San Pedro el Viejo

This impressive Mudéjar brick tower dates from the 14th century, although the rest of the church dates from much later, having been rebuilt in the 17th century.

Address Costanilla de San Pedro
Transport Metro La Latina .
Telephone 91 365 12 84
Open 6-8pm daily (phone to check).
Admission free.

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Church San Nicolás de los Servitas

The oldest surviving church in Madrid, San Nicolás de los Servitas, stands just a few minutes from Plaza de Oriente. San Nicolás de los Servitas 12th-century tower is one of two Mudéjar towers, built by Muslim craftsmen living under Christian rule, in the city. Most of the rest of the San Nicolás de los Servitas church was rebuilt later, during the 15th and 16th centuries.

Address Plaza San Nicolás
Transport Metro Ópera .
Telephone 91 559 40 64
Open 8.30am-1.30pm Mon; 9-9.30am, 6.30-8.30pm Tue-Sat; 10am-2pm, 6.30-8.30pm Sun.

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Church San Jerónimo el Real

Founded in 1464 and rebuilt for Queen Isabella in 1503, this church, San Jerónimo el Real, near the Retiro was particularly favoured by the Spanish monarchs, and used for state ceremonies. Most of the original building of San Jerónimo el Real was destroyed during the Napoleonic Wars, and the present San Jerónimo el Real church is largely a reconstruction that was undertaken between 1848 and 1883. The cloisters at the side of the San Jerónimo el Real church are being taken over for use as galleries by the Prado.

Address C/Moreto 4
Transport Metro Banco de España .
Telephone 91 420 35 78
Open Oct-June 10am-1.30pm, 5-8.30pm daily. July-Sept 10am-1pm, 6-8.30pm daily.

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San Andrés, Capilla del Obispo & Capilla de San Isidro

The large church of San Andrés dates from the 16th century, but was badly damaged in the Civil War in 1936 and later rebuilt in a relatively simple style. Attached to it, though (but with separate entrances), are two of Madrid's most historic early church buildings.

The Capilla del Obispo (Bishop's Chapel, 1520-35), with its entrance on Plaza de la Paja, is the best-preserved Gothic building in the city. The Capilla del Obispo contains finely carved tombs and a 1550 altarpiece by Francisco Giralte. It remains closed for restoration with the date of reopening as yet undisclosed.

Further towards Plaza de los Carros is the Capilla de San Isidro, built in 1642-69 by Pedro de la Torre to house the remains of the saint, which were later transferred to the Iglesia-Catedral de San Isidro.

Address Plaza de San Andrés 1
Transport Metro La Latina .
Telephone 91 365 48 71
Open 8am-1pm, 6-8pm Mon-Thur, Sat; 6-8pm Fri. Open for services only Sun.

Admission free

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The convent of the Descalzas Reales - Real Monasterio de las Descalzas Reales

The convent of the Descalzas Reales ('Royal Barefoot Nuns') is the most complete 16th-century building in Madrid and still houses a cloistered community. The convent of the Descalzas Reales was originally built as a palace for Alonso Gutiérrez, treasurer of Charles V, but was converted into a convent in 1556-64 by Antonio Sillero and Juan Bautista de Toledo after Philip II's widowed sister Joanna of Austria decided to become a nun. Founded with royal patronage, the convent of the Descalzas Reales became the preferred destination of the many widows, younger daughters and other women of the royal family and high aristocracy of Spain who entered religious orders. Hence the convent of the Descalzas Reales also acquired an extraordinary collection of works of art - paintings, sculptures, tapestries and objets d'art - given as bequests by the novices' families. Equally lavish is the baroque decoration of the building of the convent of the Descalzas Reales, belying its sternly austere façade, with a grand painted staircase, frescoed ceilings and 32 chapels, only some of which can be visited.

The largest non-Spanish contingents in its art collection are Italian, with Titian, Bernardino Luini, Angelo Nardi and Sebastiano del Piombo, and Flemish, with Breughel (an Adoration of the Magi), Joos Van Cleve and Rubens. The Descalzas is also an exceptional showcase of Spanish baroque religious art, with works by Gaspar Becerra, Zurbarán, Claudio Coello and even a tiny painting attributed to Goya. In addition, as you walk around you can catch glimpses of the nuns' courtyard vegetable garden, which has remained virtually unchanged since the convent was built, and is closed to the public. The monastery was seen by very few until the 1980s, when it was restored and partially opened as a museum. It can be visited only with official tours, which leave every 20 minutes and last around 50 minutes. Frustratingly, the guides rarely speak English, there is no printed information about the convent, and the paintings are not labelled. It is still an enjoyable place to visit, though, for the sheer sumptuousness of its artworks and fittings.
 
Address Plaza de las Descalzas 3
Transport Metro Callao or Sol .
Telephone 91 454 88 00
Open 10.30am-12.30pm, 4-5.30pm Tue-Thur, Sat; 10.30am-12.30pm Fri; 11am-1.30pm Sun.

Admission €5; €2.40 concessions. Free to EU citizens Wed.

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Iglesia-Catedral de San Isidro (La Colegiata)

Still popularly known as La Colegiata, this massive church, built in 1622-33 once formed part of an important Jesuit college attended by many of the Golden Age playwrights. The high-baroque design of La Colegiata by Pedro Sánchez was inspired by the quintessential church of the Jesuits, the Gesù in Rome; the façade of La Colegiata was completed by Francisco Bautista in 1664.

