Calle de Hospital

Lavapiés·Embajadores

The current name refers to the Hospital General of Madrid, whose new building was begun in 1758 behind calle de Atocha (today the Reina Sofía Museum). When that building came to dominate the northern side of the street, the old royal place name gave way to the new medical reference. Earlier the street was called de los Reyes Nueva, a name Répide traces to the royal box set up at its head so that Philip III and Margaret of Austria could attend the laying of the first stone of the convent of Santa Isabel, in the early 17th century. A popular nickname, Niño Perdido, also circulated.

Calle del Hospital promises a hospital, and delivers one, but earlier it held a more solemn memory. It runs between Santa Isabel and Argumosa, parallel to Atocha, west of the great building that now houses the Reina Sofía Museum. For a time it was known as calle de los Reyes: when Margaret of Austria, wife of Philip III, promoted the royal patronage of the Monastery of Santa Isabel in 1610, a royal box was set up at the head of the street, and the memory of that crown clung to the place. The name that survived came from the huge building rising alongside. The Hospital General, a merger of several small hospitals ordered by Philip II, was established at the end of Atocha and opened its enlarged wards in 1781 with 1,561 beds. Consolidated to the north of the street, it drove the old name of los Reyes out of use and marked the street with its own.

Its names

  • Calle de los Reyes Nueva / Callejón Nuevo de los ReyesSiglo 17th – primera mitad 18th century
  • Calle de los Reyes Vieja / del Niño PerdidoSiglo 17th – primera mitad 18th century (uso popular concurrente)
  • Callejón del Hospitalc. 1758 – 11 enero 1835 (redenominación oficial)
  • Calle de Andrés Gana12 febrero 1932 – 26 abril 1940
  • Callejón del Hospital26 abril 1940 – 31 mayo 1968
  • Calle de Hospital (denominación actual)31 mayo 1968 – actualidad
Sources (11)

Crossings