The ‘Blanco y Negro’ magazine and the ABC newspaper have witnessed the transformation of Puerta del Sol in the last 132 years. In our archive, with more than fifteen million photographs, thousands of images of the central Madrid enclave are preserved. From the gigantic snowfall of 1907, with the operators opening the way for the trams with the shovels, to the neighbors waiting for the posters of the fat man of the Christmas Lottery of 1915 to be hung, passing through the inauguration of the Metro with King Alfonso XIII in 1921, the celebration of the proclamation of the Second Republic in 1931 and the remodeling works in 1950.
Among our documentation you can even find illustrations made more than a century ago about the battles that the people of Madrid had, with Napoleon’s soldiers, in the square, at the beginning of the War of Independence. Puerta del Sol is the setting where many pages of the history of Spain have begun. All these images, however, have in common that the appearance of the buildings that make it up has barely changed. The architecture of the 19th century is not too far from today’s, so now we are going to tell you what was there before… long before cameras existed.
«The Puerta del Sol must have been in principle a crenellated tower like those of the walls of Toledo or Ávila, and it had a certain military importance in the times of the communities of Castile. The venerable teacher of Cervantes, Juan López de Hoyos, was still familiar with the door still standing, and says that it was demolished in the mid-16th century to widen and lighten such a main exit. Already then the population began to expand to the East”, could be read in ‘Blanco y Negro’ on January 17, 1903.
There is no doubt that the iconic square where every December 31 we celebrate the new year has been acquiring, since its uncertain beginnings as «wide street»in the 16th century, its character as one of the most important places in our history. This is due to the fact that all the adjacent streets would end up having a common exit from the city that the town then called “Puerta del Sol”, located at the entrance of the current Preciados street. However, in some documents of the time, more importance is given to the Guadalajara Gatewhich was located in the current Calle Mayor.
Little size
Some ancient chronicles claimed that the size of the aforementioned “wide street” barely exceeded two cars. The article in ‘Blanco y Negro’ clarified in this sense: «To form an idea of what this great square was, it is necessary to take into account that it did not occupy even a quarter of the current space. Where the Ministry of the Interior is today, there were about forty shacks with extremely narrow porches and balconies inhabited by people who lived with not a very honest life. This unpleasant neighborhood stretched out between Calle Mayor and Calle Arenal, and at the corner’s vertex stood the imposing, baroque, heavy mass of the St. Philip’s Church».
The same Time.news recounts that, following the sidewalk of the Ministry, “you would soon come across another huge, sad, gloomy mansion, with high walls barely broken by miserable windows.” It was him convent of the victory, from whose small windows the priests watched the movement of the merchants who set up their meat and vegetable stalls every morning. “The place became the scene of nicknames and chatter and the theater of disputes and altercations,” he added.
«The front or façade between Carrera de San Jerónimo and Calle Alcalá –he continued– advanced almost to the center of the current square and was made up of a single building, the hospital and church of Buen Suceso. In front of his door was the mariblanca fountain, so many times mentioned in revelry, ballads and hors d’oeuvres. The general appearance of that, which in reality was more of a crossroads or passageway than a square, could not be more ugly, mean and sad, but it was preserved that way until it was agreed to demolish little by little the very old shacks».
The works of the Puerta del Sol
In June 2006, during the works carried out by the Ministry of Public Works at Puerta del Sol to build the current Cercanías station, the remains of the foundation of this old church that served as a hospital since XV century. The technicians from the General Directorate of Historical Heritage had considered this possibility, but the truth is that the majority of the people of Madrid were surprised.
Few people today know that this gigantic temple and hospital existed under the ground of the most famous square in Spain for more than five hundred years. It was demolished in 1854. Seven years later, Mesonero Romanos in the book ‘El antiguo Madrid’ that was built by order of Juan II de Trastámara, in 1438, right next to a hermitage dedicated to San Andrés that has now disappeared. Its objective, to help and cure the thousands of people infected by the black plague that devastated the city that year. According to the writer, it was the perfect place, because the great esplanade of the current square was still outside the limits marked by the city wall in the mid-15th century.
In 1529, Carlos I ordered the Buen Suceso to be rebuilt and granted it the title of Royal Hospital of the Court, which was later endorsed by Pope Clemente II through a bull. The architectural complex was made up of various buildings, among which were, in addition to the San Andrés hermitage, some houses and corrals and the humilladero, all organized around a patio that was dedicated to healing the soldiers and the servants of the Casa Real, as well as any citizen who suffered an accident.
First Relief House
“It can be affirmed that the hospital was the first relief house that existed in Madrid”, assured Carlos Luís de Cuenca, in 1898, in ‘La Ilustración Española y Americana’. The remodeling works lasted until 1561, during the reign of Felipe II, and those of the Church of San Felipe also began, which lasted until 1607. The first designs for both buildings were made by Juan de Herrera, the architect responsible for the El Escorial Monastery. When his health deteriorated, Francisco de Mora inherited the project.
Mesonero Romanos also affirms that the name “Good Success” did not receive it until the beginning of the 17th century, due to a Virgin brought from Rome by Gabriel de Fontanet, in charge of the infirmary and member of the order founded by Fray Bernardino de Obregón. He had gone to the Italian capital to request authorization from Pope Paul V to extend the work of his order throughout Spain. During the trip, he took shelter in a cave due to a storm and found the image. When telling him about the find, the Pontiff described it as a “good event”, an expression that he used to baptize the temple.
Since its construction, the church-hospital experienced countless problems, until, in 1695, it was threatened with ruin. To save it, two possibilities were considered: keep the plan of the old building or expand it at the expense of the market, adding a section at the foot of the main nave and the corresponding side chapels. The second was chosen, since more and more people attended mass and an extension was necessary. This made it necessary to build a new façade and modify the dome, although the old Doric portal with the royal shields survived at the entrance.
Good Success Demolition
The person in charge of the works was the Master of the Royal Works, José del Olmo, who had to practically rebuild the church of the previous person in charge. He came to modify the layout of the original temple, but managed to keep it consistent with the previous model. During the next three years the dome was completed and, in 1700, the building was finished, which lived in relative peace for a century, with a massive influx of parishioners as the Puerta del Sol gained weight as the center of the capital.
On May 2, 1808, however, Madrid was taken by Napoleon’s troops. The War of Independence began and José Bonaparte turned Buen Suceso into a barracks and a hospital for his soldiers. All the properties were requisitioned and the Virgin, who had miraculously been saved, was transferred to the nearby church of El Carmen. She could not return to the Puerta del Sol until 1813, when the French King finally left the city after the defeat of his army. The church continued with its religious functions and had to be reformed several times, but it was in such poor condition that, in 1854, the authorities ordered its demolition.
The Puerta del Sol began a new life towards its current appearance, which was reported in the newspaper ‘La Nación’ as follows: «It seems that the great expansion work will begin in May. More than twenty buildings will fall to the ground, among them, the Buen Suceso church and all the houses that form the corner between said square and Arenal street, up to the house of the counts of Oñate. The demolition will begin precisely by this church. The Queen has expressed her desire that, at this same point, another temple be built that faces the square.