Historic Complex of Nuevo Baztán

The case of Nuevo Baztán is a singular historical case in our peninsula, as a colonization company in the heart of Castile, similar to the Spanish colonization of the Americas, with Don Juan de Goyeneche becoming a forerunner, the most qualified of all, of the which a century later came to be called "enlightened despotism."

The commission that Don Juan de Goyeneche made to Churriguera was not without difficulties given the breadth of premises from which it started, however Churriguera managed to give it unity by taking as a support point and a unifying element of the whole, the complex formed by the palace and the church and starting from these elements drawing an orthogonal scheme in which six blocks are configured, thus adopting Churriguera, a scheme that was experienced very early in Spanish court architecture.

The project consisted of a palace, a church, the houses of the colonists, furnaces and offices; intended for the manufacture of fine glass, cloth and other manufactures.

The exceptional value of the complex determined that the General Directorate of Artistic Heritage, Archives and Museums, proceeded to initiate the file for the declaration of a Historic Artistic Complex in favor of Nuevo Baztán on October 30, 1979.

Two axes dominate the project, a longitudinal one in a north-south direction constituted by the Alcalá de Henares highway and the second, perpendicular to the nucleus and presided over by the palace-church complex, constituted by the Loeches highway. Another interesting aspect of the urban design is the system of squares connected at an angle that develop a sequence and highlight the environmental and aesthetic qualities of the complex. 

The places in question are three. In the first place there is the Plaza de la Iglesia, which is the one that presides over the main facade of the palace-church complex, which is treated as a garden that is distributed around the so-called “Fountain of the Tritons”, with a simple and graceful design . The Plaza del Secreto, located on the right side of the monumental complex, is rectangular in size, on one of its longer sides it had arcades, a section of which was preserved and, on the other, it opens through a gate with a delicate architectural profile. to the Plaza de las Fiestas. This, which is the true center of the old production unit, is also rectangular in proportions with four sides of two floors, the upper one, porticoed with balconies. 

The so-called House of Trades opens to it on its east and north sides, on the west, the rear façade of the palace and on the south the dairy or old fish market. Finally, connecting with the Plaza del Secreto through a small corridor to the south, is the Plaza de la Fragua. 

The palace has a square plan and is organized around an arcaded courtyard on all its fronts, it has two heights and its façade is framed by two towers, one of which coincides with that of the church and is the one that connects both buildings. It should be noted the important winery complex that develops below it in a northward direction with a later turn in a northwesterly direction to cross Jardines street, where it continues until it reaches the barn building where it has its exit, there is another branch that starts from which go through Jardines street, take the east direction to exit on the north side of the Plaza de las Fiestas. 

The church has a Greek cross plan, with a main façade that reflects the tradition of Madrid architecture from the XNUMXth century. The high spiers that crown the towers and the dome stand out, providing great plasticity to the landscape profile of Nuevo Baztán. 

As for housing for the working population, they are based above all on aspects of rationality and utility, but they do not at all break the harmonious vision of the town. 

The set was completed with a series of endowment elements oriented, on the one hand, to the supply of the population and, on the other, to solve the needs generated by the productive activity, thus mills were built for the paper factory and furnaces for the of glass. Fountains were also made for water supply, such as the one located to the south, on the way to Villar del Olmo, known as the “Fuente de la Almunia”. In the same sense, areas dedicated to agricultural production were established, such as olive groves, vineyards and orchards, leaving some vestiges of all these elements, such as "La Fuente de la Almunia", remains of a dovecote to the West, the Fenced areas located to the East and West of the population that have remained as witnesses of the lands dedicated to agricultural production. The first of them is currently dedicated to the cultivation of olive trees and the second is a land without crops that today receives the name of "La Huerta".

Download ► DECREE 44/2000, of March 16, which declares Asset of Cultural Interest in the category of Historic Complex in favor of “Nuevo Baztán” (Madrid)