Fotos

Detail captured in Madrid's Cathedral.

From GoMadrid:
"The principle church of the Diocese of Madrid, the Catedral de Santa María la Real de la Almudena, is a relatively modern building, started in 1883 and not completed until 1993. Remarkable as it may seem, the delay until such recent times in the building of a cathedral in the capital can largely be attributed to the fact that Madrid was part of the Archdiocese of Toledo, which was reluctant to relinquish it.

Plans for the building were, however, progressed when Pope Leo XIII separated the capital from Toledo in the creation of the Diocese of Madrid-Alcalá. Until the current building was completed, the Cathedral was temporarily housed in the Jesuit College church of San Isidro. Alumeda was finally consecrated in 1993 by Pope John Paul II, and remains the only Spanish cathedral to have been consecrated by a Pope.

The cathedral is consecrated to Santa Maria de la Almudena, a name which has Arabic origins: al mudayna, means "the castle". Legend has it that in the 8th century, when the Moors invaded the fortress where Madrid now stands, the people hid an image of the Virgin in the city walls, and only when the city was reconquered in the 15th century did a wall crumble to reveal her presence once again. Some versions suggest that the legendary el Cid found the image in the wall, and the Virgen helped him to retake the city."