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44-453: After La Unión y el Fénix acquired the ground in 1905, they launched an international competition for the opportunity to design their building. Among French and Spanish architects, Jules and Raymond Février won, and construction started in 1907. For its construction, five homes had to be demolished between two streets: Calle de Alcalá and Calle del Caballero de Gracia. At that time, the Gran Via

88-509: A Napoleon , have already been licked into that high-eddying Flame, and like moths consumed there. Still also have we to fear that incautious beards will get singed. For the rest, in what year of grace such Phoenix-cremation will be completed, you need not ask. The law of Perseverance is among the deepest in man: by nature he hates change; seldom will he quit his old house till it has actually fallen about his ears. Thus have I seen Solemnities linger as Ceremonies, sacred Symbols as idle Pageants, to

132-546: A 677-line 9th-century alliterative poem consisting of a paraphrase and abbreviation of Lactantius, followed by an explication of the Phoenix as an allegory for the resurrection of Christ . Þisses fugles gecynd   fela gelices bi þam gecornum   Cristes þegnum; beacnað in burgum   hu hi beorhtne gefean þurh fæder fultum   on þas frecnan tid healdaþ under heofonum   ond him heanna blæd in þam uplican   eðle gestrynaþ. This bird's nature  

176-571: A Living Society, and no longer fighting but working,—were it not perhaps prudent in Mankind to strike the bargain? Phoenixes are present and relatively common in European heraldry , which developed during the High Middle Ages . They most often appear as crests , and more rarely as charges . The heraldic phoenix is depicted as the head, chest and wings of an eagle rising from a fire; the entire creature

220-486: A crest of feathers on its head, and Ezekiel the Dramatist compared it to a rooster. The phoenix came to be associated with specific colors over time. Although the phoenix was generally believed to be colorful and vibrant, sources provide no clear consensus about its coloration. Tacitus says that its color made it stand out from all other birds. Some said that the bird had peacock-like coloring, and Herodotus 's claim of

264-465: A description of the Eastern garden (paradise) as the home of the phoenix: Est locus in primo felix oriente remotus Qua patet aeterni maxima porta poli, Nec tamen aestivos hiemisve propinquus ad ortus Sed qua Sol uerno fundit ab axe diem There lies a place far off, on the eastern edge of the world, A blessed place, where the great portal of the eternal skies stands open: The place does lie close to

308-529: A flaming aureole enriches its head. Its crest shines with the sun's own light and shatters the darkness with its calm brilliance. Its legs are of Tyrian purple ; swifter than those of the Zephyrs are its wings of flower-like blue dappled with rich gold. According to Pliny the Elder, a senator Manilius ( Marcus Manilius ?) had written that the phoenix appeared at the end of each Great Year , which he wrote of "in

352-576: A gleam of gold round its neck and all the rest of it is purple, but the tail blue picked out with rosecoloured feathers and the throat picked out with tufts, and a feathered crest adorning its head. According to Claudian 's poem "The Phoenix", arcanum radiant oculi iubar. igneus ora cingit honos. rutilo cognatum vertice sidus attollit cristatus apex tenebrasque serena luce secat. Tyrio pinguntur crura veneno. antevolant Zephyros pinnae, quas caerulus ambit flore color sparsoque super ditescit in auro. A mysterious fire flashes from its eye, and

396-520: A variety of heraldic emblem (15th century), and the name of a constellation (17th century). The Latin word comes from Greek φοῖνιξ ( phoinix ). The Greek word is first attested in the Mycenaean Greek po-ni-ke , which probably meant " griffin ", though it might have meant " palm tree ". That word is probably a borrowing from a West Semitic word for madder , a red dye made from Rubia tinctorum . The word Phoenician appears to be from

440-439: A young hero Achilles the following, describing the phoenix's lifetime as 972 times the length of a long-lived human's: A chattering crow lives now nine generations of aged men, but a stag's life is four time a crow's, and a raven's life makes three stags old, while the phoenix outlives nine ravens, but we, the rich-haired Nymphs daughters of Zeus the aegis -holder, outlive ten phoenixes. Classical discourse on

