Gran Vía

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The Metropolis house on Gran Vía in Madrid
Gran Vía in Madrid

The Gran Vía was until the 1960s the largest and most important shopping street of Madrid . Even today there are still numerous boutiques, cinemas, ice cream parlors and theaters there. It begins near the Plaza de Cibeles : At the junction with Calle de Alcalá is the Metropolis House . From there it goes up to the intersection with Calle Montera and Calle de Fuencarral ( Red de San Luis ), where the Telefónica tower is located. The Gran Vía station of Metro lines 1 and 5 is also located there. Then Gran Vía continues to Plaza del Callao and then downhill to Plaza de España .

history

As early as the middle of the 19th century, based on the Paris model of the plans by Georges-Eugène Haussmann , people thought of a road breakthrough between the center and the north-west of Madrid. On March 3, 1886, a relevant project was approved but not implemented. From 1897 to 1901 the discussions about a new project, some of which were fierce, dragged on. A breakthrough in three sections was proposed: Avenida A (534 m) Bulevar (409 m) and Avenida B (417 m). Street width 25 m, in the case of the boulevard 35 m.

Gran Vía 30

Construction began on April 4, 1910. The first section was completed in 1910–1915, and the entire project was completed by 1927.

Due to the turbulent history of Spain in the 20th century, the street had different names. The first section (1910-1917) was initially called Calle del Conde de Peñalver; the second (1917–1921) Calle de Francisco Pi i Margall , the third, begun in 1925, Calle Eduardo Dato Iradier . Shortly before the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War, “revolutionary” names were in demand. Sections 1 and 2 were now called Avenida de la CNT, after the anarcho-syndicalist union Confederación Nacional del Trabajo . During the civil war they were called Avenida de Rusia, which was soon improved to Avenida de la Unión Soviética. In the vernacular, this was varied to Avenida de los obuses - "Howitzer avenue" - because the tall Telefonica building in particular served as a target for the artillery of the besieging Franco troops. Under Franco, the street was officially called Avenida de José Antonio, after the founder of the Falange José Antonio Primo de Rivera . Since 1981 it has been officially called - as previously unofficially - simply Gran Via ("Great Street").

Important buildings and their architects

first section

El Edificio Metrópolis and Gran Vía 1
Gran Vía, 12

second part

Gran Via 28, Edificio Telefónica
Gran Vía 32, Edificio Madrid-París

Third section

Gran Via 46, El Palacio de la Prensa
Gran Vía from Plaza de España .

La Gran Vía and popular culture

The composer Federico Chueca wrote a Zarzuela titled La Gran Vía for the libretto by Felipe Pérez y González, about the disputes over the street breakthrough in the 1880s.

literature

  • Deborah L. Parsons: A Cultural History of Madrid: Modernism and the Urban Spectacle , especially pp. 82ff
  • José del Corral: La Gran Vía , in Madrid (Volume IV), Espasa-Calpe, SA, Madrid, 1979 ISBN 84-239-5374-2
  • Maria Zozaya; Clemente Barrena, José Miguel Medrano: La Gran Vía , Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando, 2002, Madrid. ( ISBN 84-87181-83-X )
  • José del Corral: La Gran Vía. Historia de una calle . Sílex ediciones , Madrid, 2002. ISBN 84-7737-114-8

Web links

Commons : Gran Vía de Madrid  - Album with pictures, videos and audio files

Coordinates: 40 ° 25 ′ 12 ″  N , 3 ° 42 ′ 13 ″  W.