Icon of Madrid and of the Atlético de Madrid football team fans!
Another symbol of Madrid is Neptune. Although it is probably less mentioned in travel guides, it is also well known. It lies on Cánovas del Castillo square and, like Cybele, it is surrounded by beautiful buildings I highly recommend visiting, such as the Palacio de Villahermosa (the headquarter of the Thyssen-Bornemizsa museum) or the famous and luxury Ritz and Palace hotels.
A curious fact is that, even though the fountain was designed by Ventura Rodríguez, some attribute the authorship to Juan Pascual de Mena y José Arias. As many other monuments, it carries a lot of symbology: Neptune is on a shell-shaped carriage, drawn by two sea-horses. He holds his trident with his left hand and has a snake coiled in his right one. He is the God of the Sea in roman mythology. In the Greek one, he is known as Poseidon.
