Corredera Alta de San Pablo

Corredera Alta de San Pablo begins at the little square of San Ildefonso and climbs towards Fuencarral. Together with the Corredera Baja it forms a single artery cutting the old Maravillas district northwards. On Texeira’s map of 1656 the upper stretch appears as Calle de San Ildefonso; only on Espinosa’s of 1769 do the two sections appear under their present name. The name comes from a hermitage dedicated to Saint Paul, already old in the 16th century, which stood beside the estate of Vocinguerra de Arcos, in an outlying quarter of vegetable gardens. The apostle’s eve turned the route into a fair of flower and fruit stalls. When the hermitage disappeared, the festival moved to the Paseo del Prado and the Plaza Mayor. From 1834, on market days, the street was dressed with fruit and fish stalls. Later came the nights of Malasaña: from the 1980s the corredera filled with bars, from the Penta to the Tupperware.