Plaza de Santa Ana

The monument to Pedro Calderón de la Barca on the plaza (Joan Figueras Vila, 1878).

Plaza de Santa Ana (English: Square of Saint Anne) is a plaza located in central Madrid, Spain, nearby Puerta del Sol and Calle de Huertas, in the Barrio de las Letras. It features monuments to Spanish Golden Age writer Pedro Calderón de la Barca and the Granadian poet Federico García Lorca and numerous restaurants, cafes and tapas bars, with its terraces covering most of the sides surfaces.

Night view of the plaza, with the monument to Federico García Lorca in the foreground and the ME Madrid Reina Victoria in the background

Teatro Español, the oldest theater in Madrid, is located on the plaza's east side. It was built in seventeenth century and then had the name Corral del Príncipe.[1] On the west side of the plaza, a luxury hotel (now ME Madrid Reina Victoria) was built in the early nineteenth century. The hotel achieved fame for being the favorite among the most popular bullfighters. For example, the regular guest Manolete always reserved room number 220[2] in superstition. The plaza is a popular meeting point in Madrid.

History

The name derives from a monastery with the name Santa Ana that occupied the current location in the seventeenth century.[3] The origins of the modern plaza go back to Joseph I, who in 1810, with urban sanitation of Madrid in mind, demolished the old Carmelite monastery and the adjoining houses.[4] The plaza began to take its current appearance, which was almost completed in 1880 when buildings that obstructed the view of the Teatro Español was demolished.

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Plaza de Santa Ana, Madrid.

References

  1. ↑ Thomas, Hugh (2006). Beaumarchais in Seville: an intermezzo. Yale University Press. p. 133. ISBN 978-0-300-12103-2.
  2. ↑ Bermejo, Fernando (13 January 1997). "La huella de Manolete, medio siglo después". El Mundo (in Spanish). Retrieved 16 March 2010.
  3. ↑ del Corral, José (2008). Gentes en el Madrid del XVII: formas de vida en el Siglo de Oro (in Spanish). Silex Ediciones. p. 139. ISBN 978-84-7737-210-3.
  4. ↑ Montoliú Camps, Pedro (1996). Madrid, villa y corte: historia de una ciudad (in Spanish). Silex Ediciones. p. 161. ISBN 978-84-7737-057-4.

Coordinates: 40°24′52.97″N 3°42′3.23″W / 40.4147139°N 3.7008972°W