Calle de Nereida

The name evokes the Nereids, sea nymphs of Greek mythology. They were the fifty daughters of Nereus, the old sea god, and of Doris. They dwelt in the depths and rose to the surface to help sailors; the myth recalls them aiding the Argonauts through the strait of Scylla and Charybdis. The word comes from the Greek Nereís, “daughter of Nereus.” The calle de Nereida is a short street in the Legazpi neighborhood, south of Arganzuela, near the Manzanares and the old slaughterhouse. It belongs to a small cluster of streets named from mythology, among them Eros and Titán. No record survives of the date or the reason for the choice, beyond its place in that set of mythological street-names.