Duque de Liria

Conde Duque·Universidad

The name comes from the Liria Palace, which occupies the northern stretch of the street, between plaza de Cristino Martos and calle de la Princesa, in the Universidad quarter (Centro district). The palace was commissioned by Jacobo Francisco Fitz-James Stuart y Colón de Portugal, 3rd Duke of Liria and Jérica, between 1767 and 1785. The ducal title was granted on 13 December 1707 by Philip V to James Fitz-James —⁠illegitimate son of James II of England⁠— as a reward for his victory at the Battle of Almansa, and takes its name from the Valencian town of Llíria (Latin: Edeta, Arabic: Lyria). The current street is the second in Madrid to bear this name: the first stretch so called is what is now calle de la Princesa.

Calle del Duque de Liria skirts the northern wall of a palace and links plaza de Cristino Martos with calle de la Princesa, in the heart of the Universidad quarter. The street is only a few paces long, but the building that names it left its mark on the city’s memory: Mesonero Romanos held it to be the finest of Madrid’s private buildings for its sumptuousness. It was commissioned by the 3rd Duke of Liria, of the Fitz-James Stuart line, and completed by Ventura Rodríguez around 1770 with echoes of the Royal Palace. In 1802, when the Duchess of Alba painted by Goya died without issue, the titles passed to the house of Berwick and Liria, since then merged into one with this palace as its seat. A bombing in November 1936 gutted the interior and left only the façades. The reconstruction, on plans by Edwin Lutyens, was carried out between 1948 and 1956.

Its names

  • Camino de San Bernardinohasta c. 1770 (zona general)
  • Calle del Duque de Liria (primera, en el trazado de la actual Princesa)c. 1770 – 1865
  • Calle del Duque de Liria (actual)desde c. 1865
Sources (9)

Crossings