Trips Places Foods Stories Newsletters
Loading...
Loading...
Loading...
Loading...

No search results found for
“”

Make sure words are spelled correctly.

Try searching for a travel destination.

Places near me Random place

Popular Destinations

  • Paris
  • London
  • New York
  • Berlin
  • Rome
  • Los Angeles
Trips Places Foods Stories Newsletters
Sign In Join
Places near me Random place
All Spain Madrid Planeta Arganzuela Mural

Planeta Arganzuela Mural

A neighborhood represented by an apparent geocentric and flat-earth model of the Solar System is hidden in the subway of Madrid.

Madrid, Spain

Added By
Luis Morato
Email
Been Here
Want to go
Added to list
CAPTION
The mural “Planeta Arganzuela”   Milartino
The Earth, Jupiter and Saturn   Luis Morato / Atlas Obscura User
View going up from the platforms   Luis Morato / Atlas Obscura User
View going down from the hall   Luis Morato / Atlas Obscura User
Saturn and Jupiter apparently orbit the Earth   Luis Morato / Atlas Obscura User
View from Pluto   Luis Morato / Atlas Obscura User
All the planets from Mercury to Pluto   Luis Morato / Atlas Obscura User
View from the hall   Luis Morato / Atlas Obscura User
A disk called Earth   Luis Morato / Atlas Obscura User
Planeta Arganzuela Mural   Xavixavir / Atlas Obscura User
Part of the mural   Xavixavir / Atlas Obscura User
Been Here
Want to go
Added to list

About

Metro de Madrid, the underground transport service in the capital uses to pay homage in its subway stations to architectural or artistic landmarks of those places that due to their proximity, may be interesting for users or tourists who travel on this public transport. Hence, the inauguration of this new Metro Station in 2007 and the nearby planetarium justified this astronomical-inspired mural.

The first thing that catches our attention is the ceramic huge disk of five meters in diameter that represents the Earth. Blue and green colors abound in it. There is a model composed of the streets of this Madrid neighborhood in which the green color represents the Tierno Galván Park where the planetarium is located and occupies a predominant position.

The near motorway M-30 painted in blue represents the sea. The disc that levitates against the starry background is surrounded by the rest of the planets, which are displayed in an orderly way from the Sun. However it is not represented here, granted this role to the Earth, since all the other worlds seem to orbit around the blue-green disc. The size and distance between them don't correspond to reality and also appears Pluto, which was condemned to be a dwarf planet by the International Astronomical Union.

Someone might argue that this mural represents a Ptolemaic model of our Solar System but it is not entirely what it seems: It is actually a form of artistic expression in which the authors have wanted to give the Earth and especially this area of Madrid a predominant role, far from other pseudoscientific connotations. The authors are the designer Luis Sardá de Abreu and the ceramist Carlos Alonso, who together have worked on other important projects such as the Lisbon Universal Exposition in 1998, where they created a large mural with 5,000 pieces for the United Nations Pavilion.

They also have decorated several stations in the Madrid subway network, such as Terminal 1-2-3 of the Airport or Campo de las Naciones. For this piece in Arganzuela-Planetarium metro station, they received the first place award for murals in 2006, the same year that Pluto was banished by the IAU. So, this solar system is surely one of the last representations in which the dwarf planet appears with its "older siblings."

Related Tags

Murals Subways Astronomy Space Solar System Models

Know Before You Go

This metro station is situated in the Line 6 (grey) between Legazpi and Mendez Álvaro, being this one the nearest to the Planetarium.

Community Contributors

Added By

Luis Morato

Edited By

Xavixavir

  • Xavixavir

Published

July 7, 2023

Edit this listing

Make an Edit
Add Photos
Sources
  • https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Estaci%C3%B3n_de_Arganzuela-Planetario
  • https://www.metromadrid.es/es/estacion-emblematica/arganzuela-planetario
Planeta Arganzuela Mural
28045 Madrid
Madrid, 28045
Spain
40.393281, -3.688075
Visit Website

Nearby Places

Puerta de los Cuarteles de Daoiz y Velarde

Madrid, Spain

miles away

'Día y Noche' (Day and Night)

Madrid, Spain

miles away

Panteón de Hombres Ilustres (Pantheon of Illustrious Men)

Madrid, Spain

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Madrid

Madrid

Spain

Places 123
Stories 2

Nearby Places

Puerta de los Cuarteles de Daoiz y Velarde

Madrid, Spain

miles away

'Día y Noche' (Day and Night)

Madrid, Spain

miles away

Panteón de Hombres Ilustres (Pantheon of Illustrious Men)

Madrid, Spain

miles away

Explore the Destination Guide

Photo of Madrid

Madrid

Spain

Places 123
Stories 2

Related Places

  • The sun

    Manzanares, Spain

    Paseo del Sistema Solar

    A scale model of our Solar System, where physical representations of the Sun and planets have been placed along a route in the local park.

  • Leuven, Belgium

    'Primeval Atom'

    An installation that makes understanding the size of the universe a walk in the park.

  • Planetário do Porto

    Porto, Portugal

    Planetário do Porto

    A scientific observatory managed the largest Portuguese astronomy research unit.

  • Otford Solar Sytem

    Otford, England

    Otford Solar System

    In this scale model, our neighboring planets are represented by metal spheres spread across an English village. The nearest stars are represented by spheres in California and Australia.

  • Flagstaff, Arizona

    Pluto Discovery Telescope

    A planet-hunting astrograph built in the 1920s to seek out the so-called "Planet X" beyond Uranus.

  • Gran Telescopio Canarias

    La Palma, Spain

    Gran Telescopio Canarias

    The world's largest single-aperture telescope resides in the Canary Islands.

  • De Kangxi-Verbiest Hemelglobe

    Leuven, Belgium

    De Kangxi-Verbiest Hemelglobe (Kangxi-Verbiest Star Globe)

    A replica of a 17th-century map of the stars stands in the courtyard of a Belgian university.

  • Pereiaslav, Ukraine

    Museum of Space Exploration

    A century-old church is now a space museum with a treasure trove of Soviet space items.

Aerial image of Vietnam, displaying the picturesque rice terraces, characterized by their layered, verdant fields.
Atlas Obscura Membership

Become an Atlas Obscura Member


Join our community of curious explorers.

Become a Member

Get Our Email Newsletter

Follow Us

Facebook YouTube TikTok Instagram Pinterest RSS Feed

Get the app

Download the App
Download on the Apple App Store Get it on Google Play
  • All Places
  • Latest Places
  • Most Popular
  • Places to Eat
  • Random
  • Nearby
  • Add a Place
  • Stories
  • Food & Drink
  • Itineraries
  • Lists
  • Video
  • Podcast
  • Newsletters
  • All Trips
  • Family Trip
  • Food & Drink
  • History & Culture
  • Wildlife & Nature
  • FAQ
  • Membership
  • Feedback & Ideas
  • Community Guidelines
  • Product Blog
  • Unique Gifts
  • Work With Us
  • About
  • FAQ
  • Advertise With Us
  • Advertising Guidelines
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookie Policy
  • Terms of Use
Atlas Obscura

© 2025 Atlas Obscura. All Rights Reserved.