484-561: Is commonly assumed Gran Vía starts at the Edificio Metrópolis. However, its real address is Calle de Alcalá 39. The first building at the beginning of Gran Vía is the Edificio Grassy . Phoenix (mythology) The phoenix is an immortal bird that cyclically regenerates or is otherwise born again. While it is part of Greek mythology , it has analogs in many cultures, such as Egyptian and Persian mythology . Associated with

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528-465: Is currently on display in the gardens around the Mutua Madrileña building, Paseo de la Castellana nr 33. Metrópolis Seguros put a great deal of effort restoring the building. They understood that it was one of Madrid's landmarks and should be maintained. This went in a few steps but works started right after Metrópolis Seguros bought the building. In 1988 the facade was fully cleaned, together with

572-796: Is much like to the chosen   servants of Christ; pointeth out to men   how they bright joy through the Father's aid   in this perilous time may under heaven possess,   and exalted happiness in the celestial   country may gain. In the 14th century, Italian poet Dante Alighieri refers to the phoenix in Canto XXIV of the Divine Comedy 's Inferno : Così per li gran savi si confessa che la fenice more e poi rinasce, quando al cinquecentesimo anno appressa; erba né biado in sua vita non pasce, ma sol d'incenso lagrime e d'amomo, e nardo e mirra son l'ultime fasce. Even thus by

616-771: Is never depicted. Scholars have observed analogues to the phoenix in a variety of cultures. These analogues include the Hindu garuda (गरुड) and bherunda (भेरुण्ड), the Russian firebird (жар-птица), the Persian simorgh (سیمرغ), the Georgian paskunji (ფასკუნჯი), the Arabian anqa (عنقاء), the Turkish Konrul , also called Zümrüdü Anka ("emerald anqa"), the Tibetan Me byi karmo ,

660-470: Is not overtly Christian; scholars point to certain aspects of the text to support their view that the author intended a Christian interpretation of the phoenix. They interpret the mythological phoenix motif as symbolic of Christ and resurrection . Some theologians have speculated that the poem may have been written in a later period such as the Renaissance . Others believe that Lactantius may have written

704-561: Is spiritual, the second is by fire, the third is by water. Just as the phoenix appears as a witness concerning the angels , so the case of the water hydri in Egypt, which has been a witness to those going down into the baptism of a true man. The two bulls in Egypt posses a mystery, the Sun and the Moon, being a witness to Sabaoth : namely, that over them Sophia received the universe; from the day that she made

748-511: The Chinese Fenghuang (鳳凰) and Zhuque (朱雀). These perceived analogues are sometimes included as part of the Motif-Index of Folk-Literature phoenix motif (B32). There are many works of modern literature make reference to the phoenix. Examples include: De ave phoenice De ave phoenice is a poem attributed to the early Christian apologist writer Lactantius . The poem

792-569: The English language from Latin , later reinforced by French . The word first entered the English language by way of a borrowing of Latin phoenīx into Old English ( fenix ). This borrowing was later reinforced by French influence, which had also borrowed the Latin noun. In time, the word developed specialized use in the English language: For example, the term could refer to an "excellent person" (12th century),

836-405: The 19th-century novel Sartor Resartus by Thomas Carlyle , Diogenes Teufelsdröckh uses the phoenix as a metaphor for the cyclical pattern of history, remarking upon the "burning of a World-Phoenix" and the " Palingenesia , or Newbirth of Society " from its ashes: When the Phoenix is fanning her funeral pyre, will there not be sparks flying! Alas, some millions of men, and among them such as

880-403: The Dramatist both claim that the phoenix was larger, with Lactantius declaring that it was even larger than an ostrich . According to Pliny's Natural History , aquilae narratur magnitudine, auri fulgore circa colla, cetero purpureus, caeruleam roseis caudam pinnis distinguentibus, cristis fauces, caputque plumeo apice honestante. The story is that it is as large as an eagle, and has

924-504: The Egyptian texts may have been influenced by classical folklore. Over time, the phoenix motif spread and gained a variety of new associations; Herodotus , Lucan , Pliny the Elder , Pope Clement I , Lactantius , Ovid , and Isidore of Seville are among those who have contributed to the retelling and transmission of the phoenix motif. Over time, extending beyond its origins, the phoenix could variously "symbolize renewal in general as well as

