The street Calle Mayor in Madrid hides a treasure from the Spanish Golden Age, whose existence is not commonly known. It is the ¨ narrow building¨, the house where lived the famous Spanish dramaturge Pedro Calderón de la Barca.
The route 1 Historical Madrid of the tourist bus Madrid City Tour goes through the historical centre of the city. We advise you to get off on the stop Plaza Mayor of the official bus tour and have a walk through calle Mayor, one of the most ancient streets of Madrid. When you reach the number 61, pay attention to the plaque that says in Spanish ¨Aquí vivió y murió Pedro Calderón de la Barca¨, which means: ¨Here lived and passed away Pedro Calderon de la Barca¨. It is easy to not notice the building because its facade is only 4 meters long. It can sounds incredible but this measures were quite frequent in the Madrid´s architecture during the Golden Age.
Pedro Calderón de la Barca lived in this building during 18 years, from the 1663, when he was pronounced as chaplain of honor of king Felipe IV, until his death in 1681. The building was close to destruction in the XIX century but luckily this didn´t happen thanks to the intervention of the writer called Ramón de Mesonero Romanos.
Believe it or not, but this edifice, commonly known as the ¨narrow building¨, is not the narrowest building of Madrid. On the same street is situated another property which is only 3.60 meters width.
If you want to discover the city of Madrid, learn about its history and points of interest, choose the service city bus tour hop on hop off Madrid City Tour. You will have Madrid on the palm of your hand!
