New Barbieri Cafe
New Barbieri Cafe
SINCE 1901 A hundred-year-old café in the Lavapiés neighborhood Café de la Unión opened its doors in 1901 on Calle de la Primavera, in the traditional neighborhood of Lavapiés, but it was not until 1902, when the industrialist Ángel Orejas Fernández opened it
...acquired, when it was renamed Café Barbieri. It takes its name from the Barbieri theater, former Madrid Theater, with which it shared the street; This was the scene of zarzuelas, varietés and later popular ballroom and cabaret. In 1906, the café moved to its final location on Ave María street, to a larger premises that had been a wine shop, with permission to roast coffee on the opposite sidewalk, and which opened as Nuevo Café Barbieri. It begins by serving meals, and soon also becomes a cozy meeting point to play cards, billiards or to chat in lively gatherings. It is known that the survivors of General Villacampa's republican uprising met in the café, as well as a varied group of intellectuals. Today's Café Barbieri has managed to preserve the charm of bygone times with its elegant decoration from the early twentieth century: high ceilings with fans and decorated mouldings, huge mirrors, checkered floors, wrought iron columns and marble tables. Today, in addition to being a traditional place for tapas, beer, coffee or cocktails, it has become a space for cultural exchange, with activities and live music concerts of all styles.
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