This triumphal archway, located between the districts of La Latina and Embajadores, was erected to commemorate the arrival of King Ferdinand VII ‘El Deseado’ in Madrid. It replaced other previous gateways built in the vicinity from the 16th century onwards, although its direct precedent is an archway that Joseph Bonaparte, the French king imposed by his brother Napoleon, commissioned between 1811 and 1812 from the Spanish architect Silvestre Pérez, although it was never actually built. 

In 1813, Madrid City Council commissioned the neoclassical architect Antonio López Aguado to design and build this gateway, which was finally approved by King Ferdinand VII. This Neo-Roman archway is built from granite and Colmenar stone, and was completed in 1827. It is composed of three arches, two square ones on either side, and a rounded arch in the middle, flanked by half columns with ionic capitals in the central arch and ionic pilasters in the other two. Originally, there were two buildings at the sides, also designed by López Aguado, which were demolished at the start of the 20th Century, which had served as an architectural union with Madrid’s city walls.

On the side facing the Manzanares River, a group of sculptures made by Valeriano Salvatierra and Ramón Barba was installed above the central arch. These sculptures represent the power of the Spanish monarchy on both hemispheres. Also on this side, in the upper part of the other two arches, several military trophies were placed. Finally, on the opposite side of the monument, two angels support the emblem of the City of Madrid.

In 1996, was declared a BIC Heritage Site in the category of Monuments.