Calle de Embajadores

Around 1435, with plague spreading through Madrid, the diplomats of several courts awaiting an audience with John II of Castile sought refuge away from the outbreak. The Aragonese envoy settled in the country house of Santiago el Verde; the Tunisian one, in the estate of San Pedro; those of Navarre and France, in nearby properties. Between them lay an open field that people began to call the field of the Ambassadors, and the street later laid out there inherited the name. The street begins at the Plaza de Cascorro, head of the Rastro flea market, and runs south for nearly six kilometers, stitching the center to Arganzuela and Puente de Vallecas. Along its course stand landmarks of old Madrid: the former Royal Tobacco Factory, later home to the cigarette women, and the fry shops where gallinejas are still served.