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MADRID

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Originally appearing in Volume V17, Page 295 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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MADRID , the See also:

capital of See also:Spain and of the See also:province of Madrid, on the See also:left See also:bank of the See also:river See also:Manzanares, a right-See also:band tributary of the Jarama, which flows See also:south into the See also:Tagus. Pop. (1877), 397,816; (1887), 472,228; (1897), 512,150; (1900), 539,835. Madrid was the largest See also:city in Spain in 1900; it is the see of an See also:archbishop, the See also:focus of the See also:principal See also:Spanish See also:railways, the headquarters of an See also:army See also:corps, the seat of a university, the See also:meeting-See also:place of See also:parliament, and the See also:chief See also:residence of the See also:king, the See also:court, and the See also:captain-See also:general of New See also:Castile. It is, however, surpassed in ecclesiastical importance by See also:Toledo and in See also:commerce by See also:Barcelona. Situation and See also:Climate.—Madrid is built on an elevated and undulating See also:plateau of See also:sand and See also:clay, which is bounded on the See also:north by the Sierra Guadarrama and merges on all other sides into the barren and treeless table-See also:land of New Castile. Numerous See also:water-courses (arroyos), dry except at rare intervals, furrow the See also:surface of the plateau; these as they pass through the'city have in certain cases been converted into roads—e.g. the Paseo de Recoletos and Prado, which are still so liable to be flooded after prolonged See also:rain that See also:special channels have been constructed to carry away the water. The highest point in Madrid is 2372 ft. above See also:sea-level. The city is See also:close to the See also:geographical centre of the See also:peninsula, nearly equidistant from the See also:Bay of See also:Biscay, the Mediterranean and the See also:Atlantic. Owing to its high See also:altitude and open situation it is liable to sudden and frequent See also:variations of climate, and the daily range of temperature sometimes exceeds 50° F. In summer the See also:heat is rendered doubly oppressive by the fiery, dust-laden winds which sweep across the Castilian table-land; at this See also:season a temperature of 109° has been registered in the shade. In See also:winter the northerly See also:gales from the Sierra Guadarrama bring intense See also:cold; See also:snow falls frequently, and See also:skating is carried on in the Buen Retiro See also:park.

A Spanish See also:

proverb describes the See also:wind of Madrid as so deadly and subtle that " it will kill a See also:man when it will not See also:blow out a See also:candle "; but, though pulmonary diseases are not uncommon, the climate appears to be exceptionally healthy. In 1901 the See also:death-See also:rate was 22.07 per woo, or See also:lower than that of any other See also:town on the Spanish mainland. The Sierra Guadarrama renders the See also:atmosphere unusually dry and clear by intercepting the moisture of the north-western winds which prevail in summer; hence the See also:average daily number of deaths decreases from 8o in winter to about 25 in summer. The sanitation of the older quarters is defective, and overcrowding is See also:common, partly owing to the royal decrees which formerly prohibited the See also:extension of the city; but much has been done in See also:modern times to remove or mitigate these evils. The Inner City.—The See also:form of Madrid proper (exclusive of the modern suburbs) is almost that of a square with the corners Drive to the See also:race-course and the See also:exhibition See also:building. On the slopes of the other See also:side of the Castellana, and along what were the See also:northern limits of Madrid in 1875, the modern suburbs have extended to the vicinity of the See also:fine cellular See also:prison that was built at the close of the reign of King See also:Alphonso XII. to replace the gloomy building known as El Saladero. The new parts of the capital, with their broad streets and squares, and their villas sometimes surrounded with gardens, their boulevards lined by rather stunted trees, and their modern public buildings, all resemble the similar features of other See also:European capitals, and contrast with the old Madrid that has pre-served so many of its traits in See also:architecture, popular See also:life and habits. Some of the streets have been slightly widened, and in many thoroughfares new houses are being built among the ugly, irregular dwelling-places of the 18th and earlier centuries. This contrast is to be seen especially in and about the Calle See also:Mayor, the Plaza Mayor, the Calle de Toledo, the Rastro, and the See also:heart of the city. rounded off; from See also:east to See also:west it See also:measures rather less than from north to south. It was formerly surrounded by a poor See also:wall, partly of See also:brick, partly of See also:earth, some 20 ft. in height, and pierced by five principal See also:gates (puertas) and eleven doorways (portillos). Of these only three, the Puerta de See also:Alcala on the east, the Puerta de Toledo on the south and the Portillo de See also:San See also:Vicente on the west, actually exist; the first and the third were erected in the See also:time of See also:Charles III.

