The Calle de la Montera is a pedestrian street in the centre of Madrid. Starting from the south, it links the

Puerta del Sol The Puerta del Sol (English: "Gate of the Sun") is a public square in Madrid, one of the best known and busiest places in the city. This is the centre ('' Km 0'') of the radial network of Spanish roads. The square also contains the famous clo ...

and the so-called Red de San Luis (the junction with the Gran Vía). It presents a south-north positive slope. All its path falls within the limits of the

Sol Sol or SOL may refer to: Astronomy * The Sun Currency * SOL Project, a currency project in France * French sol, or sou * Argentine sol * Bolivian sol, the currency of Bolivia from 1827 to 1864 * Peruvian sol, introduced in 1991 * Peruvian sol ( ...

neighborhood, in turn part of the

Centro District Centro District is located in the Valles Centrales Region of the State of Oaxaca, Mexico. The district includes the state capital Oaxaca and satellite towns. The district has an average elevation of 1,550 meters. The climate is mild, with average ...

of the Spanish capital.

History

The popular folklore is fertile in bringing explanations for the name of the street. However the reason for the name is the house of Juan Carlos and Francisco ''Lamontera'', documented to exist in the area by the mid 16th century. By the end of the 17th century the Church of San Luis Obispo was built in the street. During the 18th century Montera was a luxury street. The writer

Valle Inclán Valle may refer to: * Valle (surname) Geography *"Valle", the cultural and climatic zone of the dry subtropical Interandean Valles of the Andes of Peru, Bolivia, and northwest Argentina *University of Valle, a public university in Cali, Colombia ...

set in 1920 an scene of his play ''

Bohemian Lights ''Bohemian Lights'', or ''Luces de Bohemia'' in the original Spanish, is a play written by Ramón del Valle-Inclán, published in 1924. The central character is Max Estrella, a struggling poet afflicted by blindness due to developing syphilis. ...

'' in the street; the place where the "''taberna Pica Lagartos''" was located. The onset of the 20th century saw the street becoming one of the main commercial streets in the city centre, with a plethora of merceries, shirt-shops, other textile stores, jewellery and shoe-stores. Parts of the street were affected by the construction of the Gran Vía, whose works started in 1910. During the 20th century the upper segment of the street also became known by the visible

street prostitution Street prostitution is a form of sex work in which a sex worker solicits customers from a public place, most commonly a street, while waiting at street corners or walking alongside a street, but also other public places such as parks, benches, e ...

, gaining a long-lasting reputation in that regard. The Church of San Luis Obispo suffered a fire in March 1936 that led to its destruction, with the complete demolition taking place in 1943. More recently CCTV control was installed in the area. The street was pedestrianised in two steps: first the segment between the Puerta del Sol to Aduana Street in 2006. The process was completed in 2009. With the street having several business premises closed during the 21st century, by the end of the decade of 2010 the impending gentrification of the city-centre began to considerably increase the interest for real estate in the street. In August 2018 works towards the creation of a pedestrian underground connection between the

Metro Metro, short for metropolitan, may refer to: Geography * Metro (city), a city in Indonesia * A metropolitan area, the populated region including and surrounding an urban center Public transport * Rapid transit, a passenger railway in an urba ...

stations of

and Gran Vía passing below the street started.

References

{{Authority control Streets in Madrid Sol neighborhood, Madrid