
Surely your high school history books explained how the Congress of Deputies was created, its functions and its importance today. Also, names such as Isabel II or Manuel Azaña were mentioned, but… And what about the secret passage that connected the Congress of Deputies with the Ateneo de Madrid and that, for years, these characters used?
History helps us to understand the present and serves as a social mirror in which to look at ourselves and thus, hopefully, not stumble over the same stones as our ancestors. However, studying it can sometimes be dry or boring. Or, at least, if we only look at the data and omit the curiosities.
The fun facts, as they are called in English, give life to history, make it more interesting and, why not admit it, also more truthful. We believe that they are key to fully understand a context or a situation and, therefore, we love them. And as we love a good chat, in this article we bring one of the most unknown of Madrid’s history: the hidden passage that connects the Ateneo de Madrid with the building of the Cortes.
Isabella II and the Congress of Deputies
We owe the construction of the palace of the Congress of Deputies to Isabel II. She was the one who ordered it to be built and who laid the first stone in the Carrera de San Jeronimo on October 10, 1843, coinciding with her eighteenth birthday.
The architect in charge of the work was Narciso Pascual y Colomer. He designed the building, located on the site of the former church of the Holy Spirit, and was also in charge of supervising the works and selecting the artists who would participate in them. The project was completed in 1850, seven years after its inception and, with different variations and reforms, maintains its essence to this day.
The basement of the building had water tanks and connections to the sewage system, as well as an advanced system of chimneys, ducts and air intakes to acclimatize each of the rooms – especially the Hemicycle – in days of intense heat or cold. But that’s not all: in this same basement there was also a passageway about 100 meters long that connected the Chamber with the Ateneo de Madrid.
The passageway of the Congress of Deputies that connects with the Ateneo de Madrid.
This curious and hidden passageway was accessed through a camouflaged door located in the lobby. More specifically, located behind the sculpture of Isabel II herself, carved in Carrara marble by the artist José Piquer.
The door led to a spiral staircase that originally communicated with two tunnels: one that led to the Puerta del Sol and the other to the Ateneo de Madrid. A sort of original metro line -and only for pedestrians- with stops at Sol, Congreso de los Diputados and Ateneo de Madrid.
The question is: why would they want a subway passageway linking all these places in the middle of the 19th century? The most accurate answer is what you are probably thinking: security and protection. The Cortes, at that time, was a convulsive place. People with radically different ideas met there and, on a bad day, they could get into a fierce argument that could end in gunfire. This small passageway, therefore, served as an escape for the Queen or other people of power.
The other reason has that component of historical salseo of which we spoke at the beginning and that fascinates us so much. Manuel Azaña, before becoming President of the Republic, was Minister of War between 1931 and 1933. A function that he combined with the presidency of the Scientific and Literary Athenaeum of Madrid. It is rumored, as a result of this information, that he used the subway tunnel to be able to carry out both activities with ease.
Mr. Azaña had a private way to access his two jobs. A commuting of yesteryear of the most curious.
The Ateneo de Madrid today
The Ateneo de Madrid, besides housing many curiosities like this, is the most important private cultural institution in contemporary Spanish history.
Although its headquarters have not always been located at number 21 Prado Street —and, therefore, it has not always had a direct connection with the Congress of Deputies—, its objective has been maintained over time: to encourage open and healthy debate and discussion and to promote culture.
Over the years, six presidents of the Government, all the national Nobel Prize winners and the most renowned artists of the ’98, ’14 and ’27 generations have passed through its facilities.
In fact, in recent years, the Ateneo has become one of the star locations of Candlelight Madrid and has been filled with candles to receive the best concerts in classical format in the city.
From soundtracks and anthems by groups such as Queen or Coldplay to tributes to jazz or ballet, the Ateneo de Madrid is now also the venue for the candlelight concert series that is triumphing around the world.
Attending these concerts is undoubtedly a unique opportunity to visit one of the most historic buildings in the capital. Of course, you will have to enter through the main door and not, like Azaña, from the Congress through a secret passage.