(1759-1788), and the second in See also:

honour of the restoration of See also:Ferdinand VII. (1827). The Manzanares—or rather its See also:bed, for the stream is at most seasons of the See also:year quite insignificant—is spanned by six See also:bridges, the Puente de Toledo and Puente de See also:Segovia being the chief. The Puerta del Sol is the centre of Madrid, the largest of its many plazas, and the place of most See also:traffic. It derived its name from the former east See also:gate of the city, which stood here until 1570, and had on its front a See also:representation of the See also:sun. On its south side stands the Palacio de la Gobernacion, or See also:ministry of the interior, a heavy square building by a See also:French architect, J. Marquet, dating from 1768. From the Puerta del Sol diverge, immediately or mediately, ten of the principal streets of Madrid --eastward by north, the Calle de Alcala, terminating beyond the Buen Retiro park; eastward, the See also:Carrera de San Jeronimo, terminating by the Plaza de See also:las See also:Cortes in the Prado; southward, the Calle de Carretas; westward, the Calle Mayor, which leads to the See also:council chamber and to the See also:palace, and the Calle del Arenal, terminating in the Plaza de See also:Isabel II. and the royal See also:opera See also:house; north-westward, the Calles de Preciados and Del Carmen; and northward, the Calle de la Montera, which after-wards divides into the Calle de Fuencarral to the left and the Calle de Hortaleza to the right. The See also:contract for another wide See also:street through central Madrid, to be called the Gran Via, was given to an See also:English See also:firm in 1905. The Calle de Alcala is bordered on both sides with acacias, and contains the Real Academia de Bellas Artes, founded in 1752 as an See also:academy of See also:art and See also:music; its collection of paintings by Spanish masters includes some of the best-known See also:works of See also:Murillo. The handsome Bank of Spain (1884–1891)stands where the Calle de Alcala meets the Prado; in the See also:oval Plaza de Madrid, at the same point, is a fine 18th-See also:century See also:fountain with a See also:marble See also:group representing the goddess See also:Cybele See also:drawn in a See also:chariot by two lions. The Calle de Alcala is continued eastward past the Buen Retiro gardens and park, and through the Plaza de Independencia, in the See also:middle of which is the Puerta de Alcala.

The Plaza de las Cortes is so called from the Congreso de los Diputados, or House of See also:

Commons, on its north side. The square contains a See also:bronze statue of Cervantes, by See also:Antonio Sola, erected in 1835. The Calle de Carretas, on the west side of which is the General See also:Post See also:Office, ranks with the Carrera de San Jeronimo and Calle de la Montera for the excellence of its shops. From the Calle Mayor is entered the PlazaMayor,a rectangle of about 430 ft.by 330 ft., formerly the See also:scene of tournaments, See also:bull fights, autos de fe, acts of See also:canonization (including that of See also:Ignatius See also:Loyola in 1622) and similar exhibitions, which used to be viewed by the royal See also:family from the See also:balcony of one of the houses called the Panaderia (belonging to the guild of bakers). The square, which was built under See also:Philip III. in 1619, is surrounded by an See also:arcade; the houses are See also:uniform in height and decoration. In the centre stands a bronze equestrian statue of Philip III., designed by Giovanni da See also:Bologna, after a See also:painting by Pantoja de la Cruz, and finished by Pietro Tacca. From the south-east See also:angle of the Plaza Mayor the Calle de Atocha,one of the principal thoroughfares of Madrid, leads to the outskirts of the inner city; it contains two large hospitals and See also:part of the university buildings (See also:faculty of See also:medicine). The house occupied by Cervantes from 1606 until his death in 1616 stands at the point where it meets the Calle de See also:Leon; in this street is the Real Academia de la Historia, with a valuable library and collections of See also:MSS. and See also:plate. From the south-west angle of the Plaza Mayor begins the Calle de Toledo, the chief mart for the various woollen and silken fabrics from which the picturesque costumes See also:peculiar to the peninsula are made. In the Plaza de Isabel II., at the western extremity of the Calle del Arenal, stands the royal opera-house, the principal front of which faces the Plaza del See also:Oriente and the royal palace. In the centre of the plaza is a fine bronze equestrian statue of Philip IV.(1621–1665) ; it was designed by See also:Velazquez and See also:cast by Tacca, while Galileo is said to have suggested the means by which the See also:balance is preserved. The See also:gift of the See also:grand See also:duke of See also:Tuscany in 1640, it stood in the Buen Retiro gardens until 1844.

