Where Madrid's first “taxis” waited for passengers

Set into one end of the square, a city plaque commemorates the most charming of the plaza's former uses: here stood the stands of the sillas de mano, the sedan chairs that were, in effect, the first public transport to circulate in Madrid. A small enclosed cabin with curtained glass windows, carried on the shoulders of four men called silleros, the “hand-chair” let noble ladies—and anyone who could pay—glide through the muddy, carriage-clogged streets of the Habsburg court without stooping to walk among the common folk.↗↗

The trade grew so popular that the king himself had to regulate it, licensing the chairmen, fixing fares and setting rules on hours and dress. The same corner was notorious enough for the playwrights of the Golden Age to put it in their plays: Tirso de Molina, and Luis Vélez de Guevara in El diablo cojuelo, alluded to the chairs and to the theatrical economy of hired chaperones, cousins and husbands-for-rent that flourished around them.↗

Bakery, oddities and a taste of old Madrid

The square is ringed with businesses that have outlasted their surroundings. At number 9, a long-running artisan bakery known as the Museo del Pan Gallego keeps a traditional wood-fired oven going; its roots lie in a tahona (flour-mill and bakehouse) documented on the site as far back as the eighteenth century, and today it is one of the most respected bread shops in the city, turning out rustic loaves and Galician specialities. A few steps away, a corner shop still wears two antique signs—Arca de Noé and Barco de la Abundancia—a century-old catch-all store of felts, fabrics and flags that was once celebrated for its Béjar-wool capes.↗↗

The plaza also holds a small but proud place in Madrid's culinary legend. The Botín name was born here at number 7, where an eating house run by a French-born cook opened its doors in the early seventeenth century; it was a descendant of that same family, operating out of Herradores, who later set up the inn on the Calle de Cuchilleros that grew into the world-famous Casa Botín. The original square, meanwhile, was eventually reborn as a pastry shop whose window of plump roast suckling pigs stopped passers-by in their tracks. A plaque on the square also marks the first Madrid home of the great novelist Benito Pérez Galdós.↗

A quiet corner with a wartime story

Ordinary buildings in the plaza have carried extraordinary histories. During the religious persecution of the Civil War in October 1936, Josemaría Escrivá, founder of Opus Dei, was forced into hiding at number 4, staying only a few days in the small flat because it was not safe—a reminder that beneath its antiquarian charm the square sits in the heart of a city that has lived through revolutions, restorations and war.↗

Visiting

Plaza de Herradores is free to walk through at any time, being an open public square rather than a ticketed attraction. As you approach from the Calle Mayor and dip down the Costanilla de Santiago or the narrow Calle de San Felipe Neri, you will sense its real character: a tight, leafy little circle where the streets de las Fuentes, de las Hileras and del Comandante Las Morenas converge, with a planted central island. Be aware that, unlike many of the old town's plazas, this one is not fully pedestrianised—a stream of traffic and a nearby tunnel mouth keep it busy, so it rewards a brief pause to read the plaques and peek at the shops more than a long sit-down.↗

It makes the most sense as a detour on a walking tour of the Madrid de los Austrias: combine it with the grander Plaza Mayor, the Calle de Toledo and the bars of the Arenal, dropping in for a fresh loaf or a pastry at the historic bakery before wandering on. Being only a few minutes' stroll from the Sol end of the centre, it is easy to reach and a pleasant, off-the-queue discovery for anyone who likes their city packed with small stories.