The Segovia Viaduct is a
viaduct in the
La Latina neighborhood in
Madrid
Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the Largest cities of the Europ ...
, Spain. Throughout the centuries the area has been a major crossroad. The bridge's main function has been to facilitate access between the town and the
Royal Palace of Madrid
The Royal Palace of Madrid ( es, Palacio Real de Madrid) is the official residence of the Spanish royal family at the city of Madrid, although now used only for state ceremonies.
The palace has of floor space and contains 3,418 rooms. It is the ...
. A later version was built in 1934 to replace the previous iron one erected in 1874. The present one is the result of many restorations in order for its structure to accommodate the growing traffic demand. It spans Segovia Street, 25 meters below, from which it takes its name, although it is popularly known as "El Viaducto". Throughout its history, it had been a common site for suicide in Madrid until 1998.
History
Segovia Street lies in the basin at least partially formed by the old San Pedro Creek. In the Middle Ages, this ravine was one of the most important routes of entry into Madrid and connected the town with the old road to
Segovia
Segovia ( , , ) is a city in the autonomous community of Castile and León, Spain. It is the capital and most populated municipality of the Province of Segovia.
Segovia is in the Inner Plateau ('' Meseta central''), near the northern slopes of t ...
, which started on the other side of the
Manzanares River
The Manzanares () is a river in the centre of the Iberian Peninsula, which flows from the Sierra de Guadarrama, passes through Madrid, and eventually empties into the Jarama river, which in turn is a right-bank tributary to the Tagus.
In its ...
. The
Bridge of Segovia (1582-1584) succeeded in crossing the Manzanares, attributed to the architect Juan de Herrera, which replaced the original, built in the first half of the fourteenth century by
Alfonso XI of Castile. Abundant in fresh water, the area in the wash of the basin of San Pedro enjoyed many orchards and was called ''El Pozacho'', which was named after a waterwheel or similar hydraulic device which may have existed there. In an illustration by
Anton van den Wyngaerde
Anton van den Wyngaerde ( Span.: ''Antonio de las Viñas''; 1525 – 7 May 1571) was a prolific Flemish topographical artist who made panoramic sketches and paintings of towns in the southern Netherlands, northern France, England, Italy, and Spa ...
in 1562, the grade of the ravine is clearly seen.
![Dibujo madrid 1562](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f9/Dibujo_madrid_1562.JPG)
Bailén Street ended abruptly at the edge of this ravine, forcing pedestrians to make the difficult descent and ascent to reach the area of the Royal Alcázar of Madrid. Access to and from what would become Segovia Street was gained by intricate arteries through various paths traversing the slopes.
Upon establishing the Royal Court in Madrid in 1561,
King Philip II began to promote urban expansion. This conceptualization required an extension of Bailén Street crossing above and bridging the gap perpendicularly over this ravine, thus joining the Royal Palace area with Vistillas to the south and beyond.
Only a small part of the project to extend Bailén materialized until the
Bourbons
The House of Bourbon (, also ; ) is a European dynasty of French origin, a branch of the Capetian dynasty, the royal House of France. Bourbon kings first ruled France and Navarre in the 16th century. By the 18th century, members of the Spani ...
. Some houses and establishments were demolished, including the original cathedral of Madrid, in order to level the field, creating a gateway to the city. This street was called ''Calle Real Nueva'', and eventually became modern Segovia Street. After two shelved attempts, the viaduct was finally completed in 1874, undergoing two complete reconstructions since then.
Construction
The first viaduct
The initial concept was started in 1736 by the Italian Juan Bautista Sacchetti, one of the architects who worked on the construction of the Royal Palace. The project ultimately failed to come to fruition. This idea of a viaduct for urban design motivation was proposed again by the royal architect Silvestre Perez during the reign of
Joseph Bonaparte
it, Giuseppe-Napoleone Buonaparte es, José Napoleón Bonaparte
, house = Bonaparte
, father = Carlo Buonaparte
, mother = Letizia Ramolino
, birth_date = 7 January 1768
, birth_place = Corte, Corsica, Republic of ...
(1808-1813). This time, the project also failed to materialize due to lack of monetary resources.
Although the urbanization ideas of Silvestre Perez were not fully implemented, the road which would become Bailén underwent a full remodeling. This involved the expropriation and demolition of several residential and religious buildings, including what was considered the oldest church in Madrid, the Santa Maria de la Almudena, in 1868. Construction of the new
Almudena Cathedral
Almudena Cathedral (''Santa María la Real de La Almudena'') is a Catholic church in Madrid, Spain. It is the seat of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Madrid. The cathedral was consecrated by Pope John Paul II in 1993.
History
When the capita ...
began in 1879, this time adjacent to the Royal Palace on Bailén Street. The demolitions continued until 1883. On January 31, 1872 the first piece of iron was placed. The bridge was originally built in 1874 by the city engineer Eugene Barron Avignon, within the overall reform project based on Bailen Street, involving the creation of a large avenue, oriented nearly north-south, uniting two monuments, the Royal Palace and the
San Francisco el Grande Basilica. This operation greatly improved the immediate neighborhood that was somewhat isolated, which is traditionally called ''morería vieja'', the old Moorish quarter.
The first iron bridge was considered a technological and engineering feat at the time due to its great span. Crossing Segovia Street at a height of 23 meters, it had a length of 120 meters and was 13 meters wide, capable of withstanding pressures of four kilos per square meter. It was inaugurated on 13 October 1874.
