Plaza de Cristo Rey

The name points to heaven more than to the street map. Christ the King is a religious devotion that proclaims Jesus Christ as universal sovereign, and its feast is among the most recent on the Catholic calendar: Pope Pius XI established it in 1925, amid a strong secularist advance in Europe. The devotion caught on quickly and left its mark on churches and squares across Spain. The square arose as a hinge point at the edge of the University City, where Isaac Peral, Cea Bermúdez, the Avenida de los Reyes Católicos and the Paseo de San Francisco de Sales all meet. It took shape in the mid-20th century, as the neighborhood was built on former land of the northern outskirts. There is no flesh-and-blood king here nor crowned effigy, but a theological idea turned into a place name, neighbor to those Catholic Monarchs who title the adjoining avenue.