Considering Spain was almost singularly devoted to defending Catholicism and rooting out heretics around the world, it's surprising that it's capital has such a sucky cathedral. In the blog about the royal palace you saw a photo of the side entrance to the cathedral, which is right next to the palace. But the cathedral looks much more dramatic from afar. Up close, however, it's obvious that it's a recent creation, built on what looks to be a limited budget. The cathedral was designed around 1600, but somehow the country was so busy rooting out heretics that it never got around to building it. Construction went slowly over the intervening centuries, then the building suffered severe damage during the civil war in the 1930's. Construction continued after the war, and the church finally opened in 1992, about 400 years behind schedule. While the exterior is at least entertaining, the interior is very reminiscent of St. Jude's church in Monroe, before there was an actual church and mass was held in the gym hall.



It is nicely located though, and we had a nice lunch at an outdoor cafe on las Vistillas, with great views outside the city, to the distant mountains surrounding Madrid.