# Mud in Madrid



## Felix Noille (Apr 26, 2021)

The Museo National del Prado has already had a mention on this _forum_. However, not with regards to mud...


This is a photo of the northern end of the building from 1864. The religious building in the background is San Jerónimo el Real, a “Former 1500s monastery with a remodeled neo-gothic sanctuary, stained glass & a baroque cloister” according to Google. You will notice the slope leading up from the bottom right of the picture. This has obviously been there long enough to warrant the installation of steps, although, judging by the age of the trees, not that long. I would like to point out that this is almost the centre of Madrid and yet all we see are these 4 “Herberts” posed for the photo… maybe that should be “Josés”. The length of the shadows doesn’t indicate a very late or early time of day.


This photo is from 1878 and it seems that nothing much has changed in the previous 14 years.


By 1892 they had done some digging and we now see the lower floor of the museum. Well, some of it, but not all. They have also added a staircase, as I don’t think that would have been excavated. 4 Herberts again with the 2 on the right apparently doing the Paso Doble.


A photo from 2016 showing that the staircase has been remodelled again and that the side of the building is still below ground level. It would be interesting to know if the museum is at the same ground level as the monastery from 1500 – the museum is claimed to have been opened to the public in 1819 following its design in 1785.


This is the Plaza de Callao from before the construction of the Gran Via (the main road through Madrid) which means it could date from anywhere between 1862-1899. That’s quite a steep incline, which isn’t there today.


This photo claims to be from 1921 during the Gran Via’s construction. The earth moving equipment looks identical to that being used in the previous photo from the previous century. There’s even oxen pulling a cart. It’s quite a difficult scene to get your head around. The large building in the background with the two towers on the top either doesn’t exist in Gran Via today or the scene is from somewhere else. My wife, who is Spanish and was brought up in Madrid, states that the existing Gran Via is not that wide at any point. The Gran Vía project began in earnest 1899 and was finally completed in 1929. It was ‘necessary’ to demolish over 300 buildings and 50 streets.


This photo claims to be the first ever of Madrid. It’s Daguerreotype, which puts it anywhere between 1840 – 1850. It’s not very clear, but the bottom of the picture doesn’t show what you would expect to see – somewhere to walk. Could be trees I suppose.

Gracias para su atención 


> Note: This OP was recovered from the Sh.org archive.


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