Calle de la Cava Baja, Madrid

Calle de la Cava Baja is a historic Madrid street running between Puerta Cerrada and Plaza del Humilladero. Its name points to underground passages that once allowed entry into the medieval town even when its gates were shut; those passages were later filled in after becoming hideouts for criminals. The street became a stopping place for carriers and coachmen bringing mail and goods from surrounding towns, and lodging houses multiplied here between the fifteenth and nineteenth centuries.

Its inns also fed a long restaurant tradition. The Mesón del Segoviano, established in 1720, stood here, and its former premises now hold Casa Lucio. In 1921, a tribute to writer Francisco Grandmontagne took place in that inn’s entrance hall, with Antonio Machado, Azorín, and many other figures of Spanish literary life attending. The street also housed Café La Mandrágora, where Joaquín Sabina recorded an album bearing that name in 1980.