28/03/2008

“Son immense esprit, son savoir, ses connaissances, ses fausses amours l'avaient conduite face à face, avec quoi? qui le lui eût dit? avec la mère féconde, la consolatrice des affligés, l'Eglise Romaine, si douce aux repentirs, si poétique avec les poètes, si naïve avec les enfants, si profonde et si mystérieuse pour les esprits inquiets et sauvages qu'ils y peuvent toujours creuser en satisfaisant toujours leurs insatiables curiosités, sans cesse excitées »
- Honoré de Balzac. La Comédie Humaine

Although I am not a catholic, I am touched by churches. The sanctuary, the silence, a second of respect. Maybe just to admire the sculpted beauty that follows hard work and sweat. There are many tempting reasons to walk into a church. In all of our lives there are times when life itself makes us bend, bend until we are down on our knees. Sometimes on our knees, just to rest, sometimes it is on our knees that we should say thanks. Gratitude is what I've been thinking about this week, the week called Semana Santa in Spain. It is so easy to look at our lives and complain. I remember a couple of years back, I was complaining to a dear friend of mine about my out of school overqualified no job what am I going to do with my life single girl status and he answered: "just be grateful."

If you think about it, gratitude is just a form of childlike awe, isn't it? The last time I felt like a child in awe was in front of Don Justo's Cathedral. If you want to be awed by the overlooked miracle of human persistence take a drive to Mejorada del Campo (Madrid). Here, Don Justo Gallego Martínez has spent decades building his own cathedral. Do not take this lightly, the cathedral, built with everyday objects, recycled materials from other constructions, and from a brick factory nearby, has a 40 meter high dome, and looks like… well like a cathedral. Don Justo was going to be a monk, but tuberculosis forced him to leave the order. Without a formal education, and only with the occasional help of students, the man has built a cathedral. Can you imagine the look on the face of every architect and engineer that sees this structure built without any drawn up plan, a structure based on one man answering every "that's not possible" with a "yes, I can"?

Nothing to do with organised religion, mind you, this is just a celebration of the human spirit. So this week, I invite you to take a route through some of the most emblematic churches in Madrid. Take a moment to admire the architecture, or maybe take a moment to be with yourself, whatever reasons your reasoning chooses, here are the descriptions of some of Madrid’s churches by world-guide.com:

Santa Bárbara (las Salesas Reales) - Calle Bárbara de Braganza, 3
Built on the orders of Fernando VI's wife, Bárbara de Braganza, this is possibly the most striking of Madrid's churches and probably the most ostentatious. Carlier and Moradillo constructed the ornate frontage of the church between 1750 and 1758.
Nearest metro station: Alonso Martínez and Colón

Monasterio de la Encarnación (Monastery of the Incarnation) - Plaza de la Encarnación, 1
Tel: +34 91 542 00 59
Built on the directive of Felipe III's wife, Empress Margarita de Austria, the Monasterio de la Encarnación, begun in 1611, was designed by Juan Gómez de Morain. However, a fire in 1734 destroyed the church, which was then rebuilt in the 1760s in a classical-baroque style by Ventura Rodríguez.
Church open: Monastery and Reliquary, Wednesday and Saturday - 10:30 to 12:30 and 16:00 to 17:30 and Sunday and public holidays - 11:00 to 13:30
Church admission: charge, reasonably priced, reduction for students, free on Wednesday EU citizens
Disabled facilities: none
Nearest metro station: Opera

San Jerónimo el Real - Calle Moreto, 4
Tel: +34 91 420 30 78
Founded in 1464 as the San Jerónimo el Real Convent, on the banks of the Río Manzanares, under Henry IV this royal church was relocated and reconstructed in its present setting in 1503 for Ferdinand and Isabel. During Felipe IV's time in power, (1621 to 1665), subterranean passageways were dug linking the church, also known as Los Jerónimos, to the Casón del Buen Retiro.
Church open: daily - 08:00 to 13:30 and 17:00 to 18:30
Church admission: free
Highlights: chapels, stained-glass windows and bronze hanging lamps
Disabled facilities: none
Nearest metro station: Banco de España and Retiro
Nearest railway station: Atocha
Other nearby points of interest: Museo del Prado

