Paris1972-Versailles2003

So here I am getting ready for my big European summer vacation in you will guess right my beloved Madrid. Many choices but always comes down to the heart! The city that I lived as a teenager and came back so many times over the years, it has become like my second home. Walked it, trained it, bused it, planed it , biked it, you name it I have done it all there . Not too shabby when Spain is the second most visited country in the world according to official UN WTO tourist organisms figures. 85 millions in 2018!  And now let me give a primer on my spot and the history of it which I love.  And done in my black and white series, no pictures. This is my take on the Barrio de las Letras of Madrid !!! Hope you enjoy the post as I. 

The neighborhood (Barrio) of Huertas is almost the oldest area of Madrid. Its old route forced in 2006 to initiate a process of pedestrianization of the zone. The neighborhood of the letters (barrio de las Letras or Huertas), also called of the literati and of the muses, is an area without administrative entity of Madrid in the Centro district.   During the low Middle Ages this area was destined to agricultural uses, the orchards being typical because there was plenty of water. In fact, we know that in the times of Enrique IV (15C) most of them belonged to the Marquis of Castañeda. A large part of these fields were engulfed by the urban plot in the 16C, but the historical memory has made the name of the orchards (Huertas) prevail to the present day. Even thus nowdays it is best known as Letras (Letters). The pubs and discotheques abound in the Calle de las Huertas, Plaza Santa Ana, Calle Santa Cruz and the parallel streets. Calle de las Huertas, after which the area has taken its common name, is a pedestrian street which verses the neighborhood and bears modern-day inscriptions in its cobblestones from the famous authors who once resided on or near it.

The Barrio de las Letras or district of the Letters, also called of the literati and the muses, is an area without administrative entity of Madrid in the City center or Centro district. The zone is delimited, towards the west, by the Calle de la Cruz and the Plaza Jacinto Benavente; to the east, by the Paseo del Prado; to the north, by the Carrera de San Jerónimo; and, to the south, by the Calle de Atocha. Some of its most emblematic routes are the Calle de las Huertas, Calle del Prado, the Calle Echegaray, and the Plazas or squares of the Angel and Santa Ana. It owes its name to the literary activity developed throughout the 16-17C. Some of the most outstanding writers of the Spanish Golden Age, such as Miguel de Cervantes, Quevedo, Góngora (who lived in the same house as his literary antagonist, Quevedo), or Lope de Vega and his idolized Marta de Nevares

Although most of the preserved buildings were built in the late 19C and early 20C, from the time of the Golden Age have survived the House-Museum of Lope de Vega, where the writer lived between 1610 and 1635 , open to the public as a house-museum; the Convent of San Ildefonso de las Trinitarias Descalzas, where Cervantes was buried; and the Church of San Sebastián (where it is believe Lope de Vega is buried).

.In the number 87 of Calle de Atocha, one of the roads that limit the neighborhood, was the printing press of Juan de la Cuesta, where the premier edition of the first part Principe (Prince)  of Don Quijote de La Mancha (1604), considered the masterpiece of literature in the Spanish language. The Palace of the Count of Tepa, the Royal Academy of History and the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Madrid belong to the 18C. Other buildings of architectural interest are the   Teatro Español or Spanish Theater, the Simeón Building and the Ateneo de Madrid. In this neighborhood there were also some essential pieces of 20C Spanish dramaturgy, such as the grotesque Luces de bohemia of Ramón del Valle Inclán.

María Pacheco,  was very popular after giving up her chicken pen for small theatrical performances, which ran from noon until late at night. The Corral de la Pacheca, which later became known as Corral del Príncipe, was the place of entertainment for the people of Madrid, who came every time in greater numbers to see the works of Calderón de la Barca ,and   later, of Lope de Vega. At present, classical works continue to be performed in the same enclave, transformed into the Teatro Español b. 1849, located in the same Plaza de Santa Ana that today houses the statues of Calderón de la Barca and Federico García Lorca. Nearby, on Calle del Príncipe, stands the Teatro de la Comedia, inaugurated in 1875 .On the opposite side of the Plaza de Santa Ana is the modern Me, one of the most suggestive hotels in Madrid, located next to the Plaza del Angel. In it highlights the Café Central one of the temples of jazz in Madrid.

