The Gran Vía ([ˈɡɾamˈbi.a], "Great Way") is a street in central Madrid, Spain. It leads from Calle de Alcalá, close to Plaza de Cibeles, to Plaza de España. The street, sometimes referred to as the "Spanish Broadway", is one of the city's most important shopping areas, with a large number of hotels and large movie theatres. However, since the late 2000s, many of these theatres have been replaced by shopping centres.
In the mid 19th century, Madrid's urban planners determined that a new thoroughfare should be created, connecting the Calle de Alcalá with the Plaza de España – similar to Haussmann's renovation of Paris. The projects called for the demolition of many buildings in the centre of the city, earning the project the name of 'an axe blow on the map'. Decades after the first plans were revealed, ground-breaking and construction tarried causing the media to ridicule the project, cynically calling it the 'Gran Vía' or 'Great Way' or 'Big Way'. Finally in 1904 it was approved and construction started in 1910. The last part of the street was completed in 1929. At the end of March in 2018, the city council of Madrid began the pedestrianization of a lane in each direction in a plan to extend sidewalks and remodel some squares around the street. This was related to the introduction of Madrid Central, a Residential Priority Area, later in 2018.
NamesEdit
The Gran Vía of Madrid has had many historical names, both official and unofficial. Conception divided the road in three parts. The first one was built between 1910 and 1917 and was called Calle del Conde de Peñalver ("Count of Peñalver Street"). The second part of the project commenced on 1917 and concluded on 1921. It was named Calle de Pi y Margall ("Francisco Pi y Margall Street") after a deceased politician. Construction of the third and last part of the road did not start until 1925 and was called Calle Eduardo Dato Iradier ("Eduardo Dato Street") after another politician.
Three months before the Spanish Civil War began, the Second Spanish Republic changed some street names under leftist influence. The two first parts of the avenue were called Avenida de la C.N.T. ("C.N.T. Avenue"). When the Civil War started, the avenue was renamed Avenida de Rusia ("Russia Avenue") due to the support the country had for the Spanish Republic, but soon its name would be changed to Avenida de la Unión Soviética ("Soviet Union Avenue"). However, the avenue was popularly nicknamed as Avenida de los obuses ("howitzer avenue") because of the continued bombardments by the Nationalist forces loyal to Francisco Franco. The reason for these attacks in this area was that the "Edificio de Telefónica" (the Spanish phone company) was on this street, and due to its height it served the aviation as a reference point during shellings.
Just after the end of the war when the rebels entered Madrid, they renamed the road Avenida de José Antonio ("José Antonio Avenue") after one of their greatest political figures, founder of the fascist party, Falange. It wouldn't be until 1981, once Spain had returned to democracy, that the socialist mayor restored the names of 27 streets and the avenue was simply named Gran Vía ("Great Way").
The new road created opportunities for architects, who had the opportunity to create large buildings in the latest architectural styles. The first eye-catching building starting from the Calle de Alcalá is the most famous of all, the Edificio Metrópolis or Metropolis Building. The landmark was built between 1907 and 1911 by the father and son architects Jules and Raymond Février. The original statue, La Unión y el Fénix was replaced in 1975 by a statue of a winged Goddess Victory.
A bit further along the Gran Vía, on the left-hand side is another landmark, the Edificio Grassy, another corner building with a small tower, built-in 1917. Visible from here is the tower of the Telefónica Building, it was built between 1926 and 1929 for the Spanish telecommunications company. The 88-metre (290 ft) building was the tallest in Madrid and was designed by Ignacio de Cárdenas, who was inspired by a similar design intended to be built in Manhattan, New York, by the American Louis S. Weeks.
Hotel Las Letras (left), Casino Militar (right), 2018.
Further towards the Plaza de España, the Gran Vía crosses a small square, the Plaza del Callao, named after the battle of El Callao. This square is the heart of cinematic Madrid, with about six movie theatres. One of them, the Capitol, is located in a beautiful Art Deco building. However, recent[update] changes in building rules have allowed the reformation of the theatres into more lucrative shopping centres.
La Gran Vía (1886) by Federico Chueca is a satirical zarzuela in which the anthropomorphized streets of Madrid complain about how the city will lose by their destruction and replacement by the new project.[2]
The opening scene of Alejandro Amenabar's 1997 film Open Your Eyes famously features a shocking view of the Gran Vía completely empty of vehicles and people. This was filmed in the early morning of a weekend in August 1996, and the street had to be intermittently closed off to traffic for six hours to achieve it.[4] This shot was later recreated for the American remake, Vanilla Sky, at Times Square, New York.
