Manzanares River

The Manzanares is a river in the center of the Iberian Peninsula, which flows from the Sierra de Guadarrama, passes through Madrid, and eventually empties into the Jarama river. The Manzanares has their sources in the southern slope of the Cuerda Larga, a branch of the Sierra de Guadarrama. Wikimedia Commons flows in a south-eastern direction from its sources and passes through the medieval town of Manzanares el Real where it is dammed to form the Santillana reservoir, one of the most important water supplies for the capital. The river then takes a southern direction and enters the Monte de El Pardo, an ecologically valuable area on the edge of Madrid.

The river Manzanares, although small and relatively unimportant geographically, has had great historical importance due to its close relation to the city of Madrid, which was founded by the Moors as a citadel overlooking the river in the ninth century.

The river is also featured in many paintings of the late 18th to early 19th-century painter Francisco de Goya, which show traditionally dressed Madrileños in activities like dancing or having picnics next to the river.

Location: Madrid, Spain