San Sebastian Church, Madrid, Spain

The Saint Sebastian Church is a 16th-century church in central Madrid. The name arises from a devotional chapel which was found along the route to the Basilica of Nuestra Señora de Atocha, founded in 1541. The first architect around 1550 was Antonio Sillero, who also finished the Chapel of the Sagrado Corazón. This church like that of San Luis conserved for years the rights of asylum for those escaping official persecution. More chapels and enlargements were added by Antonio de la Tijera, Juan de Bulga Valdelastras, and Juan de Obregón between 1595 and 1598. The tower was built in 1612 by Lucas Hernández.

During the Spanish Civil War, the church was sacked by Republican forces, before it ended up being almost destroyed during a bombing raid by the Nationalists around November 20, 1936. This caused many of the works to be transferred to other sites. The church was rebuilt in a different orientation by Francisco Íñiguez Almech between 1943 and 1959.

The Chapel of Our Lady of Bethlehem, known as the 'chapel of the architects', was built in 1693 with Francisco Moreno as director of the works, and remodeled by Ventura Rodríguez in 1766-1768. Both Ventura Rodríguez and Juan de Villanueva are buried here. The chapel is to the right of the entrance, protected by a crystal gate.

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Religious sites in Spain

User Reviews

expe prado (3 years ago)
Church of Saint Sebastian, Madrid

Irwin Mier (3 years ago)
The church dates back to the 16th century. It’s not very imposing but it’s a nice little piece of Madrid’s history. The church is free to enter and looking inside you can see what a typical church from the era would have looked like. During Christmas, they have a nice Belen or Nativity scene, a very common Christmas decoration in Spain given it’s catholic heritage.

Ellis Gil Luciano (4 years ago)
I went here on a weekday and attended the Mass at 12 noon. Very solemn and the priest gave a good homily.

aya mhel (5 years ago)
???....god is good!

Tommy Yu (5 years ago)
Very good quality food with good value

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