Gran Via is also the title of the 1995 album by Matt Bianco.
At the end of Georges Conchon's 1959 novel "La Corrida de la victoire" (published in English as "The Hollow Victory") the protagonist – a former soldier of the Spanish Republic, fleeing Spain after Franco's victory – takes the quixotic and defiant gesture of openly walking one last time along the Gran Vía in August 1939, at a considerable risk to his life since captured Republicans were at this time often shot out of hand.
Gran Vía is driven through as part of the "Madrid Drive" course in the mobile game Mario Kart Tour.
ReferencesEdit
^"100th anniversary of Gran Vía. Architecture. (In Spanish)". elmundo.es. Retrieved 2010-04-02.
^Baker, Edward (2009). Madrid cosmopolita: la Gran Vía, 1910–1936 (in Spanish). Marcial Pons Ediciones de Historia. ISBN978-84-92820-11-5.
^Hortelano, Lorenzo J. Torres (2012-02-02). World Film Locations: Madrid. Intellect Books. ISBN978-1-84150-593-0.
^"Así consiguió Amenábar cortar la Gran Vía para grabar la mítica escena de "Abre los ojos"". abc (in European Spanish). Retrieved 2016-04-20.
External linksEdit
Media related to Gran Vía, Madrid at Wikimedia Commons
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This article is about the street in Madrid For other uses see Gran Via disambiguation The Gran Via ˈɡɾam ˈbi a Great Way is a street in central Madrid Spain It leads from Calle de Alcala close to Plaza de Cibeles to Plaza de Espana The street sometimes referred to as the Spanish Broadway is one of the city s most important shopping areas with a large number of hotels and large movie theatres However since the late 2000s many of these theatres have been replaced by shopping centres Gran ViaTypeStreetLength1 3 km 0 81 mi LocationMadrid SpainEast endCalle de AlcalaMajorjunctionsCalle de la Montera Calle de Fuencarral Plaza del Callao Calle de San BernardoWest endPlaza de EspanaThe Gran Via serves as a showcase of early 20th century revival architecture with architectural styles ranging from Vienna Secession style Plateresque Neo Mudejar Art Deco among others 1 Contents 1 History 1 1 Conception 1 2 Names 2 Notable buildings 3 Plazas 4 In media 5 References 6 External linksHistory Edit nbsp The Metropolis Building located in Gran Via and Alcala Street 2014Conception Edit In the mid 19th century Madrid s urban planners determined that a new thoroughfare should be created connecting the Calle de Alcala with the Plaza de Espana similar to Haussmann s renovation of Paris The projects called for the demolition of many buildings in the centre of the city earning the project the name of an axe blow on the map Decades after the first plans were revealed ground breaking and construction tarried causing the media to ridicule the project cynically calling it the Gran Via or Great Way or Big Way Finally in 1904 it was approved and construction started in 1910 The last part of the street was completed in 1929 At the end of March in 2018 the city council of Madrid began the pedestrianization of a lane in each direction in a plan to extend sidewalks and remodel some squares around the street This was related to the introduction of Madrid Central a Residential Priority Area later in 2018 Names Edit The Gran Via of Madrid has had many historical names both official and unofficial Conception divided the road in three parts The first one was built between 1910 and 1917 and was called Calle del Conde de Penalver Count of Penalver Street The second part of the project commenced on 1917 and concluded on 1921 It was named Calle de Pi y Margall Francisco Pi y Margall Street after a deceased politician Construction of the third and last part of the road did not start until 1925 and was called Calle Eduardo Dato Iradier Eduardo Dato Street after another politician Three months before the Spanish Civil War began the Second Spanish Republic changed some street names under leftist influence The two first parts of the avenue were called Avenida de la C N T C N T Avenue When the Civil War started the avenue was renamed Avenida de Rusia Russia Avenue due to the support the country had for the Spanish Republic but soon its name would be changed to Avenida de la Union Sovietica Soviet Union Avenue However the avenue was popularly nicknamed as Avenida de los obuses howitzer avenue because of the continued bombardments by the Nationalist forces loyal to Francisco Franco The reason for these attacks in this area was that the Edificio de Telefonica the Spanish phone company was on this street and due to its height it served the aviation as a reference point during shellings Just after the end of the war when the rebels entered Madrid they renamed the road Avenida de Jose Antonio Jose Antonio Avenue after one of their greatest political figures founder of the fascist party Falange It wouldn t be until 1981 once Spain had