Under the Post Office, where the chimes of the end of the year are ringing today, dark dungeons were hidden in the time of absolutism. Forgotten prisoners died there... But there is more : a legend has it that a man settled with the devil in this very square. Soon he disappeared without a trace. Since then, many claim that a door to hell is opened at Puerta del Sol on certain nights. Echoes, laughter and smell of sulphur float in the air

The corner where literary Madrid comes alive. Presiding over the statue of Joaquín Vizcaíno (Marqués de Pontejos) —the mayor who brought order by numbering the streets

This was one of the darkest settings of the Golden Age Madrid. Here, inquisitorial acts of faith, public executions and torture shows were held in front of thousands of people.

This is the Arco de Cuchilleros, the most famous exit from Plaza Mayor. It is so named because in the past here were the workshops of the artisans who made knives and tools for the butchers of the square

This narrow alley was the scene of a crime of passion: a man stabbed his lover right here, in whispers and shadows.

The epicenter of medieval Madrid and home of the old City Hall for centuries. Here the story is read on its facades: from the Tower of the Lujanes (15th century), where legend says that King Francis I of France was imprisoned, to the House of the Villa

The name doesn't come from something cheerful. Historically, green-painted wooden crosses pointed to the places where the Inquisition celebrated its acts of faith and executions. This position was one of those places where justice was delivered under the inquisitorial mandate.

This jewel of the Baroque of Madrid marked the darkest point of May 31, 1906. After the royal wedding had already taken place in the nearby Church of San Jerónimo el Real, the courtship of Alfonso XIII and Victoria Eugenie was returning triumphantly to the Royal Palace