Province Community of Madrid | ||
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Similar ME Madrid Reina Victoria, Barrio de las Letras, Puerta del Sol, Teatro Español, Plaza Mayor - Madrid | ||
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.
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Map of Plaza Sta. Ana, 28012 Madrid, Spain
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. 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 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. 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. 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.