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968-500: The Phoenix being red and yellow is popular in many versions of the story on record. Ezekiel the Tragedian declared that the phoenix had red legs and striking yellow eyes, but Lactantius said that its eyes were blue like sapphires and that its legs were covered in yellow-gold scales with rose-colored talons. Herodotus, Pliny, Solinus , and Philostratus describe the phoenix as similar in size to an eagle, but Lactantius and Ezekiel

1012-403: The Sun , and there buries the body. In order to bring him, they say, he first forms a ball of myrrh as big as he finds that he can carry; then he hollows out the ball and puts his parent inside, after which he covers over the opening with fresh myrrh, and the ball is then of exactly the same weight as at first; so he brings it to Egypt, plastered over as I have said, and deposits it in the temple of

1056-428: The Sun and Moon, she put a seal upon her heaven, unto eternity. And the worm that has been born out of the phoenix is a human being as well. It is written concerning it, "the just man will blossom like a phoenix". And the phoenix first appears in a living state, and dies, and rises again, being a sign of what has become apparent at the consummation of the age. The anonymous 10th century Old English Exeter Book contains

1100-605: The Sun. Such is the story they tell of the doings of this bird. In the 19th century, scholastic suspicions appeared to be confirmed by the discovery that Egyptians in Heliopolis had venerated the Bennu , a solar bird similar in some respects to the Greek phoenix. However, the Egyptian sources regarding the bennu are often problematic and open to a variety of interpretations. Some of these sources may have actually been influenced by Greek notions of

1144-423: The building a French, Beaux-Arts style, which was quite unusual at the time. The ground level is topped by ornate colonnaded upper floors. The columns support 4 statues representing Mining, Agriculture, Industry and Commerce, made by Saint Marceaux and L. Lambert. At the foot of the dome you'll find a statue sculpted by D. Mariano Benlliure. The rounded cupola is covered with 30000 leaves of 24 carat gold. It

1188-399: The consulship of Gnaeus Cornelius and Publius Licinius ", that is, in 96 BC, that a cycle was 540 years, and that it was 215 into the cycle (i.e. it began in 311 BC). Another of Pliny's sources, Cornelius Valerianus, is cited for an appearance of the phoenix in 36 AD "in the consulship of Quintus Plautius and Sextus Papinius ". Pliny states that a purported phoenix seen in Egypt in 47 AD

1232-410: The consummation of the age. There are [...] three men, and also his posterities, unto the consummation of the world: the spirit-endowed of eternity, and the soul-endowed, and the earthly. Likewise, there are three phoenixes in paradise—the first is immortal, the second lives 1,000 years; as for the third, it is written in the sacred book that it is consumed. So, too, there are three baptisms—the first

1276-572: The cycle was either 500 years or 1461 years (which was the Great Year based on the Egyptian Sothic cycle ), and that it had previously been seen in the reigns first of Sesosis, then of Amasis, and finally of Ptolemy (third of the Macedonian dynasty). A third recording was made by Cassius Dio , who also said that the phoenix was seen in the consulship of Quintus Plautus and Sextus Papinius. In time,

1320-468: The extent of three hundred years and more after all life and sacredness had evaporated out of them. And then, finally, what time the Phoenix Death-Birth itself will require, depends on unseen contingencies.—Meanwhile, would Destiny offer Mankind, that after, say two centuries of convulsion and conflagration, more or less vivid, the fire-creation should be accomplished, and we to find ourselves again in

1364-457: The first heaven with full power, she chased those rulers out of their heavens and cast them into the sinful world, so that there they should dwell, in the form of evil spirits upon the earth. [...], so that in their world it might pass the thousand years in paradise—a soul-endowed living creature called "phoenix". It kills itself and brings itself back to life as a witness to the judgement against them, for they did wrong to Adam and his race, unto

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1408-499: The great sages 'tis confessed The phoenix dies, and then is born again, When it approaches its five-hundredth year; On herb or grain it feeds not in its life, But only on tears of incense and amomum , And nard and myrrh are its last winding-sheet . In the 17th-century play Henry VIII by English playwrights William Shakespeare and John Fletcher , Archbishop Cranmer says in Act V, Scene v in reference to Elizabeth (who

1452-637: The motif and concept of the phoenix extended from its origins in ancient Greek folklore. For example, the classical motif of the phoenix continues into the Gnostic manuscript On the Origin of the World from the Nag Hammadi Library collection in Egypt generally dated to the 4th century: Thus when Sophia Zoe saw that the rulers of darkness had laid a curse upon her counterparts, she was indignant. And coming out of

