Fernán Gómez Centro Cultural de la Villa - FG.CCV

It is the meeting point par excellence in Madrid with the performing arts: theater, music, dance, exhibitions and countless cultural activities for all audiences. Leisure and culture all year round.

The history:

The origin of the Cultural Center of Villa, denominated at the moment FERNÁN GÓMEZ CULTURAL CENTER OF THE VILLA, is united to the importance that had the remodeling of the Place of Columbus. Before the restructuring, this square was oval in the center of which was the monument to Columbus. Around there were several mansions, emphasizing the Palace of Medinaceli. The most important building was and is the National Library and the Archaeological Museum. Between the streets Jorge Juan and Goya, the old factory of the Moneda offered to the Place of Columbus the facades of its two more important buildings constructed by the architect Jareño.

The problems of circulation of the Castellana, the need to modernize it with the construction of new buildings, and the transfer of the old Casa de la Moneda to create a free garden space, forced the study of what should be the new plaza, both for the solution of circulatory problems and for the management and urbanization of the square and its surroundings. This resulted in the construction of a new square defined by the previous circulatory conditions, a garden space on its upper floor and in the underground a large parking lot and the Cultural Center of Villa.

The rescue achieved by the then Mayor Carlos Arias Navarro of the former Casa de la Moneda, to transform the plot of land into a garden area at the disposal of the people of Madrid, raised the great difficulty involved in achieving brilliant results that were in accordance with the importance of the site.

To this end, the Madrid City Council convened a competition of ideas among the Spaniards, attended by more than five hundred and eighty technicians of different specialties. As indicated above, the contest was about ideas in order that the City Council had the possibility to select those that were interesting in its final project.

The study of the project as a whole was entrusted to the architect Manuel Herrero Palacios, director of the Department of Parks, Gardens and Urban Aesthetics, being also responsible for the coordination of the various departments.

The author of the project proposed the use of the underground area that was lost between the parking lot and the Castellana to use such an important volume in the construction of a Cultural Center whose program was very similar to the one currently built.

This interesting and fundamental idea was discussed for some time, taking, finally, the City Council the happy resolution to undertake the company to complete the project of the Plaza de Colón, building the Cultural Center of Villa under the project, which achieved the integral use of the subsoil of the square and meet a series of needs that previously the City had not been able to solve.

Fundamentally the conditions imposed in principle on the project were the situation of the Columbus Monument in its new location, which definitely focused on meeting the axes of Genoa Street with the axis of the garden adjoining the facade of the National Library.

It was necessary to decide on the representative and commemorative character that would serve as an argument for the project. It was decided that the Plaza should refer to the Discovery and not to Hispanidad, since this was a consequence of the first.

This traditional area preserves the Monument to Columbus, built by initiative and at the expense of the titles of the crown to solemnize the marriage of Don Alfonso XII with Dona Maria de las Mercedes of Orleans. The statue, in white marble, is the work of the sculptor Jerónimo Suñol. On a pedestal in Gothic style, flowery and carved in stone by the artist Don Arturo Mélida, the construction of the Monument began in 1881. It was finished in 1885. The inauguration was scheduled for January 6, 1886, but could not be verified by the death of Don Alfonso XII. On October 12, 1892 was given to the City of Madrid of this Monument.

In the center of the old square there are two large fountains built in granite and stone of Colmenar, with a length of 50 m, with upper plane that pours the water around the perimeter of both sources, each of which develop a waterfall of more than 100 m in length. The part of landscaped area serves for the best enjoyment of the Plaza by the town of Madrid and at the same time linking one area with others.

As crowning and finishing of the urban perspective of the new Place of Columbus was conceived monumental sculptural elements of scale according to the grandeur of the project.

These macro sculptures were commissioned to the painter and sculptor Joaquín Vaquero Turcios. This set, composed of three singular units in horizontal development, extends along the upper limit of the garden, limiting it and constructing the necessary separation between the monumental area and the commercial urban area.

On the occasion of the death of Fernando Fernán Gómez on November 21, 2007, Ayuntamiento de Madrid Pleno in ordinary public session held on November 28, 2007, adopted the following agreement:

"Provide that the name of FERNÁN GÓMEZ CULTURAL CENTER OF THE VILLA be attributed to the current denominated CULTURAL CENTER OF THE VILLA"

The change of denomination took effect on February 18, 2008 with an act that paid a posthumous tribute to the director, playwright, actor and comedian (as he liked to call himself), Fernando Fernán Gómez and his long and long artistic career. In this event, coordinated by Mario Gas, the team of the Spanish Theater and FERNÁN GÓMEZ CULTURAL CENTER OF THE VILLA, which was attended by the Mayor of Madrid, Alberto Ruiz-Gallardón and the director of FERNÁN GÓMEZ CULTURAL CENTER OF LA VILLA, Mora Apreda, took place several interventions of his friends and colleagues, collected fragments of the recital Fernando Fernán Gómez offered at the Teatro Poliorama in Barcelona, ​​at the 1992 Cultural Olympiad, and his works: the pointer !, The art of wishing, The song is flying, The yellow time e Impressions and depressions.

To the privileged enclave in which the FERNÁN GÓMEZ CULTURAL CENTER OF LA VILLA is currently located, we must add that it is located in the most important art circuit of the city, along with the streets where are the most important art galleries, and in Prado-Recoletos, next to the National Library, Prado Museum, Reina Sofía Art Center, Thyssen Museum, Archaeological Museum and Congress Center.

It consists of three cultural spaces, the Sala Guirau (Theater), the Sala Jardiel Poncela and the Exhibition Hall.