Gardens of the Palaces of the Finca Vista Alegre
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(1) NAVARRETE, José. In the Montes de la Mancha, Book Two, The Drama of Valle-Alegre. Madrid 1879
Situation
Visit and works
From May 1, 2021 you can visit the Gardens of the Palaces of the Finca Vista Alegre, declared a Site of Cultural Interest in the category of Historic Garden. The garden restored in the first phase of the Program of Actions for the recovery and opening to the public of Finca Vista Alegre.
The Vista Alegre gardens, designed by different architects and gardeners for various owners throughout various periods, form an extraordinarily varied set of shady, geometric, exotic plants and ornamental or rustic gardens of a productive nature.
The visitable itinerary includes the most representative gardens and elements of the nineteenth-century villa; the Romantic Garden, the Statues Square, the Estuary and the Parterre. The palaces, buildings and singular elements are in different phases of their rehabilitation. Its visit and put into use will be progressively enabled with the completion of the works.
Schedule and rules of the visit
daily opening
From 9:00 a.m. to 18:00 p.m. from November to February and last week of October
From 9:00 a.m. to 19:00 p.m. March and rest of October
From 9:00 a.m. to 20:00 p.m. April and September
From 9:00 a.m. to 21:00 p.m. from may to august
Access will be limited 15 minutes before closing time.
Access:
Royal Gate. Calle General Ricardos nº 179.
Free access until full capacity.
Visit rules
Maximum capacity 400 people.
The access to the garden with bicycles, skates, balls, animals, food or drink will not be allowed.
The signage includes QR codes that refer to information on each unique element of the garden.
Accessibility:
The visitable space of the gardens is configured for protection reasons as an area for pedestrian use. The pedestrian itineraries that make up the visit are designed for pedestrian circulation, including users of manual wheelchairs and wheelchairs with electric motors.
It is understood that vehicles for people with reduced mobility such as scooters with an electric motor with three or more wheels that meet the requirements established in the UNE EN 12184 standard (wheelchairs with an electric motor, scooters and their chargers) intended to be used for a single person with reduced mobility are comparable to electric chairs, so they will be able to access the visit as long as during the visit they adapt their gait to that of pedestrians and in any case they circulate at a speed never exceeding 5 km/h. so that they do not cause danger to other pedestrians or damage to property.
The gardens have accessible toilets located in the Big Stove.
Outside there are 2 accessible parking spaces, located on Blasón Street on the corner of General Ricardos Street.
Warnings and safety:
In accordance with the established emergency protocol, when adverse weather conditions are anticipated, for the safety of visitors, certain areas of the garden will be closed or they will be evicted and completely closed in case of extreme risk.
During the visit, the instructions and guidelines of the garden's security and conservation staff must be followed.
The conditions of the visit may undergo variations to make it compatible with the scheduled activities or with the actions in progress on the buildings and the elements of the garden.
Meteorological Information:
Access to the latest daily wind condition forecast bulletin, according to which alerts and access restrictions to the gardens are established for the day following its production date: DAILY BULLETIN
Access for groups
Group visits.
Currently, non-profit free visits can be made in groups of up to 25 people, without the need for a reservation. The recommended days for free group visits are from Monday to Thursday, excluding holidays.
Guided tours are offered for groups on non-holiday Fridays. For more information and reservation see the downloadable pdf in the GUIDED VISITS FOR GROUPS button.
Dates available between September and December 2024.
Activities
A NEIGHBORHOOD WITH VIEWS
Guided tours on weekends from June 1 to November 30, 2024.
Organized by the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Sports
More information and registration
EXHIBITION: Views. Urban landscapes of the Community of Madrid
Event finished
MADRID ANOTHER LOOK 2024 (MOM). Organized by Madrid City Council. From October 17 to 20
Event Ended
More information::INFO
Historical introduction
The Carabancheles were since the XNUMXth century one of the favorite places of recreation for the upper bourgeoisie and the nobility of Madrid due to its proximity to the court and its healthy climate.
On March 8, 1832, María Cristina de Borbón acquired a public establishment located on the road to Carabanchel and Fuenlabrada. During the following years, he bought properties on both sides of this road and, in order to unite them, he diverted the road north, in what is now Calle del General Ricardos. The Queen ordered the transformation works of the existing buildings, the construction of new ones and the creation of a garden inspired by landscape painting. In a few years, stables and greenhouses were erected, work began on the New Palace, and almost twenty thousand trees and shrubs were planted that formed walks and squares. A navigable estuary was built and fountains and small constructions were scattered among the woods.
