Puerta de Alcalá
The Puerta de Alcalá ("Alcalá Gate") is a monument in Madrid ( Spain ), which is located in the center of the city on the Plaza de la Independencia ("Independence Square"). The entrance to the Retiropark is in the immediate vicinity . Calle de Alcalá crosses the square in an east-west direction and the streets Alfonso XII , Serrano and Olózaga also begin there . The name of the Puerta de Alcalá comes from the fact that the city limits used to be here and the road towards Alcalá de Henares began.
architecture
The Puerta de Alcalá was built by King Charles III. commissioned to replace a former archway with two turrets, which was previously in the same place but was in ruin. The builder of the monument was Francesco Sabatini , who however also used plans by Ventura Rodríguez . The approximately 44 meter wide and 22 meter high gate was planned in 1769; work began the following year and the inauguration took place in 1778. There was a fence on both sides of the Puerta de Alcalá, which at the time protected the city against intruders and which lasted until 1869. This year the Plaza de la Independencia was designed in its current form.
The arch has five wall openings (three arches for carts and two pedestrian gates), in which there used to be bars (the actual gates) that were locked every day at evening time. In the center of the attic is a stone with the following Latin inscription: Charles III. Year 1778 .
material
The building material for the gate comes from quarries in the area - the granite base from Colmenar Viejo , Alpedrete and Hoyo de Manzanares , the limestone decorative elements from Colmenar de Oreja .
Others
- Towards the end of the Trienio Liberal in 1823, the Puerta de Alcalá was exposed to a hail of cannons, the holes of which can still be seen today.
- Because the monument crossing Calle de Alcalá a many decades Viehtrift was formerly attracted many shepherds and their flocks walking through the Puerta de Alcalá.
Web links
Coordinates: 40 ° 25 ′ 12 ″ N , 3 ° 41 ′ 19 ″ W.