Calle de Marcenado

The sign abbreviates the marquisate of Santa Cruz de Marcenado, a title Charles II granted in 1679 to the house of the Vigil de Quiñones. “Marcenado” is, first of all, a place: a parish in the Asturian council of Siero, from which the lineage drew its noble surname. The man who gave the title its lustre was the third marquis, Álvaro de Navia Osorio (1684-1732), a diplomat and ambassador to France who wrote a set of Military Reflections read across Europe. He died defending Oran, the North African stronghold he governed. By carrying only “Marcenado,” the sign loses the exact reference to the marquis or the place. Madrid dedicated another street to the same figure with the full title, the calle de Santa Cruz de Marcenado, in Chamberí.