A simple, minimalist church

The Templo Nacional de Santa Teresa y San Jose is a Catholic church located along Plaza de Espana. It serves as a religious community residence, a nursing home and a parish church. It's a church mainly dedicated to Saint Teresa.

Built for the Discalced Carmelites the foundation stone was laid in 1916. The work of architect Jesus Carrasco-Munoz, the building was completed in 1928. Severely damaged during the Burning of the Convents in 1931, it was restored at the end of the Spanish Civil War.

A really modern church created in an eclectic style that mixes elements from different architectural styles such as Gothic, Renaissance and Modernism. The result of such a strange combination is a construction that really looks like a Medieval Castle. This keeps with the best well known works of Saint Theresa, 'Moradas'. In it she conceived the christian soul like a diamond with the shape of a castle. This is why the church reminds us of a beautiful castle.

As you enter the simplicity of the interior is what hits you most. It was such a welcome after all the gilded, ornate, over-decorated churches we had visited in the last few days. The central part consists of a wide lowered half barrel vault. 

The side naves are composed by broken arches which reflect the arches of the front entry.

The most remarkable decoration is the 19m reredo emplaced in the front part. In it a 4.5m statue of Saint Teresa can be found. Below her, a smaller statue of Saint Juan de la Cruz stands. The appearance of both saints in the front part is related to the real coexistence that they had when they made the reform of the Carmelitas religious order.

In the lateral parts of the reredo different saints can be found in wood. In the altar there is a table in which the 12 Apostles are represented.

On one side the door is this small chapel

its ceiling

and a closer look

one of the glass stained windows

The Apotheosis of Saint Teresa by Francisco Cossio

The chapel on the other side of the door.

As we were leaving I thought that if I was religious and the praying kind, this is where I would like to go and pray.

The palace gardens - Madrid

The Campo del Moro, the palace gardens was designed in the 19th century in the English style. It's a fairly small park - we were not able to see the formal part as it was being re-designed at the time of our visit.

I loved walking under the canopy of these wonderful trees, the plataneros

Just wonderful

We got to - what else? - the rosaleda, the rose garden. People here just love rose gardens

Down the road is this little red and white wooden house, built in 1898.

lovely design

 

The chalet del Corcho was also very cute

Half-way down we came across this fountain, which was situated just before

the avenue that led to the palace

We retraced our steps so that we could walk under the plataneros again, and then continued on our way.


 

The Almudena Cathedral in Madrid

The Cathedral of Saint Mary the Royal of the Almudena, commonly known as the Almudena Cathedral is a fairly young cathedral by Spanish standards, its construction began in 1883 and finished over a century later, when it was consecrated in 1993.

The outside of the cathedral has baroque nuances and has a double dome.

The imposing main facade has a great portico with two rows of columns. Their lower part shows a Tuscan influence, whereas the upper section imitates the Ionic order. There is also a baroque niche hosting the Virgin of Almudena, which was placed there after the consecration of the temple. There are also four statues by sculptor Ramon Chaparro: San Isidro Labrador, Santa Maria dela Cabeza, Santa Teresa de Jesus and San Fernando.

We were struck by the sculpted doors

The Neo-Gothic interior is uniquely modern, with chapels and statues of contemporary artists, in heterogeneous styles, from historical revivals to pop-art decor.

I loved the very modern stained glass

There was a long line of people queuing to kiss the icon.

My favourite part was the praying chapel, for its simplicity and beautiful mosaic drawings

The chest in this chapel is a funerary chest in which the body of Saint Isidro, the Patron Saint of Madrid, is preserved. It is one of the oldest pieces of furniture that exists in Madrid. 

It was made at the late 13th century. It consists of a parchment-covered pinewood frame with partially preserved linear Gothic paintings, depicting three miracles attributed to Saint Isidro.

After the Cathedral we visited the crypt

which follows a Neo-Romanesque style and keeps a 16th century depiction of the Virgin of Almudena.

The crypt has more than 400 columns with capitals. They mostly portray biblical figures and elements of nature.

Surrounding the perimeter of the crypt are 20 chapels. Each one is beautifully decorated with figures, paintings, mosaics and other works of art. There are also several colourful stained glass windows.

The floor was covered with tombstones, many of them very recent, and flowers or plant pots were placed on the graves

more graves on the wall in one of the chapels

Finally, a sarcophagus.