The Centro Cultural de los Ejércitos (in English, Cultural Centre of the Armed Forces) is an educational military society currently located at Gran Vía 13 in Madrid. The building is also commonly known as the Casino Militar.

History of the society

Beginning in the mid-nineteenth century, the need was felt for the creation of an institution to promote the study of military science. The then Centre of the Army and the Navy was founded in 1881 in a building at the one end of Calle de Fuencarral. After changing its location several times, the centre bought a plot of land on the new Gran Vía, bordering Calle del Clavel and Calle del Caballero de Gracia. It soon become that the space was not enough. A smaller annex was added, bringing the total to 965 square meters. When the Air Force was incorporated in 1940, the institution was renamed as the Cultural Centre of the Armed Forces. As of 2021, the Cultural Centre of the Armed Forces continues to carry out cultural and educational work.

The building

The building is located at Gran Vía 13, in the

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neighborhood of the Centro district of the Spanish capital. It is near Calle del Clavel 1 and Calle del Caballero de Gracia 9. The land on which the building was erected was acquired by the Casino Militar in 1912. It was inaugurated on 16 November 1916 by King Alfonso XIII. The ground floor is crowned by depressed arches. The main floor fronts Gran Vía with an imposing balcony with

semicircular arch In mathematics (and more specifically geometry), a semicircle is a one-dimensional locus of points that forms half of a circle. The full arc of a semicircle always measures 180° (equivalently, radians, or a half-turn). It has only one line o ...

ed doors and balustrades, while the side facing Calle del Clavel is finished off at both ends with

stained glass Stained glass is coloured glass as a material or works created from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant religious buildings. Although tradition ...

windows made of glass and iron. The first floor has a balcony with a wrought-iron

guard rail Guard rail, guardrails, or protective guarding, in general, are a boundary feature and may be a means to prevent or deter access to dangerous or off-limits areas while allowing light and visibility in a greater way than a fence. Common shapes ...

and access is through a

segmental arch A segmental arch is a type of arch with a circular arc of less than 180 degrees. It is sometimes also called a scheme arch. The segmental arch is one of the strongest arches because it is able to resist thrust. To prevent failure, a segmental arc ...

with decorated tympana that disappear on the side to adapt to the greater height of the dining room. The second floor has

lintel A lintel or lintol is a type of beam (a horizontal structural element) that spans openings such as portals, doors, windows and fireplaces. It can be a decorative architectural element, or a combined ornamented structural item. In the case of w ...

led windows that are linked with those of the floor above by a perimeter fence topped by simple segmental arches that provide an undulating shape to the finishing

cornice In architecture, a cornice (from the Italian ''cornice'' meaning "ledge") is generally any horizontal decorative moulding that crowns a building or furniture element—for example, the cornice over a door or window, around the top edge of a ...

. The third floor on the side of Calle del Clavel enjoys a double height space to accommodate the library, and it is crowned by semicircular arches with large

shield A shield is a piece of personal armour held in the hand, which may or may not be strapped to the wrist or forearm. Shields are used to intercept specific attacks, whether from close-ranged weaponry or projectiles such as arrows, by means of a ...

s on the keystones, which transform the cornice into a crenellated meander. The arched door at the entrance is protected by a large awning framed in wrought-iron, a balustrade balcony on top of the main floor flanked by two double-height columns with Corinthian

capital Capital may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** List of national capital cities * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Economics and social sciences * Capital (economics), the durable produced goods used f ...

s that support a second balcony on the third floor, and a finishing tower surmounted by a

slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. It is the finest grained foliated metamorphic rock. ...

-clad vaulted roof. This vertical ensemble acts as an axis of composition where symmetry is deliberately renounced, but where each element finds in response another similar but not identical component on the other side of the rounded corner. The facade facing Caballero de Gracia is simpler, although it respects the balance with its reciprocal facing Calle del Clavel, with which it is articulated by means of a

chamfer A chamfer or is a transitional edge between two faces of an object. Sometimes defined as a form of bevel, it is often created at a 45° angle between two adjoining right-angled faces. Chamfers are frequently used in machining, carpentry, fu ...

that culminates in a large coat of arms of Spain. Particularly noteworthy throughout the complex is the decorative importance given to the wrought iron lampposts scattered along the walls, balconies and terraces. The construction obtained the first honorable mention at the City Council awards for the best-built properties in 1916, and the architect, Eduardo Sánchez Eznarriaga, received a cooperation diploma.

Gallery

File:Casino Militar, Madrid, awning at entrance.jpg, Awning at main entrance File:Casino Militar (Madrid) 02.jpg, Inscription '' Si vis pacem, para bellum'' at main entrance File:Casino Militar (Madrid) 05a.jpg, Coat of arms of Spain on back chamfer File:Casino Militar, Madrid, stained glass window.jpg, Stained glass windows facing Calle del Clavel

References

Bibliography

* * * * * {{Cite web, url=http://www.abc.es/hemeroteca/historico-21-03-2010/abc/Madrid/el-casino-militar-vanguardia-civil_114332333556.html, work=

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, location=Madrid, date=21 March 2010, last=Medialdea, title=El Casino Militar, vanguardia civil, first=Sara Gran Vía (Madrid)