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Gran Vía (literally "Great Way") is an ornate and upscale shopping street located in central Madrid. Now, the street is known as the Spanish Broadway, and is one of the streets with more nightlife in Europe. It is known as the street that never sleeps. It leads from Calle de Alcalá, close to Plaza de Cibeles, to Plaza de España. The lively street is one of the city's most important shopping areas, with a large number of hotels and large movie theaters; it is also noted for the grand architecture prevalent among many of its buildings. Now, most of the theaters are being replaced by shopping malls. It is considered a showcase of early 20th-century architecture, with patterns ranging from Vienna Secession style, Plateresque, Neo-Mudéjar, Art Deco and others.〔(【引用サイトリンク】 publisher =elmundo.es )〕 ==History== ;Conception In the mid 19th century, Madrid's urban planners decided that a new thoroughfare had to be created, connecting the Calle de Alcalá with the Plaza de España. The project required many buildings in the center of the city to be demolished, earning it the name of 'an axe blow on the map'. Decades after the first plans were made, construction still hadn't started and the media ridiculed the project, cynically calling it the 'Gran Vía' or 'Great Road'. Finally in 1904 it was approved and construction started a couple of years later. The last part of the street was completed in 1929. ;Names The Gran Vía of Madrid has many historical names, both official and unofficial. Conception divided the Road in three parts. The first one was built between 1910 and 1917 and was called ''Calle del Conde de Peñalver'' ("Count of Peñalver Street"). Second part of the project started on 1917 and was ended on 1921. It was named ''Calle de Pi y Margall'' ("Francisco Pi y Margall Street") after a deceased politician. The third part of the road, and the last one, did not start until 1925 and was called ''Calle Eduardo Dato Iradier'' ("Eduardo Dato Street") after another politician. Three months before the Spanish Civil War began, the Second Spanish Republic changed some street names under leftist influence. The two first parts of the avenue were called ''Avenida de la C.N.T.'' ("C.N.T. Avenue"). When the Civil War started, the avenue was renamed ''Avenida de Rusia'' ("Russia Avenue") due to the support of this country for the Spanish Republic, but soon its name would be changed to ''Avenida de la Unión Soviética'' ("Soviet Union Avenue"). However, the avenue was popularly nicknamed as ''Avenida de los obuses'' ("howitzer avenue") because of the continued bombardments by the Nationalist forces loyal to Francisco Franco. The reason for these attacks in this area was that the "Edificio de Telefónica" (the Spanish phone company) is in this street. Just after the end of the war when the rebels entered Madrid they changed the name of the road and renamed it ''Avenida de José Antonio'' ("José Antonio Avenue") after one of their greatest political figures, founder of the fascist party, Falange. It wouldn't be until 1981, under Spain democracy when the socialist mayor restored the names of 27 streets and the avenue was simply named ''Gran Vía'' ("Great Road"). 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Gran Vía (Madrid)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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