San Pedro el Viejo

The brick tower above you is one of only two medieval structures still standing in Madrid, raised in the fourteenth century in Mudéjar style, with the blind arches and brickwork you won't find anywhere else in the city centre.

Mudéjar literally means the one who was allowed to stay, and that is exactly where this tower comes from. After the Christian conquest, the Muslim craftsmen went on living and working in the city, in their own quarters close to here, and they kept building in brick and plaster the way they always had, including for Christian patrons. The result is a Catholic church tower that looks Islamic, and to the builders that felt completely natural.

We know how things ended for that community, because in 1502 the Muslims of Castile were given the choice between conversion and leaving, and a century later even their converted descendants were driven out of the country. What remains of them in Madrid stands here above your head.

To the right of the church, a little street climbs up to a triangular square with trees.