Madrid A perfect day in the mountains: haute cuisine among bunkers, caves and the tableware of Alfonso XII
Album Twelve of the smallest and most beautiful towns in Spain
The
302 stations
of the Madrid metro allow for much more than a trip between carriages.
They have even served as the setting for a number with music by
Raffaella Carrá
in the film
Explota Explota
.
We make a route through the most emematic, terrifying, beautiful stops...
CHAMBERÍ
Inaugurated in 1919 and permanently closed in 1966, the design was carried out by the architect Antonio Palacios, who introduced a skylight in the lobby.
For the vault and the interior walls, he opted for a covering of
white Sevillian tiles
, among which advertising posters for brands of the time such as Phillips, Portland Cement,
Aguas de Carabaña or Almacenes Rodíguez
, also made of ceramic, alternated.
Today, they can be seen as they looked in the 1920s thanks to the free guided tours that run through the station, converted into a museum and declared in 2013 an Asset of Cultural Interest of the Community of Madrid in the monument category.
With time, we already said it,
the dance steps of the Carrá would arrive
.
The filmmaker
Fernando León de Aranoa
would also shoot several scenes from
Barrio
(1998), a film in which it became a shelter for the homeless.
The most terrifying sessions by Count Dracula and company would come later, since it is a classic in the Halloween night celebrations.
Chamberi station.
TIRSO DE MOLINA
Terrifying reminiscences continue in this central station, since it preserves the remains of the Mercedarian monks who inhabited the old
convent of La Merced,
located in the current Plaza de Tirso de Molina and demolished more than 150 years ago.
The bones were not discovered until the beginning of the 20th century,
when work began on line 1
of the metro.
The workers could not think of anything else but to deposit them on the platforms and cover them with tiles, since they did not know what to do with them.
And there they continue, according to legend.
Interior of the Tirso de Molina station.
PEACEFUL
The Galician urban planner Antonio Palacios was also responsible for building the
Nave de Motores
on Calle Valderribas, located right next to the Pacífico metro station.
The purpose of the building, built in the 1920s, was to provide a better energy service to the metro, although during the
Civil War it
supplied the entire city.
The room, which can be visited just like the
Pacífico lobby,
consists of three gigantic diesel engines and different machinery from the
Unión Eléctrica company.
Not surprisingly, it is one of the suburban museums that Metro de Madrid has together with the aforementioned Chamberí or those of Chamartín and the Caños del Peral (Opera).
Pacific Motor Ship.
CHAMARTIN
We continue the route of the museums with the exhibition of historical trains located in Chamartín.
These classics, made up of four cars, toured
the basement of the city
between 1919 and 1965. They are joined in the exhibition by more than 100 elements linked to the underground, such as the telephones that were used in the 60s to communicate between nearby stations or the
Teresian cap,
which was part of the clothing of the employees until the early 80s. Guided or free tours can be made with prior reservation.
Museum of historical trains of Chamartín.
CAÑOS DEL PERA (OPERA)
The next museum in the network is archaeological and is located in the Ópera station, in the vicinity of which are the Caños del Peral fountain, the
Amaniel aqueduct
and the Arenal sewer.
Dating from the 16th and 17th centuries, all these constructions were related to the water supply to the capital and their ruins were found in the works to improve the station in 2009. Anyone who wants to discover them can visit the museum, located 10 meters away just below the
Plaza de Isabel II
and the Teatro Real.
Archaeological remains of Caños del Peral.
PRINCE PIO AND CARPETANA
Archeology lovers have obligatory stops at these two stations, where 3,000 and 15,000
paleontological remains
are located, respectively, about 15 years old.
In the case of Príncipe Pío, they were discovered during the remodeling work on the interchange, carried out between 2005 and 2007, and they correspond to all kinds of animals: turtles, mastodons, wild boars, deer, otters... Most of them were taken to
the National Museum of Natural Sciences
, although a part, including reproductions of fossil skulls, can be visited at the station.
The one in Carpetana, for its part, houses an authentic
paleontological museum,
in addition to a huge screen-printed panel that reviews the fauna found in the area through comics.
As if that were not enough, the entrance has a life-size replica of a mastodon.
Replica of a mastodon in Carpetana.
OTHER KEYS
RANKING. The most beautiful stops on the subway
Those of Paco de Lucía, Seville, Hortaleza or Arganzuela-Planetario are the most beautiful for their design and decoration.
SHOOTS. Underground film and television sets
'Robbery at three', 'The executioner', 'Labyrinth of passions', 'Barrio'... These are some of the films filmed in the subway.
ACTIVITIES. Dance classes in the heart of Gran Vía
Next to the bandstand at this station, 'flashmobs' or dance sessions are held.
EXHIBITIONS. Works of art between the platforms
Alsacia or Hospital 12 de Octubre exhibit artistic pieces in their facilities
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