The origin

It was in August 2004, while walking through San Sebastián (Donostia), that I noticed the street sign for August 31. At that moment the idea occurred to me of creating a calendar made up of all the dates that appear on street name plaques around the world.

From then on I set myself the goal of photographing every example I could find in the places I visited. When I travel somewhere new, I usually look up the streets that interest me beforehand on the internet or on a GPS, or I simply obtain a map of the town once I arrive.

How many times have I made my family wander around in circles to achieve this goal! It has also led to curious anecdotes, such as the taxi driver in Oaxaca who asked whether I was an inspector when I suggested taking a route through streets that I would indicate along the way, or the fine I received in Sarajevo while searching for streets named after dates because I was convinced I had correctly validated my tram ticket.

Over time the project has grown thanks to the contributions of many people. Cronovies has thus become an open collection that aims to gather these small fragments of history present in streets around the world.