Modern Development of the City.—The north and east of the city—the new suburbs—have See also:

developed past the Retiro Park as far as the Bull-See also:ring, and have covered all the vast space included between the Retiro, the Bull-ring, the See also:long Castellana Few capitals have more extensively developed their electric and See also:horse tramways, See also:gas and electric See also:light installations and telephones. Much was done to improve the sanitary conditions of the city in the last twenty years of the 19th century. The streets are deluged three times a See also:day with See also:fire-See also:hose, but even that has little effect upon the dust. Unfortunately the water See also:supply, which used to be famed for its abundance and purity, became wholly insufficient owing to the growth of the city. The old See also:reservoir of the Lozoya See also:canal, a cutting 32 M. long, and the additional reservoir opened in 1883, are quite inadequate for the requirements of modern Madrid, and were formerly kept in such an unsatisfactory See also:state that for several months in 1898 and 1899 the water not only was on the point of giving out, but at times was of such inferior quality that the See also:people had recourse to the many See also:wells and fountains available. The construction of new waterworks was delayed by a terrible See also:accident, which occurred on the 8th of See also:April 1905; the whole structure collapsed, and nearly 40o persons lost their lives in the flooded ruins. A decided improvement has been made in the See also:burial customs of Madrid. No bodies are allowed to be interred in the churches and convents. Some of the older burial grounds in the northern suburbs have been closed altogether, and in those which remain open few coffins are placed in the See also:niche vaults in the See also:depth of the thick walls, as was once the practice. A large modern See also:necropolis has been established a f ew See also:miles to the north-east. Principal Buildings.—As compared with other capitals Madrid has very few buildings of much architectural See also:interest. The See also:Basilica de Nuestra Senora de Atocha, on the Pasco de Atocha, a continuation of the Calle de Atocha, was originally founded in 1523.

After being almost destroyed by the French, it was restored by Ferdinand VII., and rebuilt after 1896. The modern See also:

church is Romanesque in See also:style; it contains a much venerated statue of the Virgin, attributed to St See also:Luke. The collegiate church of San Isidro el Real, in the Calle de Toledo, See also:dates from 1651; it has no architectural merit, but contains one or two valuable pictures and other works of art. It was originally owned by the See also:Jesuits, but after their See also:expulsion in 1769 it was reconsecrated, and dedicated to St Isidore the Labourer (d. 1170), the See also:patron See also:saint of Madrid, whose remains were entombed here. When the See also:diocese of Madrid was separated from that of Toledo San Isidro was chosen as the See also:cathedral. The modern See also:Gothic church of San Jeronimo el Real occupies a conspicuous site eastward of the town. The church of San Francisco el Grande, which contains many interesting monuments, is also known as the See also:National See also:Pantheon. An See also:act was passed in 1837 declaring that the remains of all the most distinguished Spaniards should be buried here; but no See also:attempt to enforce the act systematically was made until 1869, and even then the attempt failed. Towards the close of the 19th century the church was splendidly restored at the expense of the state. Its interior was decorated with paintings and statuary by most of the leading Spanish artists of the time. Of See also:secular buildings unquestionably the most important is the royal palace (Palacio Real), on the west side of the town, on rising ground overhanging the Manzanares.

It occupies the site of the See also:

ancient Moorish alcazar (citadel), where a See also:hunting seat was built by See also:Henry IV.; this was enlarged and improved by Charles V. when he first made Madrid his residence in 1532; was further developed by See also:Phillip II., but ultimately was destroyed by fire in 1734. The See also:present edifice was begun under Philip V. in 1737 by See also:Sacchetti of See also:Turin, and was finished in 1764. It is in the Tuscan style, and is 470 ft. square and zoo ft. in height, the material being See also:white Colmenar See also:granite, resembling marble. To the north of the palace are the royal stables and See also:coach-houses, remarkable for their extent; to the south is the armoury (Museo de la Real Armerfa), containing what is possibly the best collection of the See also:kind in existence. After the Palacio Real may be mentioned the royal picture See also:gallery (Real Museo de Pinturas), adjoining the See also:Salon del Prado; it was built about 1785 for Charles III. by Juan de Villanueva as a museum of natural See also:history and academy of sciences. It contains the collections of Charles V., Philip II. and Philip IV., and the pictures number upwards of two thousand. The specimens of See also:Titian, See also:Raphael, See also:Tintoretto, Velazquez, Vandyck, See also:Rubens and See also:Teniers give it a claim to be considered the finest picture gallery in the See also:world. The Biblioteca Nacional, in the Paseo de Recoletos, was founded in 1866, and completed in 1892. Not only the national library, with its important collections of MSS. and documents, but the archaeological museum, the museums of modern painting and See also:sculpture, and the fine arts academy of San Fernando, are within its walls. The two houses of the Cortes meet in See also:separate buildings. The deputies have a handsome building with a very valuable library in the Carrera San Jeronimo; the senators have an old Augustinian See also:convent which contains some fine pictures. A large and See also:hand-some building near the Retiro Park contains the offices of the ministers of public works, See also:agriculture and commerce, and of fine arts and See also:education; nearly opposite stands the new station of the See also:Southern Railway See also:Company.

