Free audio walk in Madrid
The Barrio de las Letras
- 62 min
- 2.3 km
- 12 stops
- Free
Starts at Plaza de Santa Ana
About this walk
A loop through the streets where Cervantes, Lope de Vega, Quevedo and Góngora all lived at the same time, taking every opportunity to thwart one another.
The stops
Walk them in order; each story plays when you reach its pin.
- 1Stop 1
Welcome to the Barrio de las Letras
The opening of a walk through the neighbourhood where four world-class writers made each other's lives a misery.
- 2Stop 2
Teatro Español
The only theatre in Madrid still standing on its old corral, and the sausage war the audience fought out here.
Read the story - 3Stop 3
Teatro de la Comedia
This is where the national company stages the Golden Age, a hundred metres from the streets where that repertoire was written.
Read the story - 4Stop 4
Ateneo de Madrid
The society behind this door counted Larra as member number one, and in 1932 it held a vote on whether God exists.
Read the story - 5Stop 5
The actors' corner
The corner where actors signed their contracts, and where Cervantes spent his final years.
Read the story - 6Stop 6
Casa Museo Lope de Vega
Lope de Vega bought this house at forty-eight and stayed until his death; inside, a second story is waiting for you.
Read the story - 7Stop 7
Convento de las Trinitarias
Cervantes lies buried behind this wall, and it took four centuries before anyone could say exactly where.
Read the story - 8Stop 8
The letters in the pavement
The brass quotations set into the pavement, and the women writers who were only added later.
Read the story - 9Stop 9
The printing house of Juan de la Cuesta
The print shop where Don Quixote first came off the press, on paper paid for with borrowed money.
Read the story - 10Stop 10
Cine Doré
A modernist facade that stands out in Madrid, with the cinema of the Spanish film archive behind it.
Read the story - 11Stop 11
Iglesia de San Sebastián
The parish of the famous, with a tower that stops halfway up and a second story waiting inside.
Read the story - 12Stop 12
Back on the Plaza de Santa Ana
The end of the walk, with the spoils of fame divided and the way back to the metro.
Read the story
Ready when you are
Walk The Barrio de las Letras with ROODS.
12 stops through Madrid, about 62 minutes. Open ROODS in your browser, walk to the first pin and the story plays.
- Stories on a map, with narrated audio
- Walk at your own pace, stop where you like
- Runs in your browser. An app is optional.
