PUERTA DEL SOL

Description

Essentials about Puerta del Sol in brief

Puerta del Sol (Gate of the Sun) for most visitors to Madrid is the meeting and starting point for their discovery tours of the Spanish capital. Puerta del Sol is the most central of the many squares in downtown Madrid. Here is the zero-kilometer marker of Spain’s six main national roads, which stretch in a star shape from Madrid across the entire Spanish mainland. In addition, three of Madrid’s main metro lines intersect at Puerta del Sol. Last but not least, every year at the Puerta del Sol the New Year is rung in by chimes from the clock tower on the Casa de Correos during the most famous New Year’s Eve party in the country.

The history and architecture of Puerta del Sol

Puerta del Sol originally represented one of the entrances of an enclosure that surrounded Madrid in the 15th century. This enclosure included the medieval suburbs that had spread outside the city walls proper since the 12th century. The name “Puerta del Sol” comes from the image of a sun that decorated the entrance gate at that time. It was placed there because the entrance was oriented to the east, that is, in the direction of the sunrise.

Although the area around Puerta del Sol was transformed into a kind of meeting place between the 17th century and the 19th century (for example, it was the location of one of the most famous gossip bars of its time), Puerta del Sol was not an actual square like Plaza Mayor and, moreover, it was only about half the size it is today.

Between 1766 and 1768, the French architect Jacques Marquet built the Casa de Correos (post office) at Puerta del Sol. This building laid the foundation for the current urban structure of Puerta del Sol and its growing importance as a central place in Madrid. Between 1857 and 1862, a complete redesign of the square was carried out by the architects Lucio del Valle, Juan Rivera and José Morer, giving the square its current appearance. They preserved the lines of the Casa de Correos on one side of the square and built residential buildings with uniform facades in the form of a semicircle on the opposite front.

In 1959, Manuel Herrero Palacios made another change to the square. Plantings were built in the center, as well as fountains. The last transformation took place in 1986 by the architects Antonio Riviere, Javier Ortega and Antonio González Capitel, significantly expanding the pedestrian area.

The monuments on Puerta del Sol

On Puerta del Sol there are two of the most famous monuments of the city. The first is La Osa y el Madroño (The Bear and the Strawberry Tree). The sculpture of a bear standing on her hind legs, nibbling on the fruits of the tree, is a replica of the extraordinary coat of arms of Madrid. And secondly, the equestrian statue of King Charles III, who had the infrastructure of Madrid significantly improved in the 18th century.