Calle de San Blas

Barrio de las Letras·Cortes

From the hermitage of San Blas, which stood on the little hill of the same name where the Astronomical Observatory now sits. Saint Blaise, a 4th-century bishop and martyr, is the patron against ailments of the throat. The street appears under this name on 17th-century maps.

The street sits at the eastern edge of the Barrio de las Cortes, and its name descends from the top of a hill. There, in 1587, a hermitage was raised to hold a relic of Saint Blaise, a gift from Queen Mariana of Austria. The spot became a place of pilgrimage, and the saint’s dedication took hold on the neighbouring street by sheer proximity. The hermitage vanished in the 19th century, but the hill did not stay empty: on its summit Juan de Villanueva raised the Royal Astronomical Observatory, which still crowns it. The same mound that honoured a saint ended up watching the skies, and is still called the Cerro de San Blas.
At the pilgrimage of the San Blas hillock, pigs dressed in clothes were paraded through the city and the winner crowned “King of the Hogs”; the celebration was banned in 1722 for offending the monarchy and religion.

Its names

  • Calle de San Blash.1600
Sources (9)

Crossings