The Centro Cultural Conde Duque of Madrid !!

Posted in Europe, Madrid, Spain

We were back to my dear Spain again !! love it !! We came by car of course and took time to see new areas and old repeat with some of them as introduction to my sons and our dog Rex ! I rented a small house in a off the beaten path country town that was just perfect ! I like to continue the saga of our new road warrior experiences even if now with less in our family, This post is on my latest road warrior tour of wonderful sublime  Spain.Therefore, let me tell you about the Centro Cultural Conde Duque of Madrid !! Hope you enjoy the post as I.

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We were parked very close so decided to give it a more in depth visit which to our surprise admission was free !! This is a huge building with a military post inside of it but most of it is an art cultural center now,

Madrid centro cultural conde duque diputacion militar courtyard dec24

The CondeDuque Contemporary Culture Center  Calle Conde Duque, 11. The metro lines that can get you there are Noviciado , and Plaza de España on lines 2, 3 and 10, San Bernardo on lines 2 and 4 and Ventura Rodríguez on line3, Several bus lines best the No 2. The Conde Duque is located in the heart of the Universidad neighborhood (belonging to the Centro district of Madrid), which is limited by the streets of Princesa, Gran Vía, Fuencarral, Carranza and Alberto Aguilera. The neighborhood gets its name from the Central University, opened in 1843 on Calle de San Bernardo, in the old Jesuit novitiate.

Madrid centro cultural conde duque art contempo inner courtyard 2 dec24
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It was built in the early 18C (worked began in 1717 finished in 1730) to house the Royal Guards Corps. Two centuries (and two fires) later, the 58,000-square-meter barracks was on the brink of demolition due to its poor condition, but the insistence of the public to use it for public use managed to save it. The Royal Guards Corps barracks formed part of the optical telegraph communication system devised in Spain in the 19C. The telegraphy tower located in this barracks was number 1 of the Castilla Line that communicated  Madrid with Irún. This tower communicated with the headquarters of the Royal Post Office at Puerta del Sol.

The current and reformed CondeDuque not only serves as a cultural container for the city, it also houses part of its history with the Villa Archive , the Historical Library, the Municipal Newspaper Library, the Musical Library and the Municipal Museum of Contemporary Art.  It was intended for cultural and leisure activities for all audiences. Concerts, exhibitions, ferias or cinema cycles take place both indoors and in its large central patio. The Conde Duque center also has multi-purpose rooms, a theater and a modern reception hall.

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Regarding its name, there have been different versions of the origin. On the basis of some writings of Mesonero Romanos from the 19C, the idea spread that it was due to the Count-Duke of Olivares, valid of King Felipe IV. However, another hypothesis indicates that this name comes from being based on the site of the previous palace of the Count of Aranda and Duke of Peñaranda. Other, more recent investigations suggest that the Conde Duque or Count-Duke in question would be the III Duke of Berwick y Liria, also Count of Lemos, who promoted the construction of the neighboring Palace of Liria, and whose family retained ownership of the barracks grounds until 1943. 

The official CondeDuque Cultural Center : https://www.condeduquemadrid.es/

The Madrid tourist office on the CondeDuque: https://www.esmadrid.com/en/tourist-information/conde-duque

There you go folks , another wonderful nostalgic, sentimental trip to my dear Spain, A love affairs with my Madrid, as do not know when we will be back, we sure will have this trip in our hearts forever,  Again, hope you enjoy this post on the Centro Cultural Conde Duque of Madrid !! as I

And remember, happy travels, good health, and many cheers to all !!!

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Published by pedmar10

I am a lover of travels to Europe , Americas , Africa and Asia as well ,who like to share my experiences of the last 53 years with the world, visiting so far 81 countries; living in 6, working in 5, and Citizen of 4, speaking fluently 4 languages. I can deal with sports especially football/soccer and love music, arts, wine collector/drinker, and go out to restaurants, and just visit the world. My background comes all the way from Candelaria and Pajara in Tenerife, Spain where my grandparents came from ;not knowing each other then, to Punta Brava, west of Havana, Cuba. There , my parents born in Cuba met and later on I was born there too. 100% guanche (annexed Tenerife to Spain on April 10 ,1496). I left Cuba as many have to Madrid, Spain where I lived for 4 years. Then, move to Perth Amboy ,New Jersey USA (living there 13 yrs) ; where I completed high school, became a US Citizen, learned to drive a car, and learned English. Afterward, went to the university in Florida, ERAU, and upon graduation decided to moved there to Ormond by the Sea, near Daytona Beach, finally moving North Miami, then Hialeah, then another moved to Silver Lakes division in Miramar, Broward county, Florida; in Florida I lived a total of 18 years. Finally , moved to France in 2003 ,Versailles call me for its royalty, and working in Paris was great. It was time to seek frontiers again and moved to Brech near Auray, Morbihan in Brittany , and later move to not too far Pluvigner. Total so far in France has been 20 years, and counting. Moving average a home every 5.5 years hopefully this will be my last. Cheers All rights reserved. No part of this blog may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means or stored in a retrieval system of any nature, without the written permission of the copyright holder, me. No part of this work may be modified, without the written permission of the holder, me.No part of this work may be exposed to public view in any form or by any means, without identifying the holder as the author, and with the before mentioned permission.

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