Monument to victims of the attack against Alfonso XIII

The Monument to victims of the attack against Alfonso XIII, is a generic name for one monument that was in Madrid, and other that replaced it and that there is in place.

The current smaller monument stands in the square formed by the confluence of the calles Mayor, del Sacramento y del Pretil de los Consejos, sheltered behind it, by the church Iglesia del Sacramento and the Palacio de los Consejos.

It was made in 1963, replacing an earlier sculpture, built in 1908, far greater than the current one, which was dismantled by the Second Republic (1931-1939). It is located opposite the place where, on May 31, 1906, an attempt was made against the king Alfonso XIII, the day on which it he married Victoria Eugenie of Battenberg.

The attack

Former Monument to victims of the attack against Alfonso XIII, built in 1908 and dismantled by the Second Spanish Republic.

Former Monument to victims of the attack against Alfonso XIII, back of it is the church Iglesia del Sacramento.

Former Monument to victims of the attack against Alfonso XIII.

The tragic events occurred during the wedding parade held at the end of the religious ceremony of the Hieronymites, back to the Royal Palace, in the middle of a large crowd. The delegation was composed of 19 royal carriages and 22 corresponding to the grandees of Spain.

The Catalan anarchist Mateu Morral, inspired by the anarchist movement in Spain, threw a homemade bomb, disguised in a bouquet of flowers, from the top floor of the building located on Calle Mayor, number 84, where the popular tavern Casa Ciriaco is located. The artifact was directed against the carriage carrying the couple, but bounced off and with the laid of the tram, ended up exploding into the crowd.

The king and queen were uninjured, but almost thirty were killed, and a hundred wounded, in what is the second bloodiest attack in the history of the city, after the fateful March 11, 2004.

First monument

There was a first monument, designed by architect Enrique Repullés y Vargas and executed by the sculptor Aniceto Marinas. It was opened in 1908, from an initiative of the Duchess of la Conquista.

Its core was a sculpture of the Virgin of Beautiful Love, referring to the day the attack occurred, on which is celebrated this Catholic feast day.

The image was resting on a very large pedestal, consisting of three grouped columns, symbolizing the people, the army and the aristocracy. Several groups of floral wreaths roamed the vertical to reach the feet of the Virgin.

At the base, the monument was widened to accommodate different tombstones, which were inscribed the names of the deceased. The figure of an angel guarding the lowpedestal.

After its dismantling by the Second Spanish Republic, the remains of this work were spread across different places of the city. Some of its elements, including the aforementioned tombstones, were used to erect another monument, intended for Regimental Headquarters of Wad Ras. and others are located in municipal deposits.^[1]

Different parts of the pedestal are now preserved in the Parque de Olof Palme, in the District of Usera.

Current monument

On 13 July 1949 the Madrilenian City Hall held a tender for the construction of a new monument in memory of the attack. The winning design, signed by Santiago Otalba Hernández, consisted of a sculptural group, consisting of an image of the Immaculate Conception and two angels holding the royal arms, and a cross of dark granite, with bronze applications. However, the project failed to materialize, with the resignation of the artist.

Current monument.

It took nearly three decades to reach the current monument, designed by Madrilenian sculptor Federico Coullaut-Valera, completed in 1963. And more than twenty years, until 1970, for was placed a marble plaque, with the following commemorative legend: "In memory of the victims of the attack against its Majesties Don Alfonso XIII and Doña Victoria Eugenie on May 31, 1906."

The monument consists of a bronze sculpture, depicting a semi kneeling angel holding a scroll in his hands. It sits on a granite pedestal and behind rises a simple stone monolith which surpasses him in high.

It measures 2.6 meters high and 1.5 wide and is made of limestone veneer. In its main face, with the angel, is installed a bronze plaque, where appears in relief, a shield of Madrid, stamped with the royal crown and surrounded by plant decoration.

References

1. "Monumento a las víctimas del atentado contra Alfonso XIII", pasionpormadrid.blogspot.com.es