The second viaduct
In 1931, The poor condition of the old viaduct caused the government of the
Second Republic to hold a competition to design the current one; the contest was canceled by the College of Architects and reconvened the following year. The winning project was by the architect Francisco Javier Ferrero Lluisa. The primitive wood-and-iron viaduct was finally demolished in 1932, after a great deal of rehabilitation and reinforcement in the 1920s, since the first cracks were detected in 1925. The work was completed in 1934. The winning project was characterized by the use of polished concrete, affixed in granite piers.
The viaduct was damaged significantly by artillery in the
Siege of Madrid during the
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, link ...
, due to its proximity to the front lines. It was restored to original specifications and reopened on 28 March 1942. The traffic had become very intense, as Bailén Street had major automobile traffic in the 1950s and 1960s. The design of the viaduct was calculated for trams with thirteen-ton axle loads, which was ideal in the 1920s. By the early 1970s demand and structural load had become much greater than those calculated in the twenties.
The third viaduct
![Viaducto de Segovia, Madrid-2009](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d2/Viaducto_de_Segovia%2C_Madrid-2009.jpg)
In 1974, in light of the results of a technical study of its deterioration, its restoration was proposed to Madrid City Hall. The same year its weight load was lightened by restricting use and traffic was completely halted on the viaduct in 1976. Bailén traffic was completely disrupted for a few years in the seventies. After considering the possibility of demolition and substituting it for a more modern one, a decision was finally made to refurbish and preserve it, which was carried out between 1977 and 1978, This reconstruction retains the shape of the second viaduct, increasing its height by two meters, its span by almost 200 meters, and its traffic capacity.
Description
Segovia Viaduct is designed for heavy two-way vehicular traffic and has pedestrian sidewalks on either side. It has a drop of 25 meters at its highest point. This is a civil work with influences of rationalist architecture. It is built of polished concrete, while the bases of the pillars are covered with granite blocks. Crossing it provides a view of
Casa de Campo
The Casa de Campo (, for Spanish: ''Country House'') is the largest public park in Madrid. It is situated west of central Madrid, Spain. It gets its name 'Country House' because it was once a royal hunting estate, located just west of the Ro ...
, especially the lake.
In popular culture
Since initial completion, the structure had always been a
place that many people chose to commit suicide. This culminated in the 1990s, when suicides occurred at a rate of at least four per month. Even the first viaduct had to be fenced off due to multiple suicides. The total is unknown, but this would put the number at well over 500 just for the 20th century.
It was often locally referred to as the suicide bridge. In October 1998, under the term of
José María Álvarez del Manzano
José María Álvarez del Manzano y López del Hierro (born 17 October 1937) is a Spanish politician for the People's Party. Although born in Seville he has lived in Madrid since he was 3 years old. He studied at the Colegio Nuestra Señora de ...
, the City of Madrid installed thick acrylic glass barriers to keep people from jumping off, partially due to the danger it was posing to pedestrian and vehicular traffic below. It has been successful at deterring further jumpers.
It features frequently in the literary-bohemian world of Madrid in works by authors such as
Valle-Inclán (
Bohemian Lights
''Bohemian Lights'', or ''Luces de Bohemia'' in the original Spanish, is a play written by Ramón del Valle-Inclán, published in 1924. The central character is Max Estrella, a struggling poet afflicted by blindness due to developing syphilis. ...
), and
Benito Pérez Galdós. The second viaduct is present in several novels by authors such as
Enrique Jardiel Poncela
Enrique Jardiel Poncela (15 October 1901 – 18 February 1952) was a Spanish playwright and novelist who wrote mostly humorous works.
In 1932-33 and 1934 he was called to Hollywood to help with the Spanish-language versions shot in parallel to ...
, as well as
Camilo José Cela
Camilo José Cela y Trulock, 1st Marquess of Iria Flavia (; 11 May 1916 – 17 January 2002) was a Spanish novelist, poet, story writer and essayist associated with the Generation of '36 movement.
He was awarded the 1989 Nobel Prize in Litera ...
. It appears often in
Spanish cinema
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries
**Spanish cuisine
Other places
* Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...
, including ''
Matador
A bullfighter (or matador) is a performer in the activity of bullfighting. ''Torero'' () or ''toureiro'' (), both from Latin ''taurarius'', are the Spanish and Portuguese words for bullfighter and describe all the performers in the activit ...
,''
''High Heels'' and ''
I'm So Excited!
''I'm So Excited!'' is a 2013 Spanish comedy film written and directed by Pedro Almodóvar, and starring Javier Cámara, Cecilia Roth, Lola Dueñas, and Raúl Arévalo. Its original Spanish title, ''Los amantes pasajeros'', has the double meani ...
'' (
2013
File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fa ...
) by
Pedro Almodóvar
Pedro Almodóvar Caballero (; (often known simply as Almodóvar) born 25 September 1949) is a Spanish filmmaker. His films are marked by melodrama, irreverent humour, bold colour, glossy décor, quotations from popular culture, and complex narra ...
.
See also
*
Architecture of Madrid
The architecture of Madrid has preserved the look and feel of many of its historic neighbourhoods and streets, even though Madrid possesses a modern infrastructure. Its landmarks include the Royal Palace of Madrid, the Royal Theatre with its resto ...
References
External links
{{commonscat-inline, Viaducto de Segovia, Madrid, Segovia Viaduct
Viaducts in Spain
Bridges in Madrid
Buildings and structures in Palacio neighborhood, Madrid