Costanilla de San Andrés

Los Austrias·Palacio

The street takes its name from the church of Saint Andrew the Apostle, raised at the foot of the slope in one of the oldest sectors of Madrid, over what was the Mozarabic quarter and, by tradition, the site of the main mosque of Islamic Madrid. The parish is documented from the Fuero of 1202 and is one of the oldest in the city.

Costanilla de San Andrés drops from Plaza de los Carros down to calle de Segovia, and halfway along opens into Plaza de la Paja, the central market of the medieval town before Plaza Mayor existed. It takes its name from the church of San Andrés that closes its lower end. Here the centuries pile up. Across from the church stood the Vargas palace, whose 16th-century granite doorway still survives, and around 1520 Francisco de Vargas had the adjoining Bishop’s Chapel built. In 1535 the remains of Saint Isidore rested there for a time. At number 7 the Teatro España opened in 1874. In that building Baldomera Larra, daughter of the writer, later set up her business: she promised to double the money entrusted to her and led the first documented pyramid scheme in Spain, which collapsed in December 1876. Galdós wrote the street into Misericordia.

Its names

  • Costanilla de San Andrés18th century (documentado en el plano de Chalmandrier, 1761, y en el de Espinosa, 1769)
  • Plaza del Marqués de Comillas19th century
  • Plaza de la Paja / Costanilla de San Andrésfinales de los años sesenta del 20th century - presente
Sources (10)

Crossings