Convento de San Felipe el Real

[1] Built between 16th and 17th centuries, was rise on a large pedestal (with protected perimeter of railings), was part of it a famous talking shop of the city (the Steps of San Felipe).

Archbishop of Toledo, Don Juan Martínez Silíceo, refused alleging that in Madrid in that moment had two monasteries of mendicant friars: that of San Francisco and that of Nuestra Señora de Atocha.

To save the uneven ground the building was mounted on a platform or "lonja", underneath which a number of locals or "covachuelas" were stablished serving as markets.

The construction of the facade by architect Juan Gutiérrez Toribio led a step surface that was called Lonja de San Felipe.

One day, due to the weight caused by the crush of people gathered on it to witness the prison of a reprobate, the balcony of the lonja sank.

The Convento de San Felipe el Real in a woodcut of 1878.
Now in its site is Casa Cordero, that is the first apartment building built in the city.
The steps of San Felipe, crowded in a picture of 17th century.