The political vicissitudes of the time led to exile to María Cristina, who gave the Vista Alegre estate to her daughters, Queen Elizabeth II and the Infanta Luisa Fernanda. The estate was acquired in 1859 by D. José de Salamanca y Mayol, who made it the scene of frequent parties and celebrations. After the sale of his palace in Recoletos, Vista Alegre was his habitual residence until his death in 1883.
In 1886 the heirs of the Marquis of Salamanca sold the estate to the Spanish State to be dedicated to charity, which forced major reforms to adapt to new purposes. At the same time, the lands of the garden began to be occupied by buildings of new construction that caused the internal fragmentation of the property.
Plan of the Gardens
1 Large Stove
The stoves were heated spaces for the cultivation of exotic plants, the great passion of romantic gardening. The Royal Possession had three; the Big Stove and two smaller ones, as well as a circular orange tree, which sheltered the large pots of citrus fruits in winter. La Quinta also had two greenhouses, constructions that achieved a temperate environment with a glass mural to the south and mat protections.
La Estufa Grande is a longitudinal building, organized from a central roundabout from which originally two large naves destined to house the plants started, finished off at their ends by two pavilions, one for service and the other for the Queen's Bath, a piece which is still preserved.
Partially destroyed during the Civil War, the wing that stands today, adjacent to the Old Palace, was rebuilt by the General Directorate of Devastated Regions with a project by Manuel Martínez Chumillas. From the original greenhouse construction, the closing wall of the building to the north and the stone pieces supporting its light structure are preserved on the opposite wing.
2 Queen's Bath
The bathtub is a singular piece with a circular shape and concentric steps, made of caramel-colored marble, which exemplifies the double playful and productive function of greenhouses. The bathroom and the room were fed by the same heat and steam circuit that recreated in the Stove the ideal tropical climate for the cultivation of species brought from other latitudes.
3 Old Palace
It is the founding nucleus of Vista Alegre. The current building stands on the primitive Vista Alegre Bath House, a recreational establishment that, following the fashion of those that existed on the outskirts of London or Paris, became popular as a place of leisure among Madrid residents.
The building had rooms for bathing, a casino, lounges, and a back garden where you could enjoy music and outdoor shows. La Estufa Grande was annexed to the Old Palace, both forming a screen that protected the privacy of the garden from the gazes of passersby.
At the beginning of the XNUMXth century, when the estate was already owned by the State, the Old Palace was remodeled to house the College for Military Orphans of the Union. After the war, the Daughters of Charity returned to Vista Alegre, taking over the school. The Palace is currently the headquarters of the Madrid Higher Institute of Educational Innovation (ISMIE)
ISMIE Link: https://innovacionyformacion.educa.madrid.org/centros/ISMIE
4 Gallery
In the middle of the XNUMXth century, the Old Palace was expanded, annexing the Bella Vista building and building a gallery to join both constructions.
The Gallery is made up of two corridors at an angle raised on an arcade of paired columns. The tower on the corner bridges the gap between the two buildings.
5 House of Bella Vista
The house of Bella Vista was a library and science office during the period of the Real Possession, and had herbaria, collections of stuffed animals, laboratory and own greenhouse. After the transfer of the farm to the State, it was transformed to house the Collegio de Ciegos de Santa Catalina.
This house is currently the headquarters of the Vista Alegre Adult Education Center.
Link CEPA Vista Alegre: https://www.educa2.madrid.org/web/centro.cepa.vistaalegre.madrid
6 Stables
The stables, designed by the architect Pascual y Colomer, were built to house draft animals and other work animals, such as the mules of the blood wheels. Here they also kept, among other carriages, the open cars, used for the ride.
7 Garden. Square of the Statues
Although the Vista Alegre gardens did not have a unitary conception, as they were designed by different architects and gardeners for various owners throughout different periods, during the stage of the Marquis of Salamanca, a satisfactory integration of the design of the gardens was achieved. different areas, giving rise to an extraordinarily varied set of shade gardens, geometric, exotic plants and ornamental or rustic purposes of a productive nature.
The main nucleus, to the southeast of the Old Palace and the Stove, is a "romantic garden" with sinuous lines that made possible the surprise and the succession of scenes. The tour started in the semicircular square located in the axis of the Old Palace, called Las Estatuas because it is framed by ten marble sculptures of which only its pedestals are preserved.
8 Ría
The Romantic Garden was crossed from east to west by a navigable artificial river of almost one kilometer in length, whose margins could be traveled on foot giving access to the different "scenes of the garden".
