We enter the Barrio Santa Cruz by way of Calle Mateos Gago, “Gate of Barrio Santa Cruz Quarter”, which starts in the Plaza Virgen de los Reyes, a big tourist attraction offering souvenir shops, bars, and restaurants, not to mention one of the best views of La Giralda.

The street used to be called La Borceguinería because the guild of borceguineros, or bootmakers, was located here until the eighteenth century.

In 1893 it was given its present name of Mateos Gago, honoring the memory of the Sevillian University professor and canon of the Cathedral of Seville, Don Mateos Gago, who tenaciously defended the rights and doctrine of the Catholic Church.

The present course of Calle Mateos Gago is a result of a 1929 widening project in preparation for the First Ibero-American Fair, and from here we can now contemplate an incomparable view of La Giralda.

In Calle Mateos Gago you can also find the Parochial Church of Santa Cruz.  Across from the church, in number 21, Don Santiago Montoto was born, illustrious historian and author of numerous books.  On the façade is a plaque in honor of his father Don Luis Montoto, poet and chronicler of the city.