Saint Vincent´s Gate

King Charles III ordered Sabatini to build the San Vicente gate in 1775 at almost the same time as the Puerta de Alcalá. However, the original work was lost before our time because it was dismantled in 1892 to make way for traffic, and some of the ashlars in the monument were used for the construction of decorative lampposts in the Glorieta de Cibeles. Municipal architect López Salaberry was responsible for this project, and he also requested permission for the unused pillars to be valued and auctioned.

Proposals were put forward on several occasions to reconstruct Saint Vincent’s Gate. The attempt by the Queen Regent María Cristina can be highlighted, expressing her desire for the gate to be rebuilt somewhere in Madrid. Later, in 1962, Madrid City Council made an initial  estimate of its cost, but it was not until 1992 when its reproduction was approved.  The first stone of the new Saint Vincent’s Gate, an exact replica of Sabatini’s gate,  was laid in 1994, in the Moncloa – Aravaca district.

The monument consists of a main arch and two smaller gates, the former adorned with two Doric columns on the outer side and two pilasters on the inner. For the replica, made from concrete clad in grey granite and limestone, the original moulds for the upper cornices were used. The reproduced elements include the embellishments created by José Luis Parés Parra.