Thursday, March 28

The Community of Madrid authorizes the reburying of the archaeological remains found in the Puerta del Sol


The vestiges of the past that emerged in the heart of Madrid during the works of the Puerta del Sol will once again be covered up. The Community of Madrid has authorized the City Council to bury the old foundations discovered a few days ago during the remodeling work on the square.

This will be the new Puerta del Sol: more diaphanous, without shade and with Carlos III surrounded by water

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A report from the General Directorate of Heritage of the Community gives free rein to the consistory to cover the archaeological remains found. It must be done “with geotextile and clean sand”, sources from the Works area tell Somos Madrid, before installing the necessary pipes for the execution of the project.

The foundations that will be covered are located between the accesses to the streets of Preciados and Carmen, next to the Tío Pepe sign, in an area where there were buildings before the works that took place in the square in the mid-nineteenth century, when Part of the buildings that surrounded it were pulled down to enlarge the existing space. The prints of these buildings can be seen in some images of Laurent and other photographers of the time.

From Madrid Ciudadanía y Patrimonio (MCyP), a vigilant entity of the cultural assets of the capital, they already warned that the possible final destination of these constructions could be burial: “In Madrid practically nothing of the archaeological stratum is preserved, except pieces museables that end up in a showcase”, they commented to this newspaper a few days ago. What usually happens is that the Administration orders the dismantling and “only the documentation of what was there at the time the excavation was carried out remains,” they add.

“In this city, almost miraculously, only the remains of the Palace of Godoy, a part of the Fuente de los Caños del Peral… and very few things remain. Efforts are not made to promote the archaeological heritage in situ”, they lament from MCyP. In Puerta del Sol itself there are some of those rare examples, the remains of the Iglesia del Buen Suceso, which was demolished to enlarge the square. Four of its columns, however, were moved to municipal warehouses and five years ago they were placed in the Jardines del Arquitecto Ribera, in Tribunal.

The reform of the Puerta del Sol began at the end of last March and is expected to last 12 months, if there are no unforeseen delays. It will serve to completely pedestrianize this environment and as an electoral card for the mayor, José Luis Martínez-Almeida, ahead of the elections next May.





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