Plaza de Cibeles is a neoclassical square in Madrid, whose name comes from the famous Fuente de Cibeles, i.e. a fountain with a statue of the Phrygian goddess of fertility Kybele. The designer of the fountain was Ventura Rodríguez, while the decorative elements were carved by Roberto Michel, Francisco Gutiérrez and Miguel Jiménez.
Around the square there are several magnificent buildings built between the eighteenth and twentieth centuries. These are, among others Palacio de Comunicaciones - a palace serving as a postal building, Palacio de Buenavista, which houses the headquarters of the Spanish Ministry of Defense, and Palacio de Linares, which houses the headquarters of Casa de América, the institution responsible for cultivating cultural relations between Spain and Latin America.
The square gained its representative character in the 18th century during the reign of Charles III of the Bourbon dynasty. Near this place, it was intended to create a zone of gardens, fountains and monumental buildings. Ventura Rodríguez and José de Hermosilla became the architects of the whole.
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