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The 9-meter-tall bronze statue is a tribute to the Marquis of Duero, Manuel Gutiérrez de la Concha e Irigoyen and was inaugurated in 1885. Manuel Gutiérrez was born in in Córdoba in Argentina in 1808, but moved to Spain in 1814 after his father’s death in the May Revolution. The life of a soldier  Manuel Gutiérrez entered the Royal Guard in 1820 and later joined the army in the First Carlist War (a civil war fought between factions over the succession to the throne) for which he was awarded several military crosses and the rank of field marshal. In 1847, he was ordered to lead an expedition to Portugal to help uphold the reign of Queen Maria II of Portugal, for which he was later named Marquis of Duero. He died in Monte Muro in 1874 struck by a bullet when preparing for the attack on Estella, the symbolic Carlist capital.

The Statue of the Bear and the Strawberry Tree is a 4-meter-tall bronze statue made by the Spanish sculptor Antonio Navarro Santafé (1906-1983). It was ordered by the section of Culture of the City council of Madrid, which wanted to represent the main heraldic symbols of the city and of Spain with a monument. The statue was inaugurated in 1967 and placed here on Plaza Puerta del Sol. The legend behind the statue The story of the bear and the strawberry tree dates back to the 13th century. The bear and the strawberry tree came to be the symbol of Madrid due to an agreement between the municipality and the clergy of Madrid. They had been disputing over who was the rightful owner of certain territories that was granted to Madrid by King Alfonso VIII. After 20 years of disputes, they made the agreement to give the pastures to the clergy and the trees to the municipality. The shield of Madrid thus reflects this agreement with the bear representing the clergy and the tree repr...

This Egyptian temple dates back to the 2 nd century BC and was built at the orders of the Meroë King Adijalamani, who built a chapel dedicated to the god Amun and the goddess Isis. From Egypt to Spain But how did the temple end up here in Madrid? In 1960, the construction of the Aswan Dam posed a threat to many historical monuments and archaeological sites because of the risk of flooding. Because of Spain’s effort to help save these monuments, Egypt decided to give the Temple of Debod as a gift to Spain. The temple was transported and rebuilt stone by stone here in Parque de Oeste and was opened to the public in 1972.