The Gran Vía, which runs from the Calle de Alcalá to the Plaza de España, reflects the very essence of modern Madrid. With its office blocks, its banks and department stores, its cafes and cinemas, its Metro stations and underground garages, it is the city's display window, its meeting-place and promenade, the center of commercial life and a major traffic artery.
It must be said that under the influence of traffic and hamburger bars the Gran Vía has lost much of its individuality and style. In particular the pulsating night life has during the 1980s shifted to the surrounding district.
The idea of driving a wide new street through the center of the city to link its eastern and western districts was first conceived in the 19th C., but the extensive demolition of older buildings required to make room for this modern "Main Street" began only in April, 1910. Whole blocks of flats and many of the narrow, winding and unhygienic lanes of the old town were destroyed to make possible the execution of the forward-looking plans of the City Fathers of the day.
The first section of the Gran Vía was built between 1910 and 1920. This stretch still preserves the atmosphere of the 19th C., with buildings such as the Gran Peña (No. 2) and Ybarra (No. 8), or the one at the corner of Calle Clavel, which are vaguely reminiscent of Paris. The Telefónica Building, the tower block occupied by the telephone corporation, displays a very different architectural style.
From the Red de San Luis to the Plaza del Callao and from there to the Plaza de España the Gran Vía takes on a distinctly American character. To the W the mighty silhouette of the Capitol rears up like the prow of some great ship. On both sides of the street are buildings in the style of the 1920s and 1930s which give Madrid's "Broadway" its own unmistakable character.
Past the Capitol begins the third section of the Gran Vía, offering an impressive vista of the Plaza de España and the high-rise Torre de Madrid. This last section, the most American in aspect, breathes the very spirit of the architectural avant- garde of the 1930s. The enthusiasm felt by Spanish architects of that period for the modern style then in vogue in the United States is displayed in such buildings as the Rialto cinema, modeled on the Roxy and Paramount in New York; the old Banco Hispano de la Edificación (No. 60), topped by a huge statue of Victorio Macho; the building at the corner of Calle San Bernardo; and the Coliseum with its rationalistic facade.
The Chapel of the Caballero de Gracia is one of the surprises that lie in wait for the visitor to Madrid's principal shopping street, the Gran Vià.
Amid the high-rise blocks, the cinemas, the department stores and the rush of traffic he will suddenly come upon this little Neo-Classical chapel situated in a quiet side street.
The oratory was designed by Juan de Villanueva, the architect of the Prado, the Botanic Gardens and the Academy of History, here following the Italian masters whose work he had admired during his travels. The architecture, notable for its dramatic force, shows the particular influence of Andea Palladio, the leading Italian architect of the 16th C.
The Plaza del Callao is dominated by the massive facade of the Palacio de la Prensa (1924) and the Capitol, the most stylish building in the Gran Vía, built in 1931 by Fernández Shaw and Muguruza.
Farther west from the Sepu department store, on the opposite side of the street, are the Palacio de la Música, Madrid's second largest concert hall and the Avenida cinema.
Address: Palacio de la Música, Gran Vía 35, E-28013 Madrid, Spain
The Telefónica, which was completed in 1929, has for many years Madrid's tallest and best-known building. Designed by Ignacio de Cárdenas, it is 81m (265ft) high, with 14 stories, and occupies an area of 1,600sq.m (17,000sq.ft).
The television tower Torre de España (R.T.V.E.) was completed for the football World Cup in 1982. The 166m/545ft) high tower, situated south of the Parque de la Fuente del Berro near the M30 expressway, is a new and distinctive feature of the cityscape of Madrid.
Read More
Read Less
Read More
Read Less
Read More
Looking down the Gran Vía in Madrid.
Gran Via Street in Madrid.
Cervantes Monument with Don Quixote and Sancho Panza in Madrid.
