Catedral de la Almudena
Madrid Spain
2008

Cathedral of Saint Mary the Royal of La Almudena

Almudena Cathedral is a Catholic church in Madrid, Spain. It is the seat of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Madrid. The cathedral was consecrated by Pope John Paul II in 1993.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Almudena_Cathedral

When the capital of Spain was transferred from Toledo to Madrid in 1561, the seat of the Church in Spain remained in Toledo and the new capital had no cathedral. Plans for a cathedral in Madrid dedicated to the Virgin of Almudena were discussed as early as the 16th century but even though Spain built more than 40 cities overseas during that century, plenty of cathedrals and fortresses, the cost of expanding and keeping the Empire came first and the construction of Madrid's cathedral was postponed.


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.