The delegate of Culture, Tourism and Sports of the Madrid City Council, Marta Rivera de la Cruz, today presented the eleventh edition of the cultural program Madrid Otra Mirada (MOM), which will open the doors of 166 places of heritage interest to locals and visitors who They want to know unique spaces in the city. The event will last one day longer than in previous calls, extending from Thursday, October 19 to Sunday, October 22.
Museums, theaters, churches, cemeteries, parks, gardens, libraries, archives, cultural centers, palaces, hotels and other emblematic buildings will be shown to the public free of charge, through guided tours, concerts, conferences, exhibitions, workshops, projections or children’s activities.
In the words of Rivera de la Cruz, “Madrid Otra Mirada is an event dedicated to disseminating the rich and varied cultural heritage of Madrid, which in many cases is still to be discovered by citizens”, and highlights the “efforts of the City Council to safeguard heritage and, at the same time, enhance its value, thus promoting its protection, maintenance and conservation by the population.”
“Madrid Otra Mirada also constitutes a unique opportunity to better understand our history, our art, our architecture and the origins of the institutions around us,” added the delegate, to encourage taking advantage of this opportunity to see places first-hand. unique participating in special activities, all of which are free of charge.
Tribute to Velázquez Bosco
In 2023, the theme of Madrid Otra Mirada revolves around the centenary of the death of the architect Ricardo Velázquez Bosco (Burgos, 1843 – Madrid, 1923). At the end of the 19th century and beginning of the 20th century, Velázquez Bosco contributed to the architectural development of the city of Madrid. His constructions are testimony to the sociocultural and urban reality of the moment, and largely exemplify the beginning of a new city, with an eclectic language that would later be recovered and developed by his disciple Antonio Palacios (Porriño, 1874 – Madrid, 1945 ).
Entities such as the Spiritus Artis Association, the National Library, the Eugenio Trías Library, Carpetania Madrid, the Casa del Lector, CentroCentro, the Department of Environmental Education of the Madrid City Council, the School of Mines and Energy, the UNED Center in Madrid, the COAM Architecture Foundation, the Municipal Newspaper Archive, the National Archaeological Museum, the History Museum, the Costume Museum, the Félix Cañada Museum, the Reina Sofia Museum, the Royal Matritense Economic Society or the Environmental Education Centers of Retiro Park and of the Dehesa de la Villa have organized routes, debates or workshops around the figure and work of Velázquez Bosco.
Precisely, the presentation of this edition took place in the Casa Palazuelo, a building on Calle Mayor, the work of Antonio Palacios, a distinguished student of Velázquez Bosco. Designed in 1919 and inaugurated in 1921, it is one of the first commercial and office buildings in Madrid, where it is possible to observe the influence of North American architecture.
On this occasion, Madrid Otra Mirada incorporates 16 new entities that open their doors for the first time to be contemplated with another perspective. Among the new buildings that can be visited, in addition to the Casa Palazuelo, the Real Casino of Madrid stands out, an emblematic building on Alcalá Street; the Albéniz and Eslava Theatres, recently restored; the Landscape of Light Interpretation Center, which opened its doors just a year ago; the Clara del Rey and Daoiz y Velarde Cultural Centers, recently inaugurated; the Museums of Popular Arts and Traditions or the Hispanic Pharmacy; the Royal Academy of Exact, Physical and Natural Sciences and the Court of Accounts.
Furthermore, during the celebration of this edition, citizens will have a new opportunity to sign up for some of the visits included within the Pasea Madrid Program, also organized by the General Directorate of Cultural Heritage of the Madrid City Council, such as visits to the Landscape of the Luz, declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 2021, in both Spanish and English; to the Beti Jai Fronton; to the Capricho Park Bunker; to the Town Halls of the Plaza de la Villa; to the Hexagon Pavilion of the Casa de Campo; as well as those dedicated to great figures whose life and work are related to our city such as Baroja, Malasaña or Hemingway.
Como principal novedad de esta convocatoria, el programa se ha ampliado a cuatro días; de manera que tendrá lugar de jueves a domingo, en vez de viernes a domingo como venía siendo habitual, dando respuesta de esta manera a una demanda generalizada entre el público asiduo al programa, en el que el año pasado participaron alrededor de 15.000 personas.
The registration period will open next Thursday, October 5, at 10:00 a.m. More information about programming and registration at www.mom.reservaspatrimonio.es