The Church of San Sebastian, with wonderful archives. It contains a large part of the lives of illustrious people who were baptized   there such as  Ramón de la Cruz, Jacinto Benavente were married ,and –Larra, Zorrilla, Bécquer– or received homage after their death. Among its death certificates are those of Lope de Vega-buried right there-Ruiz de Alarcón and Espronceda. In its old cemetery, current nursery, was where José Cadalso, one of the most prominent names in Spanish literature of the 18C, tried to unearth the body of his beloved, the actress María Ibáñez. That experience served him to narrate his famous Noches Lúgubres. Or Lonesome Nights. In the Plaza Matutes you can stop to observe the building that hosted the press of the newspaper El Imparcial, where Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer worked. After the junction with Calle de León , you will meet the Comedians ‘quartent or representatives’ ghetto, where idle and unemployed people gather, especially authors and comedians.

Between the Calle Huertas and the old street Cantarranas -now Calle Lope de Vega is the Convento de las Trinitarias. Founded by king Felipe III in 1612, with a sober and austere line, owes its survival to the Royal Academy of History. In the convent, which became part of the headquarters of the University of Alcalá, Miguel de Cervantes is buried, which was closely linked to the order of the Trinitarians after they paid their release from the Algerian dungeons where he spent five years in captivity. The author of Don Quixote shared a thousand times scenario with his great and young rival Lope de Vega. During the final stretch of his life, Cervantes lived in Calle Huertas and then in that of Francos-now called Calle Cervantes-in front of the comedian’s room and very close to his enemy, Lope de Vega, who lived in a house from where he left once dead, followed by all the people of Madrid to the Church of San Sebastián, where he is buried.

The Calle Lope de Vega leads to the Church of Cristo de Medinaceli, long venerated by the actresses of the time who filled the church of Jesus with false male devotees. Object of devotion of thousands of Madrileños still in our days, is a chapel that was part of the Padres Trinitarios Descalzos or Barefoot Trinitarian Fathers and that was regularly visited by Lope de Vega, Calderon de la Barca and Tirso de Molina, writers ordained priests who moved their dramatic   works , previously represented in the vicinity of the churches, to the corrals of comedies. Opposite the Convento de las Trinitarias, on the corner of Calle Lope de Vega , is the one that was Quevedo’s house. This is remembered in a large plaque on the façade where one does not take into account that it was once the home that Góngora bought with great effort when he settled in Madrid.

The Paseo del Prado and the Plaza de las Cortes, where a statue of Miguel de Cervantes and the Palace and Villarreal hotels stand. A few meters away, since 1884, is located the Ateneo de Madrid, Madrid’s famous center for talks, forums and cultural meetings. Also, the Congreso de Diputados or Spanish parliament where the laws of the Nation are created. The museums of El Prado, Thyssen-Bornemisza and Reina Sofía occupy an area that witnessed the life and miracles of our writers of the Golden Age. Today, the area, also known as the District of the Muses or Parnassus-in honor from the poem of Cervantes, Viaje al Parnaso– welcomes since the last quarter of the 20C, has concentrated a great activity of nightlife in bars, taverns, nightclubs and other places around Calle de las Huertas and Plaza de Santa Ana with numerous shops, hotels, cafés and breweries that make it one of the nerve centers of the historic center of the city. And I will be back soon.

The Madrid tourist office on the Barrio de las Letras: https://www.esmadrid.com/en/madrid-neighbourhoods/barrio-letras

The Spanish neighborhood association on the Barrio de las Letras: https://barrioletras.com/

There you go folks, I always have and looking forward to another splendid vacation. The only sadness with us this will be our first summer vacation in Spain without my dear late wife Martine, RIP!  I am sure I will have my weak moments there too. Again, hope you enjoy this post on the Barrio de las Letras of Madrid as I

And remember, happy travels, good health, and many cheers to all !!!