there’s a different space — and each space promises to fully heighten your awareness of that specific sense. There are rooms filled to the ceiling with balls, rooms with varying scents, and other exhibits to tickle your senses. The whole museum takes about an hour or so to see each room and there are plenty of spots in the tour that you’ll want to capture the moment, so don’t forget your phone.

Ready to check out these 2 spots in Madrid you didn’t know existed and enjoy all that Madrid has to offer?