The Plaza de Isabel II (better known as the Plaza de Ópera) is an open space between the Puerta del Sol and the Royal palace neighbourhoods in the Centro district of Madrid, Community of Madrid, Spain.
The Arenal street from Puerta del Sol and the minor streets dedicated to Arrieta, Campomanes, Caños del Peral, Escalinata and Vergara meet there. Formed by filling in the ravine created by the Arenal stream and the Caños del Peral fountains, the square occupies part of the site where the old Caños del Peral Theatre stood between 1738 and 1817.
History
In the Middle Ages, the ravine formed by the Arenal stream served as a natural defensive ditch, at the edge of the Christian wall, which opened there the Puerta de Valnadú or Balnadú, and of which some remains are preserved in the adjacent streets, such as the walls and tower of the Escalinata street. Between the 15th and 18th centuries this space was known as “los caños del Peral,” and according to other authors as the source of the Arrabal.
After the 1868 Glorious Revolution, the square was called Plaza de Prim, after Juan Prim, although it was popularly known as “Plaza del Barranco” due to the depression formed by the slope of Arenal Street and the Costanilla de los Ángeles. These gullies would be later filled during the reign of Isabella II when the Teatro Real was built.
Also in 1868, a statue of Isabella II, commissioned by Manuel López Santaella, and made by sculptor José Piquer Duart, was placed in the center of the square. A year later, the statue was taken down and placed in the Royal Theater. It was replaced by an allegorical sculpture of Comedy by sculptor Francisco Elías Vallejo. The statue of Isabel II was returned to the square in 1905.
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