In 1768, after Charles III expelled the Jesuits from Spain, La Colegiata church was separated from the college, dedicated to San Isidro and altered by Ventura Rodríguez to house the remains of the saint and his wife, which had been brought here from the Capilla de San Isidro.

La Colegiata was the city's provisional cathedral for nearly a century, between 1885 and 1993, when the Catedral de la Almudena was finally finished and inaugurated.

Address C/Toledo 37
Transport Metro La Latina or Tirso de Molina .
Telephone 91 369 20 37
Open Sept-July 7.30am-1pm, 6.30-8.30pm Mon-Sat; 9am-2pm, 5.30-8.30pm Sun. Aug 7.30am-8.30pm Mon-Sat; 8.30am-1.30pm, 7.15-8.30pm Sun.

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Ermita de San Antonio de la Florida

Ermita de San Antonio de la Florida, this plain neo-classical chapel was completed by Felipe Fontana for Charles IV in 1798. Quite out of the way, north of Príncipe Pío station on the Paseo de la Florida, the Ermita de San Antonio de la Florida is famous as the burial place of Goya, and for the unique, and recently restored, frescoes of the miracles of St Anthony, incorporating scenes of Madrid life, which he painted here in 1798.

In contrast to the rather staid exterior of the Ermita de San Antonio de la Florida, the colour and use of light in Goya's images are stunning. Featuring a rare mix of elements, including his unique, simultaneously ethereal and sensual 'angels', they are among his best and most complex works. On the other side of the road into the park is a near-identical second chapel, built in the 1920s to allow the original building to be left as a museum.

There are free guided tours of the Ermita de San Antonio de la Florida, in Spanish and English, at 11am and noon on Saturdays.

Address Glorieta de San Antonio de la Florida 5
Transport Metro Príncipe Pío .
Telephone 91 542 07 22
Open 10am-2pm, 4-8pm Tue-Fri; 10am-2pm Sat, Sun.

Admission free.

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Convento de la Encarnación

Before the Alcázar burned down, this understated convent was its treasury, connected by a concealed passageway. In 1611 Convento de la Encarnación was inaugurated as a monastery by Philip III and his wife Margaret of Austria, and rebuilt to a design by Gómez de Mora. However, much of the original building, including the church, was damaged by fire in 1734 and rebuilt in a classical-baroque style in the 1760s by Ventura Rodríguez.

Convento de la Encarnación still contains a community of around 20 nuns, but most of the building is open to the public. Although not as lavishly endowed as the Descalzas Reales, it contains a great many pieces of 17th-century religious art, the most impressive of which is Jusepe Ribera's shimmering chiaroscuro portrait of John the Baptist.

The Encarnación's most famous and memorable room, however, is the reliquiario (relics room). In its glass casements are displayed some 1,500 saintly remains, bone fragments and former possessions of saints and martyrs, in extravagantly bejewelled copper, bronze, glass, gold and silver reliquaries. Its prize possession is what purports to be the solidified blood of San Pantaleón, kept inside a glass orb. The blood reportedly liquefies each year from midnight on the eve of his feast day, 27 July.

Note that visits are by guided tour only, and tours leave 30 minutes after the first person signs up; so there's little point turning up as it opens.

Address Plaza de la Encarnación 1
Transport Metro Ópera or Santo Domingo .
Telephone 91 454 88 00
Open 10.30am-12.30pm, 4-5.30pm Tue-Thur, Sat; 10.30am-12.30pm Fri; 11am-1.30pm Sun.
Admission €3.60; €2 concessions. Free to EU citizens Wed.

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Almudena Cathedral - Catedral de la Almudena

It is something of a miracle that the Almudena Cathedral exists. For centuries, Church and State could not agree on whether Madrid should have a cathedral; once they did, it took 110 years to complete the Almudena Cathedral.

In 1883 work began on a neo-Gothic design by the Marqués de Cubas, but this scheme went off course after only the crypt was completed. Another architect, Fernando Chueca Goitia, took over in 1944, and introduced a neo-classical style. Although the Almudena Cathedral  has failed to win much affection over the years, it was finally finished in 1993 and visited by the Pope.

The site once contained the church of Santa María de la Almudena, formerly the main mosque of Muslim Madrid (the name comes from the Arabic al mudin, 'the mill') until it was knocked down by liberal reformers in 1870. One of its more interesting pieces in the Almudena Cathedral is the 13th-century polychromatic funerary chest of San Isidro.

Address C/Bailén 10
Transport Metro Ópera .
Telephone 91 542 22 00
Open 10am-2pm, 5-9pm daily

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Church of San Francisco el Grande - Basílica de San Francisco el Grande

This huge, multi-tiered church of San Francisco el Grande between Puerta de Toledo and the Palacio Real is difficult to miss. A monastery on the site, reputedly founded by Saint Francis of Assisi, was knocked down in 1760; in its place, between 1761 and 1784 Francisco Cabezas and later Francesco Sabatini built this neo-classical church. Most challenging was the construction of the spectacular dome, with a diameter of 33m (108ft). The dome has recently been restored, but work on the rest of the basilica is expected to go on for several more years, so expect some parts to be covered with scaffolding. Inside there is an early Goya, The Sermon of San Bernardino of Siena (1781), and several frescoes by other artists.

Address Plaza de San Francisco

Transport Metro La Latina .

Telephone 91 365 38 00

Open Oct-June 11am-12.30pm, 4-6.30pm Tue-Sat. July-Sept 11am-12.30pm, 5-7.30pm Tue-Sat. Last admission half hr before closing.

Admission (guided tour only) €3; €2 concessions

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