Madrid's artistic signs o' the times

It's sort of easy to get lost in Madrid — not Venice-level lost, but regular old-European-city lost. Still, the street signs here make it a pleasant experience. Most corners have nine- or 16-tile square artwork that not only tells wanders where they are but shows them.

Isabel II is the only queen regnant (female king) in Spain's history, although the eldest daughter of the current king is in line to be the next.

Some feature little scenes, like this one from Calle del Salitre (the saltpeter area, which apparently is where slat was processed).

 

We saw the sign, and it opened up our eyes. (You're welcome for that.)

Many of the streets are named after saints and feature religious iconography. Others depict what the area looks -- or looked like.

It's no coincidence that the medium is ceramic tile. That's a big deal in Madrid and in Spain, generally, where Arabic ceramic artists came starting in the 8th century. It gave rise to a big industry, and many of the country's treasures include ceramic artwork. 

At the Palacio Real (the Royal Palace), for instance, we saw an intricate ceramic-top desk that leaders use for signing the most important documents. (Sorry, we couldn't take photos in that part of the Palacio.)

Classic double signage.

Not so classic double signage.

Streets used to only have nicknames from people who lived in those neighborhoods and were officially listed as Manzana (block) and the number. That must have sucked to navigate.

For much of it's history, Madrid was a place that Bono might have sung about: where the streets had no names. (Hat tip to the Making of Madrid site for that one — and the history lesson.) Finally, in the 18th century, the government began assigning blocks and numbers — for ease of taxing residents, of course. In the next century, one of Madrid's mayor named plazas and streets after events, key people and some of the unions or guilds that had influence, like the salt refiners. 

And apparently the naming process has continued to be an ongoing discussion in city politics. For reasons not entirely clear, one plaza had been named after former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, which became a political issue in 2015. 

Even if we didn't know where we were, we knew where we were.