Calle de Quiñones (Madrid)

Quiñones street begins on San Bernardo street and runs to Plaza de las Comedadoras, parallel to Gran Vía, in Madrid (Community of Madrid, Spain).

Its importance in the History of Madrid goes at first glance unnoticed by the passerby, despite having been the scene of historical milestones such as the Napoleonic invasion or the arrival of water from the Lozoya reservoir in 1858 (a moment celebrated with the installation of a fountain now missing in front of the Montserrat church). Today it continues to house different and notable buildings, ecclesiastical, academic and public.

Among all of them is the Church of Montserrat. This baroque temple was founded at the beginning of the 17th century by Philip IV to house the Benedictine monks expelled from the Montserrat monastery during the insurrection in Catalonia.

Quiñones Street owes its name to María de Quiñones, one of the first businesswomen that Madrid had. She was the wife of the printer Pedro de Madrigal and later married another printer: Juan de la Cuesta, who had his printing press on Atocha Street and is known for having made the first edition of Don Quixote.

From 1633 he began to sign his editions with his own name, and it must have been around this time that he opened a branch of his printing press on the street that today bears his name. The new workshops occupied a large plot of land, on which the aforementioned Montserrat convent was built in 1668. However, María’s house remained, which was in front of the printing press.