Toledo Gate
Glorieta de la Puerta de Toledo, 328005 Madrid, Spain
Description:
In the XV century the gate served as the beginning of the road to the city of Toledo. Over time, the gates were dismantled, and new ones were erected in their place in 1625.
During the Napoleonic Wars, King Joseph Bonaparte of Spain decided to reconstruct the gates in order to ennoble the old road to Madrid from Andalusia, as well as in honor of the Constitution of 1812. However, the death of the king in 1813 and a lack of funds prevented this idea from being realized. Soon, the municipal authorities commissioned the architect Antonio López Aguado to develop a new project, who designed the gate in the form of a triumphal arch, this time in honor of King Ferdinand VII. Construction was carried out for 10 years - from 1817 to 1827.
Toledo Gate consists of three spans and is built of granite blocks. Above the main arch is an inscription in Latin: “Dedicated to Ferdinand VII, the Desired, the Father of the Nation, the Liberator of the Land and the Redeemer from the Usurpation of the French.”