The Ría is born next to the Plaza de las Estatuas on an artificial mountain from which a waterfall flows. Its winding route crossed the playground and the forest, to end in a pond with a bastion island with a starry plan, which was accessed from the recreational feluccas, of which only the footprint remains on the ground.
The press and literature of his time echoed the collision of two of those boats that caused a large number of decked out ladies to fall into the water.
9 Palace New
The New Palace or the Marquis of Salamanca was ordered to be built by Queen María Cristina on the land acquired from the Five Major Guilds. Its construction takes advantage of the foundations and walls of the warehouses and boilers of a soap factory.
When the Marquis of Salamanca acquired the Royal Possession, the works were not completed and the Palace had never been inhabited. Yes, the portico was finished, formed by the large columns reused from the project by Isidro González Velázquez for the Plaza de Oriente, and the decoration of the great dome in the lobby, by José Evaristo Pannuci, was completed.
The architect Pascual y Colomer continued the works with the creation of a new façade towards the rear garden and a large staircase to access the Palace from the path coming from the new gate, the famous Puerta Bonita.
Inside, the private rooms and large rooms for displaying the Marquis's collection of art and antiques were completed by Federico Madrazo with ceiling and wall paintings, and illuminated with the first electric lights. Other spaces, such as the "fumoir" or Arab room, were decorated according to the trend of recreating exotic environments so fashionable at the time.
The major alterations to the Palace were the result of adaptations made by the charitable and educational institutions that occupied it throughout the twentieth century, since the Asylum for Invalid Labor was installed in it in 1887, until 2008, the year in which it was installed. he moved the María Soriano Public Center for Special Education, the last of the institutions to occupy the building.
10 Parterre
In 1859 D. José de Salamanca y Mayol completely restored the estate and its gardens and resumed the construction of the New Palace.
The Palace generated around it a series of gardens of varied character: "El Parterre" neoclassical, with geometric lines, and "El Giardino", of Neapolitan tradition, which organized the rear garden and orchard in terraces.
Opposite the main façade of the Palace is El Parterre, configured by hedges that draw a garden to be seen from inside the palatial rooms. Its layout is organized around three circular fountains, a larger central one and two lateral ones, designed by Narciso Pascual y Colomer. The central fountain, Los Caballos, is adorned with a sculptural group of rampant horses, to which it owes its name.
11 Cedro
Cedrus libani A.Rich. The generic name comes from the Latin cedrus, and this one from greek kédros, which in Homer's time designated a conifer of aromatic wood, like that of cedars. Originally from Lebanon and southwestern Turkey, where it is more abundant, it was introduced in England in 1638 and in Aranjuez in 1787, from where it came to Madrid.
This specimen is included in the Regional Catalog of the Community of Madrid in the category of "Singular Tree" due to its extraordinary size. The measurements of the Vista Alegre Cedar, in 2018, were 5 meters in circumference and an approximate height of 35 meters. It could be the oldest cedar in Madrid, since it would have been planted around 1800.
On May 12, 1886, the strong cyclone that swept through Madrid caused serious damage to the trees on the estate. This cedar and a cypress next to the gallery of the Old Palace are the specimens that have continued in the garden since then.
12 House of Trades
This archaeological space shows us the construction remains of a soap factory, one of the many that, settled in Carabanchel, supplied this cleaning product to the washerwomen on the banks of the Manzanares.
The great building was organized in warehouses, patios and vats to contain oil, the basis for obtaining soap. We know of the existence in these spaces of manufacturing activity since the seventeenth century, belonging before the purchase by the queen to the powerful Five Major Guilds of Madrid.
After becoming Real Posesión, it was transformed into the House of Trades of the Quinta de Vista Alegre, a support and service body for its palaces. The noble floor was fitted out as a palatial residence for the morganatic Agustín Fernando Muñoz, hence the nickname The Duke's House with whom she was also known.
13 Fountain of the Sea Horses
It is the largest fountain of the seven that have been restored in the Gardens. It was designed by Narciso Pascual y Colomer with a central group probably executed by the Córdoban sculptor José Tomas. Its main vessel, partially buried, has a diameter of 16 meters and the central body, made of white marble, is configured by 4 rampant horses with fish tails that coil helically around the shaft of the fountain. Its fins support the shell-shaped upper plate, where a group of children ride mermen or climb towards the water spout.
Due to the advanced state of deterioration in which the fountain was, it was necessary to recover the watertightness of the basin and some of the limestone of the coping, as well as its hydraulic system and water features. The central body, mutilated and partially missing, has been reproduced in marble with digital technology based on the scanning of the pre-existing objects and the data obtained from graphic and written documentation descriptive of the original source.