The See also:

Great Northern and the Spain to See also:Portugal Railway Companies have also replaced their old stations by very spacious, handsome structures, much resembling those of See also:Paris. In 1896 the Royal See also:Exchange was installed in a large monumental building with a fine See also:colonnade facing the Dos de See also:Mayo See also:monument, not far from the museum of paintings. Of the promenades and open places of public resort the most fashionable and most frequented is the Prado (Paseo del Prado, Salon del Prado) on the east side of the town, with its northward continuation—the Paseo de Recoletos. To the south of the town is the Paseo de las Delicias, and on the west, below the royal palace, and skirting the Manzanares, is the Paseo de la Virgen del Puerto, used chiefly by the poorer classes. Eastward from the Prado are the Buen Retiro Gardens, with ponds and pavilions, and a See also:menagerie. The gardens were formerly the grounds surrounding a royal hunting seat, on the site of which a palace was built for Philip IV. in 1633; it was destroyed during the French occupation. Education, See also:Religion and Charity.—Madrid University developed gradually out of the See also:college of Dona Maria de See also:Aragon, established in 1590 by Alphonso Orozco. See also:Schools of See also:mathematics and natural See also:science were added in the 16th and 17th centuries, and in 1786 the medical and surgical college of San See also:Carlos was opened. In 1836–1837 the university of Alcala de Henares (q.v.) was transferred to the capital and the older See also:foundations incorporated with it. The university of Madrid thenceforth became the headquarters of education in central Spain. It has an See also:observatory, and a library containing more than 2,000,000 printed books and about 5500 MSS. It gives instruction, chiefly in See also:law and medicine, but also in literature, See also:philosophy, mathematics and physics, to about 5000 students.

Associated with the university is the preparatory school of San Isidro, founded by Philip IV. (1621-1665), and reorganized by Charles III. in 1970. There are upwards of See also:

loo See also:official See also:primary schools and a large number of private ones, among which the schools conducted by the Jesuits and the Scolapian fathers claim special mention. Madrid also has schools of agriculture, architecture, See also:civil and See also:mining See also:engineering, the fine arts, veterinary science and music. The school of military engineering is at See also:Guadalajara. Besides these special schools there are a self-supporting See also:institute for preparing girls for the higher degrees and for certificates as primary teachers, and an institute for secondary education, conducted chiefly by ecclesiastics. Among the educational institutions may be reckoned the botanical See also:garden, dating from 1781, the See also:libraries of the palace, the university, and San Isidro, and the museum of natural science, exceedingly richin the mineralogical See also:department. The principal learned society is the royal Spanish Academy, founded in 1713 for the cultivation and improvement of the Spanish See also:tongue. The Academy of History possesses a See also:good library, See also:rich in MSS. and See also:incunabula, as well as a fine collection of coins and medals. In addition to the See also:academies of fine arts, the exact sciences, moral and See also:political science, medicine and See also:surgery, and See also:jurisprudence and legislation, all of which possess ' hraries, there are also anthropological, economic and geographical See also:societies, and a scientific and See also:literary See also:athenaeum. Madrid has a See also:British See also:cemetery opened in 1853, when the older See also:Protestant cemetery in the Paseo de Recoletos was closed. The town also contains a British See also:embassy See also:chapel, a See also:German chapel, and several Spanish Protestant chapels, attended by over 'zoo native Protestants, while the Protestant schools, chiefly supported by British, German and See also:American contributions, are attended by more than 2500 See also:children.

