Gran Vía is a station on
Line 1 and
Line 5 of the
Madrid Metro, located underneath
Gran Vía and Red de San Luis Plaza in the
Centro
Centro may refer to:
Places Brazil
*Centro, Santa Maria, a neighborhood in Santa Maria, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil
* Centro, Porto Alegre, a neighborhood of Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil
*Centro (Duque de Caxias), a neighborhood of Duq ...
district of
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 ...
. It is located in fare zone A.
History
The station was opened in 1919 as one of the original 8 metro stops in Madrid. The original name of the station was Red de San Luis after the nearby plaza. The Gran Vía street was still under construction at that time, but a year later the station adopted that name.
During the dictatorship of
Franco
Franco may refer to:
Name
* Franco (name)
* Francisco Franco (1892–1975), Spanish general and dictator of Spain from 1939 to 1975
* Franco Luambo (1938–1989), Congolese musician, the "Grand Maître"
Prefix
* Franco, a prefix used when ref ...
, the name was changed again to José Antonio. This was done in parallel with the renaming of the Gran Vía street to José Antonio Avenue by Franco, in honor of
José Antonio, founder of the
fascist party
Falange
The Falange Española Tradicionalista y de las Juntas de Ofensiva Nacional Sindicalista (FET y de las JONS; ), frequently shortened to just "FET", was the sole legal party of the Francoist regime in Spain. It was created by General Francisco ...
.
In 1970, the
Line 5 platforms opened under the name José Antonio. Fourteen years later, in 1984, the station returned to its previous name of Gran Vía.
For many years, the station was known for that housed the elevators, built by the architect
Antonio Palacios
Antonio Palacios Ramilo (8 January 1874 – 27 October 1945) was a Spanish architect. Distinguished by the monumental eclecticism he left as imprint in many of his projects, he helped define the architectural identity of Madrid in the first half ...
. It was constructed of polished granite with an iron and glass canopy. To use the elevator, customers had to pay a small fee. The original vestibule, also done by Palacios, was decorated with glazed tiles. When the edifice was dismantled in 1972, it was returned to
O Porriño
O Porriño (historically known in English as ) is a municipality in Galicia, Spain in the province of Pontevedra.
An industrial town, in the Vigo metropolitan area, it is an important economic dependency. One of its main industries is granite p ...
, the architect's hometown.
A replica of this structure has since been installed in the station. Subsequently, with the comprehensive reform of 2018, the project to install a replica of it in its original location was carried out. During the works, the original remains of said temple appeared, specifically the elevator shaft, located at the end of Calle Montera and Gran Vía.
Since July 3, 2016, the platforms of
Line 1 of the station have been closed due to works to improve the facilities on the line between the stations of
Plaza de Castilla
The Plaza de Castilla ( en, "Castile Square") is a roundabout in the north of Madrid, Spain.
Location
It is located in the north of the city and is bisected by Paseo de la Castellana, one of the main thoroughfares of the capital, almost at its ...
and
Sierra de Guadalupe.
The completion of the works It was scheduled for November 12, 2016, with the station platforms reopening on November 13, when the work was completed and service was restored on the last section of
Line 1 to open, between the
Cuatro Caminos and
Atocha Renfe stations.
In this section, the actions carried out were: the waterproofing and consolidation of the tunnel, the oldest in the Madrid underground, which was reinforced by means of cement injections and special concrete projections with metal support meshes, and the installation of the rigid catenary, as well as the assembly of the rest of the facilities and services. Since July 2017,
Line 5 has been closed and reopened in September.
Renovation works (2018–2021)
From 2018 to 2021, the station underwent major renovations and physical expansions, which included the construction of a pedestrian tunnel to the nearby
Sol station, at an estimated cost of €18 million.
Following a number of significant delays, the station was finally reopened to the public on 16 July 2021.
The delay was caused by the finding of the remains of the Palacios elevator and stairs and a collapse risk of the tunnel to the
commuter railway station.
Originally, the completion date of the works was scheduled for April 2019,
but later it was delayed to mid-October, the first quarter of 2020,
March 2020 and "late 2020 or early 2021 ».
The COVID-19 crisis postponed the progress of the works and the reopening date.
On November 16, 2020, the Community of Madrid announced that the reform works could end in the summer of 2021, limiting, after an announcement on April 7, 2021, to the month of July. On June 3, the final date for the opening of the station was announced, July 16, 2021.
Further reading
* Zozaya, María; Barrena, Clemente y Medrano, José Miguel, ''La Gran Vía'', Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando, 2002, Madrid. ().
References
External links
Station information page on the Madrid Metro web site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gran Via (Madrid Metro)
Madrid Metro stations located underground
Line 1 (Madrid Metro) stations
Line 5 (Madrid Metro) stations
Gran Vía (Madrid)
1919 establishments in Spain
Railway stations opened in 1919