Historical maps of nineteenth-century Madrid allow users to discover what pharmacies, bookstores, or cafes occupied specific city streets 150 years ago, 20minutos.es reported.
The interactive tool named ‘Madrid XIX‘ reconstructs the Spanish capital between 1869 and 1879 using historical documentation. Historian and archiver Álvaro Ruiz Cuevas created the platform to let users explore the past of every neighborhood by comparing plans from 1869, 1874, 1877, and 1879 with the modern city layout.
“Podríamos decir que es un Google Maps del Madrid del siglo XIX,” said Álvaro Ruiz Cuevas, creator of the tool, as reported by 20minutos.es.
Users enter an address to learn when a building was constructed, who designed and owned it, and what occupied the site previously. The platform integrates historical hotels, restaurants, and shops into the geographic interface.
“El mapa conecta la historia de la ciudad con los lugares en los que vivimos, en los que trabajamos y por los que pasamos todos los días,” Ruiz Cuevas told 20minutos.es.
Transformations in Central Urban Areas
Calle de Alcalá formerly held the narrow ‘casa del Ataúd’ residential building where the Metropolis building stands today. The area around the current Palacio de Cibeles once contained the Jardines del Buen Retiro, which hosted concerts and dances for the Madrid bourgeoisie.
“Por el número de farolas que tenía sé que por las noches era probablemente uno de los lugares mejores iluminados de Madrid,” Ruiz Cuevas said, according to 20minutos.es.
La Puerta del Sol concentrated major cafes, hotels, and bookstores following the demolition of dozens of structures to form the modern square. The historian said that the area served as the national epicenter with intense commercial activity.
“Era el epicentro del país,” Ruiz Cuevas said, as reported by 20minutos.es.
Reconstructing Commercial Life and Early Transit in Madrid
Bailly-Baillière directories provided addresses for professionals, pharmacies, and bookstores used to reconstruct commercial life. Secondhand bookstores often operated from small wooden cabinets attached to facades near churches rather than standard shops.
Early Madrid tram lines lacked fixed stations. Passengers boarded and alighted along the route based on personal need, a detail Ruiz Cuevas discovered through a text by Benito Pérez Galdós.
The platform maps the 1865 cholera epidemic by geolocating fatalities across municipal districts. It also incorporates engravings from La Ilustración Española y Americana, three-dimensional reconstructions, and historical travel logs.
Archival Sources and Geographic Data
Ruiz Cuevas built the Geographic Information System using historical parcel maps from the Instituto Geográfico y Estadístico alongside records from the Archivo de Villa de Madrid and the Biblioteca Nacional de España. The detailed layers document building heights, trees, and street furniture.
“Siempre digo que la máquina del tiempo no vendrá de los físicos, sino de los archiveros, los bibliotecarios y los historiadores,” Ruiz Cuevas said, as noted by 20minutos.es.
“Los mapas no solo sirven para llevarnos de un sitio a otro, sino también para entender el mundo en un abrir y cerrar de ojos,” Ruiz Cuevas told 20minutos.es.