Ermita de San Antonio (St. Anthony Hermitage) - Glorieta de San Antonio de la Florida, 5
Tel: +34 91 542 07 22
An approximate ten-minute walk north of the Campo del Moro, the hermitage, or Panteón de Goya, houses some of Francisco de Goya's best works. Located on the site of an earlier hermitage, the Ermita de San Antonio's construction began in 1792 under the direction of Charles IV's Italian architect, Francisco Fontana.
Church open: Tuesday to Friday - 10:00 to 14:00 and 16:00 to 20:00, Saturday and Sunday - 10:00 to 14:00, public holidays - closed
Church admission: charge, reasonably priced, free on Wednesday and Sunday
Highlights: Cupola and mirrors and lamp beneath, Balustrade and Lápida de Goya
Disabled facilities: none
Nearest metro station: Príncipe Pío, Norte and Plaza de España


Catedral de Nuestra Señora de la Almudena (Almudena Cathedral) - neighbouring Palacio Real on Calle Bailén
Tel: +34 91 542 22 00
The cathedral was finally completed, and sanctified by the Pope, in 1993 after 110 years of work. The architect Giambattista Sacchetti, under Alfonso XII, drew up plans for a cathedral in 1879.
Church open: daily - 10:00 to 13:30 and 18:00 to 19:45
Church admission: free
Disabled facilities: none
Nearest metro station: Opera


Convento de las Descalzas Reales (Royal Barefooted Nuns' Convent) - Plaza de las Descalzas Reales, 3
Tel: +34 91 542 00 59
Established by Carlos I's youngest daughter Juana (Joanna) of Austria, on the site of her birthplace, the convent was constructed from brick by Antonio Silla and Juan Baustista of Toledo between 1559 and 1564. Diego de Villanueva completed the church in 1570.
Church open: Convent, Tuesday to Thursday and Saturday - 10:30 to 12:30 and 16:00 to 17:30, Friday - 10:30 to 12:30, Sunday and public holidays - 11:00 to 13:30. Access to the church is only during mass at 08:00 or 19:00
Church admission: charge, modestly priced, reduction for students, free on Wednesday to EU citizens
Highlights: church, 'The Empress María' by Goya and bust of the 'Mater Dolorosa' by José Risueño
Disabled facilities: none
Nearest metro station: Sol and Callao


Convento de San Antón (St. Anton's Convent) - Hortaleza, 63
Tel: +34 91 521 74 73
Housing a splendid art collection, the Convento de San Antón is an example of baroque architecture, which was designed by Pedro Ribera and constructed by Juan de Villanueva. Highlights include The 'Last Communion of José de Calasanz' by Goya and the 'Dolphin's' statue by Ventura Rodríguez's.


Iglesia de San Andrés (St. Andrew's Church) - Plaza de San Andrés, 1
Tel: +34 91 365 48 71
Erected between 1520 and 1530, and demonstrates the change between the Gothic and Renaissance era. The cupola above the sanctuary of the San Andrés Chapel originates from the late 15th century.
Church open: Monday to Saturday - 08:00 to 12:30, public holidays - closed, not to be visited during Mass
Disabled facilities: none
Nearest metro station: Tribunal and Chueca

Basílica de San Francisco el Grande (Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi) - Plaza de San Francisco
Tel: +34 91 365 38 00
The erection of the basilica began in 1761 adhering to the plans of Friar Francisco Cabezas and was finished under the direction of the architect Francisco Sabatini in 1784.
Church open: Tuesday to Saturday - 11:00 to 13:00 and 16:00 to 18:30
Disabled facilities: none
Nearest metro station: La Latina and Tirso de Molina

San Isidro - Calle Toledo, 37 / 39
Tel: +34 91 369 20 37
Originally constructed for the Jesuits in 1620 by Pedro Sánchez, the church was seized by Carlos III once the Jesuits had been excluded from Spain.
Disabled facilities: none
Nearest metro station: La Latina

San Nicolás de los Servitas - Plaza de San Nicolás, 6
Tel: +34 91 559 40 64
Although greatly renovated after the Civil War, San Nicolás de los Servitas is Madrid's oldest church. The church's tower is thought to have been a mosque's minaret, which was later sanctified as a Catholic Church.
Church open: Monday - 09:00 to 13:30, not to be visited during Mass
Disabled facilities: none
Nearest metro station: La Latina and Tirso de Molina

San Pedro el Viejo (St. Peter's the Elder) - Calle Nuncio, 14
Tel: +34 91 365 12 84
The church is so named to tell it apart from another newer St. Peter's in Madrid. Standing on the site of an old mosque, part of the church's interior dates back to the 15th century whilst the rest is predominantly 18th century…Highlights include 14th-century Mudéjar tower, coat of arms in entrance way - only ones in existence from the era prior to the Catholic monarchy.
Church open: Tuesday to Thursday - 08:00 to 12:30 and 17:00 to 20:00, Friday - all day, not to be visited during Mass
Disabled facilities: none
Nearest metro station: La Latina and Tirso de Molina