plaza+de+oriente

This page has been created by: Leyre Poza, María Morente and Aldara Cruzado. toc

The Plaza de Oriente is situated in the center of Madrid. It is a rectangular square of monumental character, built in 1844 by Narciso Pascual y Colomer, one of his drivers was the king Jose I, who ordered the demolition of the houses on this land. Is formed by two of the most outstanding buildings in the capital: on the one hand defines the Royal Palace and on the other hand defines the Theatre Royal and its north face forms the Real Monasterio de la Encarncion. Apart of those buildings, the monumental square has several gardens and a large collection of sculptures, which stands out especially the portrait of Philip IV, XVII century work. = =

** History ** The idea of holding a large square near the Royal Palace dates back to the eighteenth century, the architects of the palace wanted to put a garden area in the east part. In the early nineteenth century, during the reign of Jose Bonaparte, he threw the first houses and buildings near the palace environment. Fernando VII push the start of some buildings of the square contour and the collapse of the theater of the Sewers of Peral. Then another theater, the Real Theatre, on the opposite side of the palace. During the reign of Elizabeth II, it took the decision to throw down all the buildings erected by Fernando VII and make a new design, according to the Royal Theatre. The gardens of the square has undergone significant changes over time. At first they were placed circumferentially around the monument to Philip IV, which occupies the center of campus. On either side of the statue was located 44 sculptures of different Spanish monarchs, who then fell to 20. The design of the gardens is distributed in a cuadrangular form. The twenty statues are placed in a row, in two rows of ten, on both sides of the central monument. In the mid-nineties, the plaza was remodeled. Some pedestrian spaces were eraned, and an underground garage was built.

**The** ** Gardens ** Oriente´s square is rectangular, although his head, it is situated in the east, forming a closed curve, chaired by the Teatro Real. Three quadrants can be distinguished: the central gardens, Gardens Cape Noval and Gardens Lepanto. The central gardens are placed around the monument, in a grid. Are comprised of seven beds, populated by box hedges, cypress, yew and magnolia trees of small size, and flower plantations, temporary.


 * Monument to Philip IV **

The monument of Phillip IV, is situated in the center of the square. Is the most important sculpture of the square. In it´s sides it has four scultures of lions.

**Statues of Spanish kings** The square houses a sculpture collection of twenty Spanish kings,five visigoths kings and fifteen monarchs of the first Christian kingdoms of the Reconquest. These statues, made of limestone, are distributed in two rows, which cross the site in an east-west, on both sides of the central gardens. The statues were made, under the direction of the court sculptor Domenico Olivieri and Felipe de Castro.

Cape Gardens Noval, composed mainly of banana plantations, occupy the northern part of the Plaza de Oriente, near the Rue Saint-Quentin. Lepanto Gardens are located in the southern part of the square. East Street is Lepanto, which lends its name as Cape Gardens Noval, those of Lepanto up banana plantations, large and from various cedars. Above them stands the monument to Captain Angel Melgar, bronze and marble works of Julio González Pola.
 * Cape Gardens Noval and **** Gardens of Lepanto **