Plaza de San Ildefonso

Malasaña·Universidad

The square takes its name from the church that has presided over it since 1629, dedicated to Saint Ildefonsus, archbishop of Toledo (607-667) and defender of the perpetual virginity of Mary. The dedication is Counter-Reformation in spirit: several 17th-century Madrid parishes invoke this Toledan prelate as a doctrinal symbol against Protestantism. The name appears in maps from 1683; on Texeira’s map (1656) the square already exists but is unnamed.

In the Universidad district, where the Corredera Alta de San Pablo, the Corredera Baja and several streets meet, opens the plaza de San Ildefonso. The place existed before the name: on Texeira’s 1656 map an unlabelled space appears, dominated by a chapel dedicated to Saint Ildefonsus when it opened in 1629. In 1809 Joseph I ordered it pulled down to open one of the squares he so loved —⁠Madrileños nicknamed him “the king of little squares”⁠— and the space widened. The present Greek-cross church was designed by Juan Antonio Cuervo around 1826. Literature passed through these corners: Galdós set scenes of Fortunata y Jacinta here, and the square saw Rosalía de Castro marry Manuel Murguía in 1858. For decades people called it plaza del Grial (Grail Square), a nickname whose origin no one knows for certain.

Its names

  • Sin nombre / Plazuela de San Martínhasta 1629
  • Plazuela de San Ildefonso1629–1809
  • Plaza ampliada / sin denominación estable1809–1826
  • Plaza de San Ildefonso1826–presente
Sources (10)

Crossings