Atlas of Madrid's Gran Vía
In front of the Gran Vía Casino and very close to the Telefónica building we see one of the latest additions to the roofs of Gran Vía street, Atlas. But why has the Titan holding the celestial sphere been placed on the top floor of the NH hotel?
After a profound interior transformation, in 2018 opened to the public the NH Hotel at number 21 Gran Via street a four star hotel in a privileged location. In a protected building like this it is not possible to put large signs on the facade, so the hotel managers decided, quite rightly, to draw the attention of the one who walks down the street by placing a statue that could be seen and could become a symbol of the hotel. The Atlas together with the winged victory of the Metropolis building, El Romano, Diana the Huntress and the Phoenix Bird have become true emblems of Gran Via and Madrid.
But to understand why Atlas was chosen as the hotel's representative, we have to dig a little deeper.
The myth of Perseus and Atlas
Let's talk a little bit about history, well mythology, who was Atlas? The Titans were the first deities that ruled the World, then the Olympian Gods arrived and war broke out between them (the Titanomachy) The Titans were defeated and Zeus punished them in Tartarus, let's say it is the deepest dungeon. But a special punishment awaits Atlas, he is condemned to hold the bow of the heavens on his shoulders.
So much for the explanation of why Atlas carries a sphere on his shoulders.
Thus we leave our protagonist for many years, between myth and myth we arrive at the one who will give an explanation as to why he crowns the hotel.
Atlas received the omen that someday they would come to plunder his golden tree, so he had raised great mountains and put a great reptile to guard his precious property. When Perseus arrived in the Kingdom of Atlas and asked for lodging and rest, Atlas, remembering the omen, expelled him in a bad way. Perseus, feeling insulted, shows him Medusa's head and turns it into a gigantic stone mountain.
Atlas turned to stone by Edward Burne jones, 1878.
Hotel guests have access to the 9th floor where the statue of Atlas is located and can read a plaque that reads: "An allegory present in this building that reminds us that we must shelter those who request accommodation". Atlas is still an icon often used as a symbol of strength or stoic endurance, the hotel has gone further by making an allegory of hospitality, xenia as it was called in Classical Greece.
Sculpture
It is made of fiberglass which makes it light and at the same time supports the wind well at high altitudes and topped with gel-coat and bronze powder that gives it that classic finish. In total the whole assembly rises up to 3.45 meters.
It is the work of Future Arquitecturas and was installed in February 2019. Inspired by the sculpture of Atlas Farnese (2nd century AD) representing the titan Atlas with one knee on the ground and on his shoulders a celestial vault, and the modernAtlas Sculpture at Rockefeller Center in New York,made in 1936 by Lee Lawrie and Rene Chambellan, which highlights its stylized figure and exaggerated musculature, typical of Art Deco.
Sculpture Atlas Farnese of the II Century
Sculpture Atlas in New York 1936
The building, the hotel, the restaurant and the rooftop sky bar
The 1918 building is an architectural jewel designed by Julio Martínez Zapata and José López Sallaberry, in neo-baroque style. The hotel has 94 rooms and on its 8th floor is the Picalagartos, a Mediterranean cuisine restaurant, and one floor above is the rooftop where we find our Atlas with whom we can have a cocktail enjoying exclusive views of the Gran Via.
Rooftop terrace of the NH Gran Vía 21 Hotel
Curiosities
Map collections have been called atlases since the 16th century, when mapmaker Gerardus Mercator put as the cover of his book an illustration of Atlas holding the earth in his hands.
Atlas gives its name to a mountain range of the same name located in North Africa, which, according to the myth, is where he was turned to stone when Perseus showed him the head of Medusa.
It also gives name to the Atlantic Ocean, to the disappeared Atlantis, to the Atlantean architectural element that are all those man-shaped columns, and of course to the first vertebra of the neck, where it is supposed that next to the shoulders Atlas would support the heavens.
Any object when you throw it upwards sooner or later falls to the ground, as the myth of Atlas holding the sky is the way the Greeks explained why the sky did not fall to earth.
Details
LOCATION
21 Gran Vía Street
NH Gran Vía Hotel
Picalagartos (Restaurant and Sky bar)
from 1 p.m. to 11 p.m.
Transportation
Gran Vía Subway
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