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GALDÓS'

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AN GALDÓS’ PLACES OF INTEREST MUSEUMS 5 Scientific and Literary Athenaeum 18 Pozas Mansion History Museum Calle del Prado, 21 - METRO: Antón Martín Calle de la Princesa 33 - METRO: Ventura Rodríguez Calle de Fuencarral, 78 - METRO: Tribunal TEL: (+34) 91 701 18 63 INFO: Tues-Sun 10:00-20:00 h When Mariano José de Larra became its first The mansion where Emilia Pardo Bazán lived was member on 4 January 1836, the Ateneo de Ma- located at number 33 in Calle Princesa. In ad- The History Museum offers a complete overview drid emerged as a meeting place for politicians, dition to being one of the 19th century’s most of Madrid from the to the writers and philosophers. For decades a safe ha- important novelists, thanks to works like The early 20th century. Particularly noteworthy is ven for liberal ideas, in the 19th century it was House of Ulloa (Pazos de Ulloa), she was also an the scale model of Madrid by León Gil de Pala- given the nickname of “Little Holland”. Galdós intellectual committed to women’s rights. Their cio which offers a detailed view of what the city met Leopoldo Alas Clarín, another of Spanish correspondence shows that their relationship looked like between 1828 and 1830, just dec- Naturalism’s great narrators, when the institution was one of Galdós’ longest. He never married, ades before it was chronicled by Galdós. «It’s a chilly January in 1919. Galdós, who was headquartered at no. 32 in Calle Montera. and she would affectionately call him “miquiño has gone blind and has trouble walking mío” (“my little boy”). and moving around, feels several arms Museum of Romanticism straining around him. The next thing he 6 Palacio de las Cortes Calle de San Mateo, 13 - METRO: Tribunal knows, he’s being lifted straight up and Plaza de las Cortes, s/n - METRO: Banco de España 19 Real Academia Española TEL: (+34) 91 448 01 63 / 91 448 10 45 INFO: Winter (Tues-Sat 9:30-18:30 h; Sun 10:00-15:00 h) taken to a recently unveiled monument: Calle de Felipe IV, 4 - METRO: Banco de España Summer (Tues-Sat 9:30-20:30 h; Sun 10:00-15:00 h) it’s a statue of him sculpted by Victorio Other than in his youth, Benito Pérez Galdós Macho, which his friends have erect- showed little enthusiasm for politics, but that In 1897, Benito Pérez Galdós occupied the “N” Paintings by Goya, Madrazo and the Bécquer ed with great affection in El Retiro Park. did not stop him from being elected twice to seat at the Royal Spanish Academy. Although it brothers, as well as furniture, jewellery and the Nobody wanted to be outdone: the City parliament. First in 1886, as a member of the was founded in 1713, the current building was gun used by Larra to commit suicide capture Liberal Party (Partido Liberal) at the initiative constructed in the late 19th century, on land the essence of 19th Madrid, which provided the Council contributed three thousand pe- of his friend Sagasta, and again in 1910, as ceded by Alfonso XII for that purpose. backdrop to many of Benito Pérez Galdós’ novels. setas; the Academy, one thousand; and leader of the Republican–Socialist Conjunction peers such as Margarita Xirgu and the (Conjunción Republicano-Socialista), which re- 13 El Debate Quintero brothers, twenty-five pesetas 1 Guesthouse on Calle de las Fuentes ceived just over 10 percent of the vote. During Calle de Fomento, 15 - METRO: Plaza de España 20 Monument to Galdós 25 Lázaro Galdiano Museum each. When he perceives the presence of Calle de las Fuentes, 3 - METRO: Ópera both terms he regularly attended Palacio de las El Retiro Park (Paseo de Uruguay, 3) Calle de Serrano, 122 the cold stone next to him, the arms of his Cortes, ’s House of Parliament, located in Number 15 in Calle Fomento was the location METRO: Atocha Renfe METRO: Rubén Darío, Gregorio Marañón TEL: (+34) 91 561 60 84 people strain even more to hold him up as As was customary among students from other Carrera de San Jerónimo. of the editorial office of El Debate, a newspaper Blind and crippled, in 1919 the writer attended INFO: Tues-Sat 10:00-16:30 h. Sun 10:00-15:00 h he uses his right hand to feel the features parts of Spain, during his first months in Madrid that Galdós ran between 1871 and 1873. the unveiling of a monument funded by dona- of his face. He can make out an aquiline –from 1862 to 1863– Galdós lived in a modest 9 Royal Palace tions that was erected in his honour in El Reti- In addition to being an exceptional collector, guesthouse at number 3 in Calle de las Fuentes. 