Calle del Arcipreste de Hita

Behind the ecclesiastical title hides one of the great names of medieval literature: Juan Ruiz, known as the Archpriest of Hita. He was born around 1283, probably in Alcalá de Henares, and served as archpriest in Hita, a town in what is now the province of Guadalajara that gave him his byname. Of his life barely a handful of facts survive. His work is the Libro de Buen Amor, a long, overflowing poem in which the cleric recounts, with irony and mischief, his misadventures in love. Through its verses parade don Melón and doña Endrina, the mock battle between Sir Carnival and Lady Lent, and above all Trotaconventos, the go-between who foreshadows Celestina. The street marks the western edge of Chamberí, parallel to the calle de la Princesa, and separates this district from that of Moncloa-Aravaca.