SINCE 1889 One of the most beautiful corners of the Barrio de las Letras Anyone who perceives a subtly magical aura when walking among the leafy plants of what is now the Jardín del Ángel should know that perhaps it is not just the flowers that cause this perception, but also the fact that the same place that this flower shop occupies today was filled, from the sixteenth to the nineteenth century, by the cemetery of the nearby church of San Sebastián, with such illustrious tenants as Lope de Vega, Ventura Rodríguez or Juan de Villanueva. With the cemetery closed and the bodies removed, this space located in what is known today as the Barrio de las Letras (due to the writers who lived in it, including Cervantes), was leased by the church to Luis Martín, who ran a flower stall since the mid-19th century, and which transformed the site into a plant shop. Just luck, or something else? The Martíns have remained in charge of the establishment until a few years ago; the last two have been Francisco Martín and his son, Antonio. The latter was the one who handed over the reins of the business to Pilar Vigara, who was able to preserve until 2019 all the charm of this urban oasis: the modernist entrance, the iron columns that support the wooden coffered ceiling, the oldest olive tree in the town of Madrid and, above all, the sensation of peace that is felt when walking among its plants. In 2020, after closing for a few months, this flower shop has reopened its stalls by Elsa Valverde and Mercedes Rodríguez.