Madison city of the United States, capital of the state of Wisconsin. The city of Madison is located in southwestern Wisconsin, 260m above sea level. The city was built in an environment of great beauty, in an isthmus between the Mendota and Monona lakes, an area surrounded by waterways. It enjoys a continental climate, with harsh winters and hot summers. The average temperature recorded in Madison is 7.3 ° C, -9 ° C in January, and 18.4 ° C during July. Snowfall is abundant throughout the year.
History– The indigenous people of the Winnebago tribe were the first to populate the area where the city of Madison stands today. The winnebago lived off the bounty of the land and maintained their camps along the lakes of Monona and Mendota.
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A New Yorker, James Doty, a Wisconsin state judge, fell in love with the beautiful place and acquired large properties. He also sketched a country that in 1836 would become the capital of Wisconsin, to which he gave the name of Madison in honor of James Madison, former president of the United States and one of the signatories of the country’s constitution. The town Doty created had a plaza with the state capitol in the center. Diagonal avenues started from the capitol, giving the complex the shape of a star. Doty named the streets after other signatories to the constitution, and the largest of them named it Washington Street. In 1837, Madison’s first non-indigenous colonizers settled there. Subsequently, workers began to arrive who took charge of the construction of the imposing capitol. The construction process lasted until 1848. Thus, the first session of the state parliament in 1838 took place in a building under construction, where the intense winter cold froze the ink in the inkwell and ice covered the walls. In that same year, Wisconsin became a member of the Union and the University was founded, one of the most prestigious in the country. Capital of the state and home to a renowned academic institution, Madison is a major economic and educational center.
What to see and cultural institutions– In higher education, the prestigious University of Wisconsin in Madison, founded in 1848, offers a wide range of training options. It is also an advanced research center in a variety of fields such as agriculture, forestry and environmental sciences, genetics, engineering, nuclear energy and physics. Edgewood College is a private university of the Catholic Church that works closely with the University of Wisconsin in the field of medical technology. As mentioned, Madison is a major research center. The vast majority of projects are managed through the various departments of the University of Wisconsin.
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The state capitol dominates the architecture of the city. The building was constructed with forty-three different varieties of marble and stone, glass mosaics, and elegant hand-carved wooden furnishings. Frank Lloyd Wright, one of the world’s most famous architects who lived on the outskirts of Madison, designed two city buildings that are open to the public. These are the Unitarian Church and the Taliesin School, the latter a center for the training of young architects, following the tradition of Frank Lloyd Wright. The Madison Civic Center, completed in 1980, is the hub of the city’s artistic activity. The center has several bookshops, art galleries and vegetarian restaurants. A network of cycle and pedestrian paths gives access to the lakes that are located around the city. The Monona Terrace Community and Convention Center, completed in 1997, has a peaceful roof garden from which you can enjoy a panoramic view of downtown and Lake Monona. It also includes a memorial to soul singer Otis Redding, who died in a 1967 plane crash over the lake.
When it comes to music, Madison has a symphony orchestra and an opera company. It is also home to several theater groups.
Economy– Agriculture and the processing of agricultural products, meat and dairy products in particular, form the basis of Madison’s economy. More than a fifth of all businesses in the state of Wisconsin are located in the Madison area. Dane County, of which Madison is home, is among the ten largest agricultural producers in the country. Other important economic sectors are the manufacturing, services and public administration sectors. Madison is also a financial center, with more than 120 banks, and one of the region’s land, rail and air transportation hubs. Other important sectors for the local economy are health services and research.
