Vergara, Spain/vergara804
Previous | Home | NextThis photo is a jump to Madrid. The King of Spain Carlos III, most impressed with Chabaneau, moved him to Madrid in 1787 to head the newly founded Royal School of Mineralogy. It is not clear where in Madrid the school resided during the the period 1787-1789, but it is known that the permanent school was established at the calle de Turco (today the Marquess de Cubas, address #13 (N 40° 25.06 W 3° 41.71), which is the current Real Academia de Jurisprudencia y Legislación (Royal Academy of Law and Legislation), 1.6 km east of the Royal Castle (Palacio Real). From 1786 until 1808, 14,000-18,000 troy ounces of platinum per year were produced. The school remained here until Napoleon's second invasion of 1808 where French troops he destroyed the Madrid laboratory. Immediately to the north was established the Banco de España, which still exists.
