Calle de Noviciado

The land where Calle de Noviciado now runs, between San Bernardo and Amaniel, was once the palace of Ana Félix de Guzmán. In 1602 the marchioness gave it to the Society of Jesus, who built their house of novices there. The street took its name from that convent. The Jesuits trained novices for over a century and a half, until Charles III expelled them in 1767. Later the old novitiate housed the Central University, moved here from Alcalá de Henares, and ended up known as the Caserón de San Bernardo before its demolition. Today number 3 holds the Marqués de Valdecilla Historical Library. For decades the street had the air of an open-air market, with traders laying out their goods straight onto the roadway.

Cayetana de Silva, 13th Duchess of Alba, died on 23 July 1802. She was buried on 26 July in the church of the former Noviciado, by then belonging to the Missionary Fathers of the Saviour, where the Albas had a tomb as Counts-Dukes of Olivares. Francisco de Goya sketched a design for the mausoleum: three figures wrapped in sheets held the duchess’s body in the same pose as the famous majas. The remains were moved on 17 November 1842 to the Sacramental de San Isidro, when the building passed into the hands of the Central University.