|
History of Hostal Fonda Horizonte
Madrid, Spain.
The history of the Hostel Horizonte is also the history of our family. Although thePension Horizonte was founded in the year 1939 at the end of the civil Spanish war, years of extreme hardship for the inhabitants of Madrid, our family lived in the place that later would occupy the inn. |
|
| From then
until now, many years, events, and travelers have come and gone. Because of Spain´s
neutral position during the Second World War, many people that escaped from the
countries occupied by Hitler, mostly French and Poles, arrived to the inn |
|
From
these refugees, we are left with the art of the Polish painter Gasoswky, that
immortalized the ruins of the Church of San Sebastián which he painted from his
room in the inn. Because a bomb fell in the church during the war it was partially
destroyed. In the explosion the dome of the church fell onto the roof of the inn. |
 |
| As time passed and the life in Madrid
prospered once again, and since the inn was surrounded by theaters and festive
areas, many of the artists that worked there stayed here with us, from directors
of theater and actors to singers. All of these mixed with the Bishops and priests
that visited the parish of San Sebastián and needed to spend a night in the capital. |
|
In
the same way, many bullfighters that came to fight bulls in Las Ventas got dressed
in their "trajes de luces" here, because it was typical do so in this
zone although today they arrive from the hotel that is in front of the inn. |
 |
Because of the Spain´s prosperity, many parents
sent their children to study in the capital, and many of them spent their years
of study in our inn. They went on to become engineers, doctors, painters, and
philosophers. Some were the friends of the writer Don Jacinto Benavente . Consequently,
a cultural atmosphere was created, within which many endless political discussions
took place, especially about Franco.
The poet Don Juan Pérez Creus spent many
years with us. He was a close friend of the celebrated writer Don Camilo José
Cela, and though he was very old, he used to visit us from time to time and he
would tell us stories of the past |
 |
And
so it is that we arrive to the eighties in which Madrid experienced a time of
splender during which the phrase "la movida" became well-known everywhere.
We remember the eccentric Fanny Mc. Namara, who accompanied the famous cinema
director Pedro Almodovar when they were both singers.
Now, it´s your turn
to be part of our history. |
 |
Hostel
Horizonte views. San Sebastian Church
|
