You are walking along the Paseo de Recoletos, a boulevard that stretches only about six hundred meters but holds a dense layer of the city's intellectual history. Its name is a lingering reminder of the sixteenth century, when a convent belonging to the Augustinian Recollect friars stood on this site. That religious complex remained a fixture here until the middle of the nineteenth century, when the government confiscated and demolished the monastic buildings. In the aftermath of their removal, the area was transformed from secluded grounds into a prestigious residential address where the aristocracy built opulent palaces. If you look at the buildings lining the street today, you are seeing the result of that transition. The space once occupied by the friars' convent now serves a very different public purpose, as the site was eventually chosen for the National Library of Spain and the National Archaeological Museum. The boulevard became a natural extension of the city's cultural life, eventually serving as the home for the very first Book Fair in nineteen thirty-three. Even the statues and fountains you pass were once hidden away under protective sacks during the Spanish Civil War, a period when the avenue was nicknamed the twilight of the gods.
Paseo de Recoletos
other
© OpenStreetMap © CARTO
The audio tour continues in the Mira app →