page_title: Paseo de Recoletos
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Paseo de Recoletos / History
caption_attribution_description: English: View from Paseo de Recoletos (a boulevard) in Madrid (Spain). Español: Vista del Paseo de Recoletos de Madrid (España).
context_page_description: Paseo de Recoletos is a wide boulevard in central Madrid leading from Plaza de Cibeles to Plaza de Colón.
  From West to East it consists of:
  Two southward lanes
  The pedestrian walk
  A southward Bus lane
  Three southward lanes
  Three northward lanes
  A median strip lined with trees, flowerbeds, etc.
  Two northward lanes
  A northward Bus lane.
context_section_description: By the end of the 18th century architect José de Hermosilla was entrusted by King Charles III to urbanize the area of the old Bajo Abroñigal (or Valnegral) river, which flowed from Chamartín to Plaza Atocha. This gave birth to Paseo del Prado as well to Paseo de Recoletos. The name "Recoletos" was taken from an old convent of Augustinian Recollect friars built in 1592 in the area.
  The boulevard originally ended in the old Puerta de Recoletos, a baroque gate built under Ferdinand VI in 1756 and dismantled in 1863. During the Peninsular War this gate (and others of the area) was fortified to fend off the Napoleonic troops. On 3 December 1808 Napoleon I personally directed the attacks against Madrid from the Fuente Castellana (today Plaza de Emilio Castelar). The Batería de Veterinaria (commanded by artillery official Vasallo) held off the troops that were trying to breach Recoletos Gate to surround the Alcalá Gate defenders. The French troops managed to break through El Retiro, outflanking the gates of Recoletos, Alcalá and Atocha, leading to Madrid's capitulation the following day.
  During the Civil War the statues and fountains along the Paseo de Recoletos and El Prado were hidden under protection sacks, which led the area to be nicknamed "of the twilight of the gods".
caption: First stretch of the walk.
exif: {"Image Make": "Canon", "Image Model": "Canon PowerShot A40", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "180", "Image YResolution": "180", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image DateTime": "2006:07:18 14:54:04", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Centered", "Image ExifOffset": "196", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "180", "Thumbnail YResolution": "180", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "2036", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "5204", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/125", "EXIF FNumber": "8", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0220", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2006:07:18 14:54:04", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2006:07:18 14:54:04", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF CompressedBitsPerPixel": "2", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "223/32", "EXIF ApertureValue": "6", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "97349/32768", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, auto mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "173/32", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "1600", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "1200", "Interoperability InteroperabilityIndex": "R98", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "Interoperability RelatedImageWidth": "1600", "Interoperability RelatedImageLength": "1200", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "1412", "EXIF FocalPlaneXResolution": "800000/103", "EXIF FocalPlaneYResolution": "240000/31", "EXIF FocalPlaneResolutionUnit": "2", "EXIF SensingMethod": "One-chip color area", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF DigitalZoomRatio": "1", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard"}