Puerta de los Cuarteles de Daoiz y Velarde

Madrid is a city of gates amongst the most famous ones you could name Puerta de Hierro, la Puerta de Toledo and above all la Puerta de Alcalá in the roundabout next to one of the main entrances to the Retiro park. The one we are dealing with here, La Puerta de los Cuarteles de Daoiz y Velarde (also known as Los Docks) was never meant to be a solo standing piece.

This lonely gate is the only remaining piece of what once was the enclosure of the Daoiz and Velarde Barracks. Its completion is due to one of the many extensions to the military compound, whose origin dates back to 1861, specifically to the period in which the main building was erected in 1915.

The Daoiz and Velarde barracks, which were built at the end of the 19th century, in the 1880s, on land known as “Los Docks,” on an area of about 23,000 square meters, had two barracks, one for infantry and the other for artillery. They were designed as a set of military factories with a direct link to the Atocha station. 3,500 soldiers, 500 horses, and the carriages of a mounted artillery regiment were brought in to be housed in the Los Dock barracks.

The Madrid artillery park was given the status of a Maestranza in 1916 by a Royal Order. Via a contract between the city council and the Junta Central de Cuartelamiento, the land became municipally owned in 1981. In 1988, the city council authorized a specific plan for the conservation of buildings.