1496-407: The old phoenix dies. Its size and appearance, if it is like the pictures, are as follow: The plumage is partly red, partly golden, while the general make and size are almost exactly that of the eagle . They tell a story of what this bird does, which does not seem to me to be credible: that he comes all the way from Arabia , and brings the parent bird, all plastered over with myrrh , to the temple of

1540-496: The phoenix, rather than the other way around. The phoenix is sometimes pictured in ancient and medieval literature and medieval art as endowed with a halo , which emphasizes the bird's connection with the Sun . In the oldest images of phoenixes on record these nimbuses often have seven rays, like Helios (the Greek personification of the Sun). Pliny the Elder also describes the bird as having

1584-474: The poem before his conversion to Christianity. The majority of scholars accept that Lactantius was the author. This view is supported by several medieval writers and early manuscripts. Gregory of Tours wrote in De cursu stellarum of the wonders of the world one of which "quod de Phinice Lactantius refert" . There is an Old English poem, The Phoenix , based to some extent on Lactantius' work. Both poems open with

1628-471: The roof, basements and central courtyard. In November 1995 the delicate task of restoring the windows of the main staircase were done by the original artists, Maurnejean Vidrieras Artisticas and Antonio Herraiz, SA, retaining their original appearance. End of 1996 the most important work was carried out, which restored the entire facade, with focus on the sculptures which were heavily damaged by environmental pollution and pigeons. Jules and Raymond Février gave

1672-567: The same root, meaning "those who work with red dyes". So phoenix may mean "the Phoenician bird" or "the purplish-red bird". Apart from the Linear B mention above from Mycenaean Greece , the earliest clear mention of the phoenix in ancient Greek literature occurs in a fragment of the Precepts of Chiron , attributed to 8th-century BC Greek poet Hesiod . In the fragment, the wise centaur Chiron tells

1716-453: The subject of the phoenix attributes a potential origin of the phoenix to Ancient Egypt . Herodotus , writing in the 5th century BC, provides the following account of the phoenix: [The Egyptians] have also another sacred bird called the phoenix which I myself have never seen, except in pictures. Indeed it is a great rarity, even in Egypt, only coming there (according to the accounts of the people of Heliopolis) once in five hundred years, when

1760-521: The sun, a phoenix obtains new life by rising from the ashes of its predecessor. Some legends say it dies in a show of flames and combustion, while others that it simply dies and decomposes before being born again. In the Motif-Index of Folk-Literature , a tool used by folklorists , the phoenix is classified as motif B32. The origin of the phoenix has been attributed to Ancient Egypt by Herodotus and later 19th-century scholars, but other scholars think

1804-454: The sun, time, the Roman Empire , metempsychosis , consecration , resurrection , life in the heavenly Paradise , Christ , Mary , virginity , the exceptional man, and certain aspects of Christian life". Some scholars have claimed that the poem De ave phoenice may present the mythological phoenix motif as a symbol of Christ's resurrection . The modern English word phoenix entered

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1848-450: Was brought to the capital and exhibited in the Comitium in time for the 800th anniversary of the foundation of Rome by Romulus , though he added that "nobody would doubt that this phoenix was a fabrication". A second recording of the phoenix was made by Tacitus , who said that the phoenix had appeared instead in 34 AD "in the consulship of Paulus Fabius and Lucius Vitellius " and that

1892-498: Was still in design phase. In 1910 construction was finished, and on 21 January 1911 the building was inaugurated. In 1972 Metrópolis Seguros acquired the building, and the previous owner decided to take the original statue away with them, by then very familiar in Madrid's skyline, to their new headquarters. This original statue that used to be on top of the building, depicted the mythological Phoenix and Ganymede sitting on its wing. It

1936-442: Was to become Queen Elizabeth I ): ... Nor shall this peace sleep with her; but as when The bird of wonder dies, the maiden phoenix, Her ashes new create another heir As great in admiration as herself; So shall she leave her blessedness to one, When heaven shall call her from this cloud of darkness, Who from the sacred ashes of her honour Shall star-like rise as great in fame as she was, And so stand fix'd ... In

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