7 Teatro de la Comedia ro Park. Created by sculptor Victorio Macho, it José Lázaro Galdiano was the editor of La Es- nose, a bulky moustache –from another Calle de Bailén, s/n - METRO: Ópera It was the base from which he discovered many of Calle del Príncipe, 14 - METRO: TEL: (+34) 91 454 88 00 14 Church of San Sebastián is carved in white stone and shows the novelist paña Moderna, which published texts by Pardo time perhaps– and eyes as lifeless as his, INFO: Summer (Mon-Sun 10:00-20:00 h) the settings that would later appear in his novels. Winter (Mon-Sun 10:00-18:00 h) Calle de Atocha, 39 - METRO: Antón Martín sitting in an armchair. Bazán, Unamuno, Galdós, Dostoevsky, Tolstoy although in this case it’s an effect sculpt- Now home to La Compañía Nacional de Teatro Free for EU & South American citizens: Summer (Mon-Thur and Flaubert in the late 19th century, sometimes ed into the stone. From his own eyes, a Clásico, Spain’s classical theatre company, this 18:00-20:00) Winter (Mon-Thur 16:00-18:00) At the beginning of Compassion, Galdós offers translated for the first time into Spanish. Parque tear falls, arousing thunderous applause 2 Universidad Central theatre staged the premiere of Reality (La Real- In The Spendthrifts (La de Bringas), Galdós tells a description of the Church of San Sebastián 21 Alberto Aguilera’s House Florido, the mansion where he lived in Calle Ser- from the onlookers. One year later, thirty Calle de San Bernardo, 49 - METRO: Noviciado idad) on 15 March 1892, starring the great ac- the story of the financial troubles that befall a and its surroundings: the florist’s behind it, Tepa Calle de Alberto Aguilera, 70 - METRO: Argüelles rano, was a focal point of literary life in Madrid thousand people will accompany his cof- tress María Guerrero. It was the first of Galdós fashion addict married to a court official who Palace and Plaza del Ángel. This parish church during the period. fin to La Almudena Cemetery, where he Galdós came to Madrid from Las Palmas de Gran works to be performed on stage, despite the lives on the upper floor of the Royal Palace. In the in Madrid’s Barrio de las Letras (Literary Quar- In Galdós’ time, the street was called Paseo de remains buried to this day. Canaria to study law at the faculty in El Caserón great vocation as a playwright that had distin- novel the writer describes life inside the palace, ter) is also the burial place of playwright Lope Areneros, and he lived at number 46 from 1896 de San Bernardo, which now holds the audito- guished him from an early age. constructed in the 18th century by Italian archi- de Vega and architects Ventura Rodríguez and to 1912. It was in that house that he wrote his National Library Museum rium of the Complutense University (UCM) and tects Juvarra and Sacchetti. Juan de Villanueva. masterpiece Compassion, in 1897. Paseo de Recoletos, 20 - METRO: Colón A century has passed since then, and the Marqués de Valdecilla Historical Library (no. TEL: (+34) 91 516 89 67 one may wonder why his friends payed INFO: Mon-Sat 10:00-20:00 h 3 in Calle de Noviciado). Years later, in Memoirs 8 Teatro Español Sun & hols 10:00-14:00 h for and erected a statue in his hon- of a Forgetful Man (Memorias de un desmemo- Plaza de Santa Ana. Calle del Príncipe, 25 - METRO: Sevilla 10 Plaza Mayor 15 Las Cambroneras and las Injurias 22 Galdós’ Last Residence our. Why did half of Madrid head to the riado), he admitted that he attended class very Plaza Mayor (the house at no. 11 Cava de San Miguel) METRO: Pirámides Calle de Hilarión Eslava, 7 - METRO: Argüelles The Spanish National Library is housed in a mag- streets to bid him farewell? The answer infrequently, although it was there that he met On 30 January 1901, Teatro Español hosted the METRO: Sol nificent building at the end of Paseo de Recole- is simple: because Galdós had been part Francisco Giner de los Ríos, the man who found- premiere of Electra, a play that sparked an entire Fortunata, the lower-class woman who seduc- Galdós was the first writer to describe what life The writer died in his home at no. 7 Calle Hilarión tos that was commissioned by Queen Isabella II. of their world. He had engaged with the ed the Free Educational Institution (ILE). anticlerical movement in Spain that the writer es Juanito Santa Cruz in Fortunata and Jacinta, was like in the suburbs that were growing up Eslava, in a building that’s no longer standing. Not Particularly remarkable among the treasures it common folk, the streets, trams, ordi- had never intended. The plot was inspired by the lived at number 11 in Cava de San Miguel, just around the capital. Cuatro Caminos and Tetuán only was this extension of the Chamberí district holds are the oldest copy of The Song of My Cid nary conversation. With taverns, cafés, case of Adelaida Ubao, which was covered heav- behind Plaza Mayor. In his works the author men- de las Victorias appear in Fortunata and Jacin- the last neighbourhood