The first Protestant See also:

bishop of Madrid was consecrated in 1895 by Archbishop See also:Plunkett of See also:Dublin. The charitable institutions were greatly improved between 1885 and 1905. The Princess See also:Hospital was completely restored on modern methods, and can accommodate several See also:hundred patients. The old contagious diseases hospital of San Juan de Dios was pulled down and a fine new hospital built in the suburbs beyond the Retiro Park, to hold 700 patients. The military hospital was demolished and a very good one built in the suburbs. There are in all twenty hospitals in Madrid, and a lunatic See also:asylum on the outskirts of the capital, founded by one of the most eminent of Spanish surgeons, and admirably conducted. New buildings have been provided for the orphanages, and for the asylums for the See also:blind, See also:deaf and dumb, incurables and aged paupers. There are hospitals supported by the French, See also:Italian and Belgian colonies; these are old and well-endowed foundations. Public charity generally is very active. In Madrid, as in the See also:rest of Spain, there has been an unprecedented increase in convents, monasteries and religious institutions, societies and See also:Roman See also:Catholic workmen's clubs and classes. Apart from private institutions for such purposes, the state maintains in the capital a savings bank for the poorer classes, and acts as pawnbroker for their benefit. The See also:mercantile and See also:industrial classes are organized in See also:gilds, which themselves collect the lump sum of See also:taxation exacted by the See also:exchequer and the See also:municipality from each gremio or class of taxpayers.

The working classes also have commercial and industrial circulos or clubs that are obeyed by the gilds with great esprit de corps, a chamber of commerce and See also:

industries, and " associations of productions " for the See also:defence of economic interests. Industries.—The industries of the capital have developed extraordinarily since 1890. In the town, and within the municipal boundaries in the suburbs, many manufactories have been established, giving employment to more than 30,000 hands, besides the 4000 See also:women and girls of the See also:Tobacco See also:Monopoly Company's factory. Among the most important factories are those which make every See also:article in See also:leather, especially See also:cigar and card cases, purses and See also:pocket-books. Next come the manufactures of fans, umbrellas, sunshades, chemicals, varnishes, buttons, See also:wax candles, beds, cardboard, See also:porcelain, coarse pottery, matches, baskets, sweets and preserves, gloves, guitars, biscuits, See also:furniture, carpets, corks, See also:cards, carriages, See also:jewelry, drinks of all kinds, plate and plated goods. There are also tanneries, saw and See also:flour See also:mills, See also:glass and porcelain works, See also:soap works, brickfields, See also:paper mills, See also:zinc, bronze, See also:copper and See also:iron foundries. The working classes are strongly imbued with socialistic ideas. Strikes and May Day demonstrations have often been trouble-some. See also:Order is kept by a See also:garrison of 12,500 men in the See also:barracks of the town and cantonments around, and by a strong force of civil See also:guards or gendarmes quartered in the town itself. The civil and municipal authorities can employ beside the gendarmes the See also:police, about 1400 strong, and what is called the guardias urbanos, another police force whose special See also:duty it is to regulate the street traffic and prevent breaches of the municipal regulations. There is not, on the average, more See also:crime in Madrid than in the provinces. History.—Spanish archaeologists have frequently claimed for Madrid a very high antiquity, but the earliest See also:authentic See also:historical mention of the town (Majrft, Majoritum) occurs in the Arab See also:chronicle, and does not take us farther back than to the first See also:half of the loth century.

The place was finally taken from the See also:

Moors by Alphonso VI. (1083), and was made a hunting-seat by Henry IV., but first See also:rose into importance when Charles V., benefiting by its keen See also:air, made it his occasional residence. Philip II. created it his capital and " only court " (anica See also:conte) in 1560: It is, however, only classed as a town (See also:villa), having never received the See also:title of city (See also:ciudad). Fruitless attempts were made by Philip III. and Charles III. respectively to See also:transfer the seat of See also:government to See also:Valladolid and to See also:Seville. (See also SPAIN: History). See J. Amador de los Rios, Historia de la villa y See also:corte de Madrid (Madrid, 861-1864); ValverdeyAlvarez,LaCapitaldeEspana(Madrid, 1883) ; E. Sepulveda, La See also:Vida en Madrid en z886 (Madrid, 1887) ; H. Peliasco, Las Galles de Madrid (Madrid, 1889) ; C. See also:Perez Pastor, Bibliografia madrileiia, siglo X VI. (Madrid, 1891) ; F. X. de Palacio y See also:Garcia, See also:count of las Almenas, La Municipalidad de Madrid (Madrid, 1896) ; E.

Sepulveda, El Madrid de los recuerdos: coleccion de articulos (Madrid, 1897) ; P. See also:

Hauser, Madrid bajo el punto de vista medico-social (Madrid, 1902); L. See also:Williams, Toledo and Madrid, their Records and Romances (See also:London, 1903).

End of Article: MADRID

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