Calle San Julio

A short street in the El Viso neighborhood, on one of the highest points in the city. The name points to a saint from the Christian calendar, Julius, but the specific choice is undocumented: which Julius was meant to be honored was never written down. The calendar of saints holds several martyrs by that name. The best remembered is Julius of Durostorum, a veteran of the Roman legions executed in the early fourth century during the persecutions of Diocletian for refusing to renounce his faith. Whether the Madrid dedication refers to him or to another Julius was likewise never recorded. The street belongs to a stretch of El Viso dotted with devotional references, near the Sanctuary of Santa Gema, in an area that was open country before the twentieth century. The neighborhood, today among the most sought-after in Madrid, was born on that elevated ground, the viso that gives it its name.