returned to democracy that the socialist mayor restored the names of 27 streets and the avenue was simply named Gran Via Great Way Notable buildings Edit nbsp Telefonica headquarters in Gran Via 2011 The new road created opportunities for architects who had the opportunity to create large buildings in the latest architectural styles The first eye catching building starting from the Calle de Alcala is the most famous of all the Edificio Metropolis or Metropolis Building The landmark was built between 1907 and 1911 by the father and son architects Jules and Raymond Fevrier The original statue La Union y el Fenix was replaced in 1975 by a statue of a winged Goddess Victory A bit further along the Gran Via on the left hand side is another landmark the Edificio Grassy another corner building with a small tower built in 1917 Visible from here is the tower of the Telefonica Building it was built between 1926 and 1929 for the Spanish telecommunications company The 88 metre 290 ft building was the tallest in Madrid and was designed by Ignacio de Cardenas who was inspired by a similar design intended to be built in Manhattan New York by the American Louis S Weeks Others buildings include Casa del Libro Casa Matesanz Cine Avenida Cine Capitol Cine Coliseum Cines Rialto de Madrid Dona Manolita Edificio Carrion Estacion de Gran Via Teatro Fontalba La Gran Pena Cine Gran Via Hotel de las Letras Calle de Jacometrezo Calle de los Libreros Edificio Lope de Vega Madrid Rock Museo Chicote Oratorio del Caballero de Gracia Palacio de la Musica Palacio de la Prensa Pasapoga Red de San Luis Sociedad Madrid Paris Teatro ColiseumPlazas Edit nbsp Hotel Las Letras left Casino Militar right 2018 Further towards the Plaza de Espana the Gran Via crosses a small square the Plaza del Callao named after the battle of El Callao This square is the heart of cinematic Madrid with about six movie theatres One of them the Capitol is located in a beautiful Art Deco building However recent update changes in building rules have allowed the reformation of the theatres into more lucrative shopping centres The last part of the Gran Via constructed between 1925 and 1929 leads to the Plaza de Espana a large square dominated by two skyscrapers built in the 1950s the symmetric Edificio Espana and the Torre de Madrid Here the Gran Via becomes the Calle Princesa leading north to the Arco de la Victoria In media EditLa Gran Via 1886 by Federico Chueca is a satirical zarzuela in which the anthropomorphized streets of Madrid complain about how the city will lose by their destruction and replacement by the new project 2 In a scene of the Alex de la Iglesia s 1995 sci fi horror film The Day of the Beast Santiago Segura hangs above Gran Via from the iconic neon advertisement for Schweppes on Edificio Carrion Capitol 3 The opening scene of Alejandro Amenabar s 1997 film Open Your Eyes famously features a shocking view of the Gran Via completely empty of vehicles and people This was filmed in the early morning of a weekend in August 1996 and the street had to be intermittently closed off to traffic for six hours to achieve it 4 This shot was later recreated for the American remake Vanilla Sky at Times Square New York Gran Via is also the title of the 1995 album by Matt Bianco The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway ends with Jake and Brett in a taxi on Gran Via At the end of Georges Conchon s 1959 novel La Corrida de la victoire published in English as The Hollow Victory the protagonist a former soldier of the Spanish Republic fleeing Spain after Franco s victory takes the quixotic and defiant gesture of openly walking one last time along the Gran Via in August 1939 at a considerable risk to his life since captured Republicans were at this time often shot out of hand Gran Via is driven through as part of the Madrid Drive course in the mobile game Mario Kart Tour References Edit 100th anniversary of Gran Via Architecture In Spanish elmundo es Retrieved 2010 04 02 Baker Edward 2009 Madrid cosmopolita la Gran Via 1910 1936 in Spanish Marcial Pons Ediciones de Historia ISBN 978 84 92820 11 5 Hortelano Lorenzo J Torres 2012 02 02 World Film Locations Madrid Intellect Books ISBN 978 1 84150 593 0 Asi consiguio Amenabar cortar la Gran Via para grabar la mitica escena de Abre los ojos abc in European Spanish Retrieved 2016 04 20 External links Edit nbsp Media related to Gran Via Madrid at Wikimedia CommonsKML file edit help Template Attached KML Gran Via Madrid KML is from Wikidata Gran Via entry on A View On Cities Source Official website of the Gran Via Centenary Madrid Council Gran Via guide and history Madrid Council permanent dead link Gran Via view from the Madrid Tourist Bus Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Gran Via Madrid amp oldid 1172892750, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
