


The Dehesa of the Villa
Asset of Cultural Interest in the category of Cultural Landscape
The Dehesa de la Villa preserves an important part of the memory of the productive landscape of the city of Madrid, with a history of almost nine centuries. It has been a primary source of supply of game, firewood, crops, livestock and water, and exemplifies, like few other urban parks, the evolution of the city and of Madrid society and its use of the environment.
It has notable heritage vestiges such as the Lower Paleolithic remains of the Acheulean site, the Amaniel Water Journey, a fragment of the old Tapia del Pardo, the layout of the Northern Canal or remains of constructions from the Civil War.
In addition to its historical, botanical and heritage value, its social and identity value lies in the fact that it was a space for public use by residents, a unique feature compared to other historic green spaces in the capital.
Historical evolution of the Dehesa de la Villa
Located in the Moncloa-Aravaca District, the Dehesa de la Villa occupies a promontory on the left bank of the Manzanares River whose resources have been exploited since the PaleolithicAn Acheulean site has been located in Dehesa, where stone tools were found.
En 1152 Alfonso VII He donated in perpetuity to the Villa of Madrid the land located between the mountains and the city, where the space that would later become the Dehesa de la Villa was located. the 15th century, These lands, then called Monte de Amaniel, were a fenced-off, wooded area with communal pastures for livestock, hunting and firewood extraction. Later, it became a meat pasture for grazing animals.
After the court moved to Madrid in the 16th century, The population of Madrid increased considerably and, as a result, the demand for basic resources, so that the aquifers that had supplied the city until then became insufficient.
The discovery of abundant water in the Dehesa de la Villa and its geographical location facilitated the construction of the Amaniel water journey, already during the reign of Philip III, ensuring the supply of water to the population and the urban development of Madrid away from the river.
Over time, the Dehesa de Amaniel was losing surface area, especially during the reign of Charles IV, when extension limits similar to those of today were established.
In the XIX century, Following the creation of the Canal de Isabel II, the Dehesa went from supplying water to the Villa to irrigating the royal possessions of Florida and Monte del Pardo, through the Acequia del Norte or El Canalillo. At this time, reforestation with thousands of pine trees was also carried out by the agricultural engineer Celedonio Rodrigáñez with the aim of improving urban health and air quality in a green belt around Madrid.
Some welfare institutions were set up and from then on early XNUMXth century It was becoming a place that was increasingly frequented by the people of Madrid to spend a day in the countryside. During the Civil War It was part of the front, which significantly transformed its appearance with the construction of trenches, bunkers and a command post. Since then, La Dehesa has been, until now, a place of leisure and meeting for citizens who have repeatedly claimed its communal value as a public space, defending its protection and care.
Asset of Cultural Interest in the category of Cultural Landscape
- Acheulean site: which relates its territory with that of other similar sites along the Manzanares River.
- Royal Path: historic route connecting Madrid with Manzanares el Real that has survived for more than 600 years. Today it is the GR-124 trail.
- Water journey of Amaniel or Palace: built in the 17th century, during the reign of Philip III, to supply water to the Real Alcázar. One of the tanks in which the water was decanted and distributed to the fountains has recently been discovered and turned into a museum in its vicinity. Eight granite wellheads and a wellhead have been found in the pasture, which marked and closed the vertical wells.
- Pardo Wall: A 14-metre-long section of the wall that Ferdinand VI ordered to be built in the mid-XNUMXth century to prevent poaching and the destruction of crops in the area by livestock traffic has been preserved.
- Northern Ditch or Canalillo: It was an open-air canal designed in 1863 by the engineer Juan de Ribera Piferrer to collect the surplus water from the Canal de Isabel II and use it to irrigate the fields and orchards of Madrid and the royal possessions.
- Fortifications of the Civil War: bunker on Pirineos street, bunker located on the
Death Curve, a shelter located on the hill north of Cerro de los Locos, bunker and command post of Canalillo. - Botanical and landscape elements: a group of more than 8500 trees, the majority of which are stone pines, along with other species such as ash, poplar, cedar, oak and cork oak. They constitute an urban forest of special ecological value for the city of Madrid, including a diverse and numerous fauna, with more than 100 identified bird species.
Along with these buildings, others are preserved such as the so-called Fuente de la Tomasa, Casa del Escudo, the Dehesa de la Villa Environmental Information and Education Centre, the statue of Andrés Bello and a good number of stone hunting grounds and boundary markers.