Calle de Santa Clara
The name comes from the Monastery of the Visitation of Our Lady, home to Franciscan nuns and known popularly as Santa Clara, which occupied this block from 1470 until its demolition in 1809 by order of Joseph I Bonaparte to open the Plaza de Oriente. The street inherited the convent’s name, which in turn comes from the founding saint of the Poor Clares.
From Santiago to Vergara, in the Palacio district. Before the Napoleonic demolitions it was called Ancha de Santa Clara (Broad Santa Clara), to set it apart from the parallel Angosta (Narrow) that did not survive the nineteenth-century clearances.
The convent that named it was founded by Catalina Núñez in 1470, over houses where in 1435 King John II and his favourite Álvaro de Luna had lodged. Widowed, she withdrew to her foundation and was buried in its main chapel. The Franciscan Poor Clares lived here for almost 340 years, until in 1809 Joseph I demolished the convent to open the Plaza de Oriente.
With the convent gone and the street widened, the neighbourhood changed character. At number 3 lived Mariano José de Larra. There he shot himself in the temple on 13 February 1837, shortly after Dolores Armijo had come up one last time to recover her letters and tell him she was leaving for the Philippines. His daughter Adela found him, coming in to say goodnight.
Its names
- Ancha de Santa Clara16th century – c. 1810
- Calle de Santa Clarac. 1810 – actualidad
Sources (8)
- Por las calles de Madrid – Fotopaseo (fuente Répide)
- Calles de Madrid: Calle de Santa Clara – Gato por Madrid
- Convento de Santa Clara de Madrid – PARES (Ministerio de Cultura)
- Monasterio de Santa Clara – Patrimonio y Paisaje, Ayuntamiento de Madrid
- Doña Catalina Núñez, fundadora del Monasterio de Santa Clara de Madrid – Dialnet
- Los entierros de Larra – Callejear Arte Madrid
- Mariano José de Larra – Revive Madrid
- Alonso Álvarez de Toledo – Alfonso Álvarez de Toledo, Real Academia de la Historia