Calle de Juan Duque

The name comes from a man, Juan Duque, owner of the market garden on whose land the street was laid out. Nothing more of him survives: the owner of the land gave his name to the street that replaced it. The garden fits what this corner of the Imperial neighborhood once was. Well into the nineteenth century, many of its residents worked the plots that ran down toward the Manzanares, near the washing places lined along the river. It was outskirts, gardeners' ground before it was city blocks. When building covered the gardens, the names of the old owners survived on the map. Today the street drops toward Madrid Río, and a flight of steps links it to Paseo de los Melancólicos, bridging the slope down to the water. No trace of the garden remains; in its place is the owner’s surname on the sign.