Our Lady of Montserrat Church, Madrid facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Church of Nuestra Señora de Montserrat |
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| Native name Spanish: Iglesia de Nuestra Señora de Montserrat |
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| Location | Madrid, Spain |
| Official name: Iglesia de Nuestra Señora de Montserrat | |
| Type | Non-movable |
| Criteria | Monument |
| Designated | 1914 |
| Reference no. | RI-51-0000136 |
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The Church of Our Lady of Montserrat (also known as Nuestra Señora de Montserrat in Spanish) is a beautiful Baroque-style church. It is a Roman Catholic church located in the center of Madrid, Spain. Even though its front (facade) on Calle San Bernardo looks very grand, the inside of the church is smaller than planned. This is because the building was never fully finished.
Contents
Building the Church: A Long History
The Church of Our Lady of Montserrat has a long and interesting history. Its construction took many years and involved several architects.
Why the Church Was Built
The church was started by King Philip IV. He wanted to create a home for Castilian monks. These monks had to leave the Santa Maria de Montserrat Abbey in Catalonia. They were fleeing during a conflict known as the Catalan Revolt.
The Santa Maria de Montserrat Abbey was a very important Benedictine center. It had been connected to the Castilian region of Valladolid since 1493. At that time, 14 monks from Valladolid were sent there. The Catalan monks were not happy that their abbot (leader) was usually Castilian. They used the revolt as a chance to remove the Castilian monks.
Early Construction and Design
Work on the church building began in 1668. This was during the reign of King Charles II. The first architect in charge was Sebastián Herrera Barnuevo. The money for building came from Pedro Arnaldo Llansol de Romaní. He was a rich baron from Gilet, Valencia.
The front of the church, called the facade, was influenced by the famous Church of the Gesù in Rome. This Roman church was designed by Vignola. The Montserrat church facade is one of the most detailed and complex Baroque buildings in Madrid.
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To handle the slope of the street, Herrera designed the facade with different sections. He used pilasters, which are like flat columns, in the Doric style. Herrera died in 1671, and Gaspar de la Peña continued the work. However, he did not finish the main altar area or the facade.
Pedro de Ribera's Contributions
Construction stopped until 1716, when Pedro de Ribera took over. Ribera kept Herrera's original facade design. But he added new decorations to the doors and windows. You can see the difference between Herrera's classic windows and Ribera's designs. Ribera's windows have fancy tufts and scallops.
The church was originally planned to have two towers. It is not clear if Herrera designed them. Their construction did not start until 1729. Only one tower was finished by 1740. This tower shows the lively style of Pedro de Ribera. It has a unique spire at the top. This spire gives the church its special look. The tower has two semicircular windows on each side. These are framed by striking estipites, which are decorative elements. The roof is made of slate and has a globe with a cross on top.
Unfinished Grandeur
Today, the church only has its main nave (the central part) and its side chapels. The remaining foundations show that a much larger church was planned. It was meant to have a big dome and more sacristies (rooms for priests). However, there was not enough money to finish such a huge project. The current back wall was built in 1986. The inside of the nave shows the style of 17th-century Spanish Baroque. Ribera added many of the beautiful decorations.
Changes Over Time
On July 25, 1835, a new law closed many religious houses. This included Montserrat, which had fewer than twelve monks. The monastery was closed along with many others in Spain. In 1837, the monastery became a women's prison. It was known as Casa Galera (Galley House) during the 19th century.
Later, in 1851, part of the monastery and church was given to nuns. They were expelled in 1868. In 1918, the church was given to the Benedictine monks from the Abbey of Santo Domingo de Silos. On August 1, 1922, seven monks opened the north nave for worship. By 1928, the entire church was open.
The Spanish Civil War (1936-1939) stopped the community's life. The monks had to find safe places to hide. The church was even turned into a ballroom during the war. Some monks were imprisoned, and four were killed. In 1939, six monks from Silos returned to the monastery. In 1953, they also received the rest of the building that had been the women's prison. In 1988, the buildings were fully restored.
Art and Treasures
The Church of Our Lady of Montserrat holds several important artworks.
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Famous Sculptures and Paintings
Long ago, a wooden crucifix by Alonso Cano was in one of the chapels. During the Napoleonic invasion, it was moved. It is now in the Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando.
Today, the church has other valuable artworks. One is a large 18th-century painting of the Immaculate Conception. Another is a sculpture of the Virgin's head, thought to be by Manuel Pereira. At the front of the church is a copy of the Christ of Burgos. This is a popular 18th-century sculpture. Like the original, this image has ostrich eggs at its feet. Tradition says these were a gift from a rich merchant from the Americas. The writer Benito Pérez Galdós even wrote about how scary this statue looked in his novel "Miau."
The paintings on the vaults (ceilings) show stories from the life of Saint Benedict. These were painted in the early 18th century by Pedro de Calabria. He also painted shields under the choir and a large painting of St. Basil, which is now lost.
The church also had a beautiful painting by Antonio Fernández Arias. It showed the Pharisees asking Jesus about the tribute penny. This painting is now in the Prado. Another highly respected image in the church was that of Our Lady of Suffering.
Buried Figures
The writer and knight, Luis de Salazar y Castro, was buried in the church. His valuable collection of documents was kept in the monastery until 1835. When the monastery closed, these 49 volumes of documents were moved to the Real Academia de la Historia.
For a long time, it was a tradition to ring the bells every evening. This was done for the soul of King Philip IV. It marked the time when the Benedictine monks learned of his death.
Current Use
Today, the church is used as a priory church. This means it is a church connected to a monastery. The Benedictine monks from Santo Domingo de Silos in the province of Burgos use it.
See also
In Spanish: Iglesia de Nuestra Señora de Montserrat para niños
- Catholic Church in Spain
- List of oldest church buildings
Images for kids
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The street Calle Ancha de San Bernardo (Madrid) in the first third of the 19th century, with the Nuestra Señora de Montserrat to the right and the Oratorio de los Padres del Salvador del Mundo to the left (engraving by James B. Allen, based on an original drawing of the painter David Roberts, made during his trip to Spain in 1832-33).
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Detail of the main facade.
