The first construction that we knew as Saint Vincent Gate, was built in the year 1726, when the Marquis of Vadillo, Mayor of the Villa, commissioned the architect Pedro de Ribera the construction of a monumental gate that would replace the existing one, known as the Park Gate, which was in a state of ruin.
Pedro de Ribera was a Madrilenian through and through, he was born on Calle del Oso, he was a disciple of Jose de Churriguera y Theodore ArdemansHe held the position of Master Major at the Court of Philip VThe Corregidor Francisco de Salcedo y Aguirre, Marquis of Vadillo, was his staunchest defender, commissioning him to carry out numerous important works in the capital. He died in Madrid and was buried in the church of San Cayetano, which he himself had designed.

The Puerta de Pedro de Ribera consisted of three arches and was decorated with a statue of San Vicente, which is why it received that name. It was also known as the Puerta de la Florida, due to its proximity to the Paseo de la Florida. The gate was part of the old fence of Philip IV, and its location was closer to the current Plaza de España and Royal Palace. Due to the works of the remodeling of the Cuesta de San Vicente, to improve access to the Royal Palace through the Camino de El Pardo, the gate was demolished in 1770.
Shortly after, Carlos III commissioned Francisco Sabatini the construction of a new one, the works of which would be completed in 1775.
The new gate was situated a little lower than the previous one and consisted of an arch and two shutters. The arch, decorated with two Doric columns on the outside and two Doric pillars on the inside, was crowned by a triangular pediment topped by a military trophy. On the sides were the two shutters, lower and also crowned by trophies.
After the demolition of the fence built by Philip IV In the 1868th century, which had taken place in 1890, the Gate lost its function, and with the increase in carriage traffic it became a nuisance. A solution was sought and in the end the decision was to dismantle the Sabatini Gate in XNUMX and place it somewhere else, and as always it was planned on the Paseo del Coches in the Retiro Park of Madrid.
In 1891, the Municipal Architect Jose Lopez Sallaberry, reported the need to dismantle the Puerta de San Vicente in order to carry out the renovation of the area. The following year, the dismantling began, and Sallaberry informed the Mayor that some ashlars had broken when they were being dismantled, among other things due to the poor condition of the stone. The Municipal Architect was of the opinion that the reconstruction of the Gate together with the “modern” fence that was being built in the Parque de Madrid, would be very expensive, and that it was not worth it due to its “lack of artistic merit”.

He proposed that the unusable ashlars be sent to the Public Roads Department's Depots, and that the usable ones be used for the "construction of monumental street lamps agreed upon by the Most Excellent City Council for the Cibeles Glorieta".

This was done, authorization was granted by decree to build these street lamps and the rest of the stones were valued and auctioned off.

The project to rebuild the Puerta de San Vicente was old, it was born practically at the same time as its dismantling, and the press always echoed it. In 1962 the City Council made an initial assessment, but it was not until 1992 when the project was launched.

The National Archives in Paris kept the Preliminary Project made by Sabatini, which, together with other documents, such as the wonderful photo of John Lawrence, allowed the reconstruction to be undertaken under the direction of the engineer Juan A. de las Heras Azcona, being placed in the opposite position to the original. On April 25, 1995 it was reopened.

A abrazo.