Royal Factory of La Moncloa facts for kids
The Royal Factory of La Moncloa (in Spanish: Real Fábrica de La Moncloa) was a special factory in Spain. It made beautiful porcelain and ceramic items during the 1800s. You might also hear it called the Moncloa Porcelain Factory or the Royal Porcelain Factory and Thin Earthenware of the Moncloa. This factory was located in Madrid, in an area called Moncloa-Aravaca. It was near a place known as the Granjilla of Jeronimos.
Contents
The Story of the Moncloa Factory
How the First Factory Was Damaged
During the Peninsular War in 1812, British soldiers attacked French positions in Madrid. They accidentally damaged an older porcelain factory called the Real Fábrica del Buen Retiro. This factory was located in the beautiful Buen Retiro Park.
Later that same year, a British leader named General Hill moved his soldiers out of Madrid. Before they left, the British burned what was left of the damaged factory. Some people think this destruction was also because the British wanted to stop Spain from making its own goods. They wanted Spain to buy more things from other countries instead.
A New Start in Moncloa
After the war, Spain's king, Ferdinand VII, wanted to restart the porcelain making. So, a new factory was built in the Moncloa area of Madrid. It was placed in a building that used to be a villa belonging to the Alva family, right by the Manzanares River.
The new Royal Factory of La Moncloa used the same skilled workers and many of the molds and tools that survived from the old factory. King Ferdinand VII started the factory, and his second wife, Queen Maria Isabel of Portugal, also supported it.
Factory Leaders and Changes
The first person to lead the factory was an Italian named Antonio Forni. He came from a famous porcelain factory in Italy. Later, Bartolomé Sureda y Miserol became the director in 1821. He had also led other royal factories, like the one in Guadalajara. After Sureda, Eusebio Zuloaga took over. The factory kept making items until 1849.
It was reopened in the 1870s and started making special ceramic tiles. These tiles were used in buildings like the Palacio de Velázquez.
Learning Ceramic Arts
To make sure the factory had skilled workers, a special school was created in Moncloa. It was called the School of Ceramic Arts (Escuela de Cerámica Artística). In 1877, a large piece of land was set aside for this school and for making fine pottery.
In 1882, the School of Ceramic Arts was divided into two schools: the Official School of Ceramics and the Madrid School of Ceramics of La Moncloa. These schools helped train many artists and workers in ceramic making.
See also
In Spanish: Real Fábrica de La Moncloa para niños
