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La Latina is one of the most typical neighborhoods of the city of Madrid: it is located in the city center. The streets there, laid out in the Middle Ages, surround the Plaza de la Cebada and the Plaza de la Paja.
The streets of this district give a good picture of the popular Madrid. Due to the many bars, pubs and traditional taverns full of charm in streets such as Cava Baja and Cava Alta and the squares Plaza de la Cebada and Plaza de la Paja, it is very popular with Madrilenians. Although there is always something going on there, the early evening and the weekends are particularly busy. In addition, the popular street market Rastro de Madrid takes place every Sunday in the surrounding streets.
La Latina is located in the middle of Madrid’s city center, adjacent to other districts worth seeing such as the Habsburg district Madrid de las Austrias Sol/Gran Vía, Lavapiés and Madrid Río.
The course of the streets and alleys reveals their medieval origin. They are narrow and winding and lead to scattered lying places. Many of these alleys were outside the city walls. Here, in the suburbs of medieval Madrid, merchants delivered their goods, and artisans such as the tanners were also based here. The names of many streets and squares reflect this to this day: Plaza de la Cebada, for example, means Barley Square, and in fact the food for the horses of the farm and the cavalry was delivered here. In the Plaza de los Carros the wagons of the merchants were unloaded, the straw in the name of the Plaza de la Paja testifies to the cattle traded here.
