The Islamic Culture Foundation will soon begin the rehabilitation works of the garden at the street Almendro 15-17 (Madrid), which surround the ancient Christian wall of the city. These works aim at improving the current condition and environmental quality of the garden, in order to highlight its values among the city’s population and visitors.
This lot’s location corresponded to the outside walls of the ancient city of Madrid, where there were four suburbs that extended towards the South and East of the city. This area led to the road to Toledo, bordered by houses and orchards, and is one of the outside walls’ points where Islamic remains have been found.
Located in the street Almendro, the place is currently very deteriorated, not being taken care of, and underused. Likewise, the modern wall connecting to the restored Christian wall is covered in graffiti, which worsens the image of this possible touristic and cultural spot.
The rehabilitation of this space intends, in fact, to turn the solar into a meeting and resting place, that contributes to the recovery of the material and immaterial value of Madrid’s origins. With this purpose, the project comprises three main works: firstly, the restoration of the garden surrounding the Christian wall, through the identification of its current species, and its categorization through tags explaining its origin and features. Also, in order to make a resting place of the space, the project will include new stone benches taken from the local warehouse La Casilla.
Lastly, the project will try to increase the lot’s touristic value through the cleaning and restoration of the modern wall, today vandalized. With this aim, its surface will be covered by a reproduction of the view of Madrid in the 16th century, as portrayed by the artist Anton van den Wyngaerde (reproduced underneath). This work, which will be carried out by the sculptor and drawer Miguel Sobrino and the painter Santiago Sobrino, will include explanatory tags that will help to enjoy and understand the wall painting, and that will indicate the key places that historically characterized the city of Madrid.
Our work rehabilitating the Islamic Madrid
This initiative has been launched in the framework of the Collaboration agreement signed between FUNCI and the Environmental and Mobility Area of the City Council of Madrid, for the promotion of common activities related with the Islamic culture in the city of Madrid.
This is framed in the work of the Centre of Studies of Islamic Madrid, launched by FUNCI in 2017, and whose goal is to promote the material and immaterial legacy of the Andalusi past of the city. In addition to this project, and in the context of the collaboration agreement with the City Council of Madrid, CEMI has carried out other restoration activities, such as the categorization of the species that decorate the park Emir Mohamed I, or the inspection of the qanat or the water travel systems located underneath the plaza de los Carros (Madrid). This work is complemented with an important task of historic and cultural recovery, and the promotion of knowledge on the Islamic origins of Spain’s capital.