Welcome to Madrid

Work began on this beautiful church in 1902, following a project by the architect Eugenio Jiménez Corera, and it was finished after his death by Jesús Carrasco in 1914. It is located on Calle Goya, in the heart of the Salamanca district. In 2014, it was conferred the status of minor basilica by Pope Francisco I.

With regard to the building, it was built in Neo-Gothic style over the longitudinal plan of three naves. What most attracts our attention is the huge 44-metre-high tower at its foot, crowned by a large iron spike upon which there is an image of the Virgin Mary. According to Pedro de Répide, this was at first surrounded by a halo of electric lightbulbs, which was more appropriate for the entrance to a theatre than to a sacred place.

The basilica also has a crypt where some of the leading members of the bourgeoisie and nobility rest.  They include the writer, Emilia Pardo Bazán, the centenary of whose death was in 2021.

The building was complete with a rectory and a parish school, located to each side of the apse.