Parque de El Capricho
Parque de El Capricho is a park in the northeast of Madrid , located in the district of Barajas . The green zone was built between 1787 and 1839 by order of María Josefa Pimentel y Téllez-Girón , (Condesa-Duquesa de Benavente y duquesa de Osuna). The name is derived from the many small buildings ( folly ).
history
After the Duchess' death in 1834, the first grandson of the Duchy of Osuna Pedro Alcántara inherited the 14 hectare park and completed Duquesa's life's work in 1839. After his untimely death in 1844, the administration - as there was no child - passed to his brother Mariano Téllez-Girón . Due to his lavish and eccentric way of life (he held spectacular parties for members of the aristocracy here), he and his family lost this property, so that it was auctioned off sixteen years after his death to pay off the accrued debt. The Baüer Landauer Jewish banking family from Paris, based in the center of Madrid, acquired the property in 1896. The son Gustavo Baüer Morpurgo died of diabetes on November 23, 1916 in the palace of Osuna. Since the fall of the business family in 1931, the palace has housed the dissolution company under the leadership of the second-born Eduardo Baüer Landauer. In 1932 the complex was declared a historical garden. In 1934, the owner prevented the city administration from buying it by arbitrarily setting the sale price at twice the estimated value. It remained in the family's possession until the park fell into the hands of the Republican General José Miaja in November 1936, shortly after the start of the civil war .
During the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939) El Capricho was the seat of the Central Army, which built a network of bunkers with ventilation shafts that run through the entire garden. In 1943 it was declared an artistic garden. After the war, the property passed into the hands of several real estate speculators, until in 1974 the Madrid City Council acquired the park and began a multi-year restoration.
The landscape of "El Capricho" is laid out in three types of classical gardens and is divided into a French , English and Italian garden , which is also the oldest part of the park.
After the restoration, the park was reopened to the public in 1999. In 2001 the Parque de El Capricho received the Europa Nostra Prize . It is closed to the public on weekdays. The bunker can only be visited after registration.
swell
- Parque El Capricho on www.esmadrid.com
- Photos of the bunker system (including the article Descenso a la 'Posición Jaca', último enclave de la resistencia antifranquista , in the daily newspaper El País ).
Web links
- Jardin Histórico "El Capricho" on fuenterrebollo.com (Spanish)
Coordinates: 40 ° 27 ′ N , 3 ° 36 ′ W