that Galdós lived in, it was (El Cantar de mio Cid), a Juan de la Cuesta first 3 Teatro Real ily by the press at the time. The young girl was a tions the nearby Restaurante Botín, open since ta and in his Torquemada series of novels, and also the setting of some of his novels. These de- edition of Don Quixote and the only drawings in churches and literary and scientific as- Plaza de Isabel II, s/n - METRO: Ópera minor who joined a convent against her family’s 1725, which the Guinness Book of Records lists Compassion mentions the neighbourhoods of scribe the city’s unstoppable growth which was Spain attributed to Leonardo da Vinci. The lower sociations. With trades, beliefs, families, will, and Nicolás Salmerón was the Republican as the world’s oldest restaurant. Las Injurias and Las Cambroneras, located in driven by the Castro Plan launched in the mid- floor hosts exhibitions and holds a museum that dogmas. He had kept company with gov- Between 1865 and 1868, young Galdós was a lawyer chosen by the family to defend its suit, the area around Puente de Toledo, which were 19th century. provides an overview of the history of the library, ernment leaders, shopkeepers, aristo- regular contributor to the newspaper La Nación, which he ultimately won. In the play’s plot, Elec- well-known at the time for the squalid living con- which was founded in 1911. crats and thieves. He had engaged with for which he began to write music reviews. He tra’s guardian, Salvador Pantoja, wants to sepa- 11 Calle del Marqués Viudo ditions of their residents. you and me. Galdós embraced people’s discovered his passion for opera at the Teatro rate her from Máximo, the young man she loves. de Pontejos, 1 23 Casa de la Villa ordinariness, regardless of their status Real, Madrid’s opera house which had been in- To achieve this end, he makes her believe they are Plaza de la Villa, 5 - METRO: Sol METRO: Sol or social class. It was this ordinary real- augurated by Queen Isabella II in 1850 with a siblings. Upon hearing the news, Electra decides 16 Church of las Maravillas ity that inspired him to write several of production of Donizetti’s La Favorite. to shut herself away in a convent, from which she The novel’s other main character, Jacinta, would Plaza del Dos de Mayo, 11 - METRO: Tribunal The writer’s funeral chapel was set up here on 5 the most extraordinary paragraphs in the is rescued once the lie has been exposed. It’s a have lived here, as it is where the Santa Cruz January 1920. Over 20,000 of Madrid’s residents plot that in no way strikes us as anticlerical. family’s residence was located. On the same Galdós and Emilia Pardo Bazán would meet clan- came out to bid him farewell, in a city where half history of Spanish literature. And it was 4 Cafés in square, Plaza de Pontejos, stands the enormous destinely in this place. She was one of the writ- the population was illiterate. this fellow feeling that inspired the affec- Puerta del Sol, s/n - METRO: Sol Pontejos haberdashery which opened in 1913. er’s most enduring lovers. tion that so many held him in». Even today it remains a veritable museum of but- Galdós frequented the tertulia canaria (a gath- tons in Madrid that’s well worth a visit. 24 La Almudena Cemetery ering of Canary Island writers to discuss topics Carlos Mayoral 17 Obras de Pérez Galdós Avenida de Daroca, 90 - METRO: La Elipa of common interest) held at Café Universal, also Publishing House known as the “café with the mirrors”, which had 12 Lhardy Nazarín, a novel adapted for the silver screen Calle de Hortaleza, 104 - METRO: Alonso Martínez opened in Puerta del Sol in 1880. Decades ear- Carrera de San Jerónimo, 8 - METRO: Sol decades later by Luis Buñuel, mentions San Isidro lier La Fontana de Oro, another café in the same Between 1897 and 1904, the Obras de Pérez Cemetery, where Madrid’s wealthy classes were area, had been a meeting place for liberal poli- According to Galdós, this establishment, famous Galdós publishing house was located at num- buried. Galdós’ grave, however, can be found ticians during the Trienio Liberal (Liberal Trien- for its cocido stew, “came to dress bakery goods ber 104 in Calle Hortaleza. It was founded by the in La Almudena Cemetery, one of the largest in nium), and it lent its name to the title of Galdós in their Sunday best”. Today you’ll find Lhardy in writer himself to publish his novels. Years later, in Europe, which opened in 1884. Dámaso Alonso, first novel, published in 1870. Neither café re- Carrera de San Jerónimo, but it was initially lo- 1942, his heirs opened an antique bookshop at Pío Baroja and Juan Carlos Onetti are some of the main today. cated in the vicinity of Plaza Mayor. number 5 that they named after him. other writers who were laid to rest here.