*Casa del Ayuntamiento (Pl. E, 4), or town-hall, a Renaissance edifice (1526–64) designed by Diego de Riaño (p. [64]). The richly decorated S. part is one of the most charming creations of the plateresque style.
At the Audiencia begins the *Calle de las Sierpes (Pl. E, D, 3), or ‘street of serpents’, so named after the sign-board of an old inn. It contains the chief cafés and clubs and the largest shops, and it presents a very lively scene in the evening.
This street forms the best starting-point for a walk through the E. quarters of the town. The first lateral street on the right, the Calle Sagasta, leads to the church of San Salvador (Pl. D, E, 3), which contains a statue of Christ by Montañés (2nd altar on the right). From the S.E. angle of that church the Cuesta del Rosario leads to—
San Isidoro (Pl. E, 3), where at the high-altar a celebrated masterpiece by Roelas, the Death of St. Isidore (El Tránsito), was once closely studied by Murillo.—From San Isidoro the Calle Almirante Hoyos and Calle de Aguilas, which contain several fine patios, lead to the Plaza de Pilatos.
The *Casa de Pilatos (Pl. E, 2; adm., see p. [60]), the property of the Duque de Medinaceli, was probably begun early in the 16th cent. by Christian-Moorish architects for the Ribera family. As a member of that family had been to Jerusalem, the building was popularly supposed to be a copy of Pilate’s house. The architecture shows a curious but harmonious blend of Moorish, Gothic, and Renaissance elements.
The beautiful Patio, with its colonnade and fountain, contains several antiques; in the angles are two excellent replicas of a statue of Athena, of the time of Phidias.—Adjoining the court, on the right, is the so-called Prætorium of Pilate, and straight in front are the Vestibule, with its superb azulejos, and the Chapel, with its charming Gothic-Moorish decoration. To the left of the vestibule is a room with azulejos and a rich artesonado ceiling.—A magnificent staircase, roofed by a much admired dome, ascends to the upper floor, which is not accessible.
From the Plaza de Pilatos we follow the Calle de Caballerizas and Calle Descalzos to the N.W. to the pretty Plaza de Argüelles (Pl. D, 2, 3). Here rises San Pedro, a Gothic church of the 14th cent., containing a fine timber ceiling and pictures by Pedro Campaña and Roelas (sacristan, Calle Doña María Coronel 1).
Following the Calle de la Imagen, and crossing the Mercado (Pl. D, 3), we reach the Calle Laraña.
The University (Pl. D, 3) now occupies an old Jesuit convent. The University Church (entered from the quadrangle; fee ½–1 p.), built in 1565–79 by Bartolomé Bustamante (?) for the Jesuits, in the Renaissance style, contains fine Renaissance monuments and several sculptures and paintings by Montañés, Alonso Cano, Roelas, and others.
The churches in the N.E. Quarter, such as Omnium Sanctorum (Pl. B, 3), San Marcos (Pl. C, 2), and Santa Marina (Pl. B, 2) still possess towers in the Moorish style, which were once the minarets of mosques.—The so-called Casa del Duque de Alba (Pl. C, 2), Calle de las Dueñas 5, a palace built for the Riberas (p. [65]) in the Mudejar style after 1483, contains a court planted with palms and a staircase richly adorned with azulejos, but the house itself is not shown.