Calle de las Amazonas

Barely thirty-three meters separate plaza de Vara del Rey from the Ribera de Curtidores, in the heart of the Rastro, and in that tiny stretch opens calle de las Amazonas, one of the most combative street names in Madrid. The origin was recorded by Peñasco and Cambronero in 1889. To celebrate the entry of Elisabeth of Valois into the court in 1560, a troupe of women took on the role of the mythological heroines: armed with bows and arrows, they performed acrobatic feats on horseback with remarkable skill. Where the street now opens there was a town corral where they trained and kept their mounts, and from it the name passed to the street. Galdós attested to the legend by beginning his novel Nazarín here, in 1895, seeking the poorest Madrid of the 19th century. The current sign, nine Talavera tiles by Ruiz de Luna, composes the scene: two horsewomen facing each other, drawing their bows.