El árbol de la ciencia de Pío Baroja
D
Calle de Alcalá
Calle de Alcalá, descending towards the Castellana
Puerta del Sol
“Puerta del Sol. Llegaron a la Puerta del Sol y tomaron por la carrera de San Jerónimo.
Bueno, yo me voy a casadijo Hurtado.
¿Dónde vives?le preguntó Aracil.
En la calle de Atocha.
Pues los tres vivimos cerca.Fueron juntos a la plaza de Antón Martín y allí se separaron con muy poca afabilidad.
Primera Parte, Cap. I.
In the first chapter, the narrative tours around the centre of Madrid, locating centres of education, returning the central character to his home.
Puerta del Sol, c.1900. There are electric trams in this photograph as well as the mule-drawn type. We are looking west towards the Calle Mayor and Calle Arenal.
Carrera de San Jerónimo
The Carrera de San Jerónimo runs from Sol to La Iglesia de San Jerónimo whose spires you see in the background. The Cortes, shown in the photograph, is located in this street. The Parliament building dates from the Isabelline period.
“Llegaron a la Puerta del Sol y tomaron por la Carrera de San Jerónimo... Primera Parte, Cap.1
Juan de Dios
El hospital de San Juan de Dios, an ancient foundation for
incurable diseases. Baroja is trenchant about the conditions:
Era un edificio inmundo, sucio, maloliente: las
ventanas de las salas daban a la calle de Atocha y tenían
además una almabreras, para que las mujeres recluidas no se
asomaran y escandalizaran. De este modo, no entraba allí ni
el sol ni el aire
. The regime was strict to
the point of tyranny; in 1885 there was a mutiny by the sick women
in the hospital when there had been punishment for speaking
through the rejas to people in the street. The following year,
patients raised barricades of beds and tables in protest against
the punishments meted out. Moral Ruiz observes that in his
description of the conditions Baroja no hace más
que reflejar con toda objetividad la
realidad
Instituto San Isidro
The Instituo de San Isidro, where Andrés' medical classes are held. The Instituto has a long history in secondary education in Madrid, and its foundation by the Jesuits dates from the sixteenth century. In the opening chapters, the locations selected by Baroja may well reflect his own upbringing but they also reinforce the theme of education.
“De la puerta de la calle de los Estudios que daba a este patio, iban entrando muchachos jóvenes que, al encontrarse reunidos, se saludaban, reían y hablaban.
Por una de estas anomalías clásicas de España, aquellos estudiantes que esperaban en el patio de la escuela de Arquitectura no eran arquitectos del porvenir sino futuros médicos y farmaceúticos.
Primera parte, Cap. 1.
The critical view of Spanish education begins in the detail that medical classes are held in a former chapel of the Instituto.
Calle de Atocha
Calle de Atocha
“La calle de Atocha. Llegaron a la Puerta del Sol y tomaron por la carrera de San Jerónimo.
Bueno, yo me voy a casadijo Hurtado.
¿Dónde vives?le preguntó Aracil.
En la calle de Atocha.
Pues los tres vivimos cerca.Fueron juntos a la plaza de Antón Martín y allí se separaron con muy poca afabilidad.
Primera Parte, Cap.I.
In the first chapter, the narrative tours around the centre of Madrid, locating centres of education, returning the central character to his home.
Calle Santa Isabel
La calle de Santa Isabel (you can see it today much as it was
in Baroja's day, like most of the locations in the novel). See
Parte Primera, Cap V, El rincón de Andrés There
his room is described, where he enjoyed being alone, studying.
Esta ventana caía sobre la parte de atrás de
varias casas de la calle de Santa Isabel y de la Esperancilla, y
sobre unos patios y tejavanas
. The street and the area
round it is important in Baroja's urban geography as well as for
Andrés because the Hospital General is located in it.
Calle Santa Isabel
El Hospital General
This vast building in the Calle de Santa Isabel, off Atocha, is
now the Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía. In the
Primera Parte, Cap. XI, Baroja condemns the hospital and its
regime roundly. The poor level of hygiene, the inadequate
treatment and inferior living standards in the Hospital are
confirmed by Moral Ruiz: El Hospital General recibía
en sus salas a toda clase de enfermos venidos de Madrid y de
provincias y era un vasto caserón adosado al Hospital
Clínico del Colegio de San Andrés que se levantaba al
final de la calle de Atocha. En una guía de las instituciones
y edificios de Beneficencia y Sanidad de Madrid publicada en 1883
se dice que el citado Hospital se componía de una serie de
largas salas mal ventiladas y en las que <había mayor
número de camas que las higiénemente permitidas
>...En este Hospital el joven Baroja inició su contacto
con la enfermedad en el tercer año de medicina.
The
hospital was next to the Faculty of Medicine at the bottom of la
calle de Atocha.
Estación de Atocha
La Estación del Mediodía, or Estación de Atocha.
Formerly, the main terminus for trains to the east and south of
Spain. Now an indoors tropical garden, leading to the platforms of
the AVE expresses. The huge train-shed has been the scene of
historic events and the witness of great social changes. The
station appears strategically in the narrative as Andrés
moves from Madrid into rural Spain, in the Quinta Parte, Cap. 1.,
on his departure to Alcolea: En seguida de recibir su
nombramiento, Andrés hizo su equipaje y se dirigió a la
Estación del Mediodía.
Estación de Atocha
Instituto de San Isidro
This is a reference to the Colegio de San Isidro, an important secondary school in Baroja's Madrid. It is noticeable how Baroja reinforces the capital city social geography. The school is named after the patron saint of the city. Baroja himself attended this school.
Escuela de Arquitectura
Baroja asumes his reader's acquaintance with his Madrid. If you wish to locate some of the places referred to in the novel, consult Madrid in El arbol de la ciencia. The chapel mentioned here as turned into lecture hall is part of the complex of buildings where Calle de Estudios and the Calle de Toledo meet. It could be argued that the precision with which these locations are described imparts immediacy and authenticity to the text, while also allowing the author to evaluate, as here, the circumstances of Andrés' education. The later reference to the Instituto de San Isidro, at which Aracil and Hurtado were both pupils, is to an important secondary school in the same quarter of Madrid, founded in the seventeenth century. These locations are still in evidence today. The name of San Isidro, patron saint of the city, reinforces the authenticity of the capital-city setting.
La Universidad Central
In the Calle de San Bernardo.
“Salió Andrés Hurtado con Aracil, y los dos, en compañía del joven de la barba rubia, que se llamaba Montaner, se encaminaron a la Universidad Central, en donde daban la clase de Zoología y la de Botánica. Primera Parte, Cap. I.