Cathedral of Santa María la Real de la Almudena

Construction work on the Cathedral of La Almudena, in honour of the patron saint of Madrid, began in the late 19th century on the site of the former church of Santa María la Mayor. The first stone of this imposing monument, in one of the nicest parts of the city, was laid in 1883. In 1911 the crypt was opened for worship, but construction was halted until after the Civil War, when the work was restarted by the architects Fernando Chueca Goitia and Carlos Sidro. Even so, the construction process was very slow. In the end, the cathedral was consecrated for worship in 1993 by his Holiness Pope John Paul II. The interior is in the Gothic style, although the exterior is Neoclassical.