Calle San Cayetano

Calle de San Cayetano runs down from Ribera de Curtidores to Calle de Embajadores, in the heart of the Rastro flea market. Until 1852 it had no name at all: it was a dead-end alley off the main road. The registry of that year named it after the saint of the great building that closes its western end, the Theatine church consecrated to Cajetan of Thiene. Pedro de Ribera, the architect who gave the church its final form, has rested here since 1742. He was born on the neighbouring Calle del Oso; his parents, two of his wives and three of his children lie beneath these stones. Tradition says that, barred by the order’s rule from leaving them money, he promised the friars his inheritance in stone. Since the 20th century the street has been full of shops selling frames and painting supplies, and in the Rastro it is known as the painters' street. Every year, on the night of 6 to 7 August, the San Cayetano festival opens the three traditional summer celebrations of old Madrid, honouring a patron of those looking for work.

Pedro de Ribera, the architect who brought the church of San Cayetano to its final form, wished to leave an inheritance to his three children who had taken vows in the Theatine order. The rule forbade regular clergy from accepting money in inheritances. Ribera resolved the dilemma with a phrase that the neighbourhood’s chroniclers have repeated for centuries: to them he would leave his inheritance in stone. He lived opposite the church at number 26 Embajadores, and was buried beneath its flagstones alongside his parents, his sister and two of his three wives.