With 246 years of history behind it, the Puerta de Alcalá can boast of being the first triumphal arch built in Europe since the fall of the Roman Empire and another of those great treasures to continue rediscovering madrid.
Those who live in the capital have been seeing it for as long as they can remember, because it is one of the most emblematic and representative elements of our city. And since we want you to know its history and all the curiosities surrounding this construction, we have prepared, for our friends and clients of De Salas, a video so that you can get to know the Puerta de Alcalá in depth.
For those who don't know, it could be said that the Puerta de Alcalá is the fourth and final version of what were three previous gates, which were demolished for urban reasons. So, in that sense, it is a survivor of the construction, which could have suffered the same fate as its predecessors, but ended up becoming one of the five old royal gates, which gave access to travelers entering the city of Madrid from France.
To give you some context, Madrid once had up to five royal gates, each named after the main town they connected to. Of the five that existed today, two still exist: the Puerta de Alcalá, which is called that because it connects directly with the city of Alcalá de Henares, and the Puerta de Toledo, because it connects with that city.
The creation of the Puerta de Alcalá arose from the need to widen a street in 1764, by order of Charles III, who ordered the only gate that was standing at that time to be demolished and at the same time called for a competition to build the gate to commemorate his entry into Madrid as King of Spain.
It is located next to the Retiro Park, at number 1 Plaza de la Independencia and a few steps from Plaza Cibeles. Its two facades are notable for their different decoration, with very different objectives. The first of these was not to contradict Charles III, who had approved two of the projects presented by Fernando Sabatini, so he wanted to include the two styles in a single project. On the one hand, to amaze those who entered it from outside, for which a royal shield with a lot of ornamental wealth was placed. And, on the other hand, for those who were inside the city, a much more modest and discreet decoration was used.
The east side shows the greatest wealth of decorations and four children, and the west side, instead of children, shows Roman-style military trophies, while in the central part of both sides there is an attic body and inscriptions that refer to King Charles III.
The presence of these four children is one of the most notable curiosities of the Puerta de Alcalá. A child with a helmet as a symbol of strength, a child with a horse's bridle representing temperance, a child with a mirror symbolising prudence and, finally, a child with his left arm raised as if in a gesture of justice.
Since its construction was completed in 1778, it has hardly undergone any changes. It was not until 1869 that it was decided to create a square around the Puerta de Alcalá to give it greater presence, at which time it became known as the Plaza de la Independencia and additionally in 1976 it officially became a national monument.
So if you are in Madrid or you are thinking of visiting the city, we insist that you visit the Puerta de Alcalá, not only to enjoy the grandeur of this historic monument. We say goodbye for today and remind you that we will be back very soon with much more of the De Salas lifestyle.
