Basilicas in Spain—Madrid

Basilica of St. Isidore, Madrid, Madrid

Considered a basilica since its construction.

The Baroque church was built between 1622 and 1664.  St. Isidore and his wife, St. Mary, are buried here.  It was built to be the church for the former Imperial College of the Society of Jesus.  It served as the city’s cathedral from 1885 until the current cathedral opened in 1993.  (A fact that may surprise many is that the Diocese of Madrid was not established until 1885.  It became an archdiocese in 1964 and a metropolitan archdiocese in 1991.)  The church was heavily damaged during the Spanish Civil War but has been restored.

All pictures are from Wikipedia.

Basilica of St. Lawrence, San Lorenzo de El Escorial, Madrid

Considered a basilica since its construction.

The church was constructed between 1563 and 1584 as a monastery church.  It was built under orders from King Philip II and received much attention from Spain’s rulers.  The granite and marble church has many works of art, including from El Greco and Titian.

All pictures are from Wikipedia.

Royal Basilica of Our Lady of Atocha, Madrid, Madrid

Declared a minor basilica by Pope Pius IX in 1863.

The Virgin of Atocha is considered the patron of Spanish royalty.  The current statue dates to the 13th or 14th century, but veneration of the Virgin dates at least to the 8th Century.  A small chapel was built to house the statue, but it wasn’t until the 16th Century that a proper church was built and assigned to the Dominicans.  King Philip III placed the church under royal patronage in 1602.  The church burned down in 1652 and reconstruction was slow.  It did not help that in 1808; French troops desecrated the church.  In 1888, the widow of King Alfonso XII ordered that the church be repaired, but in 1936, during the Spanish Civil War, the church was once again destroyed by fire.  Reconstruction took place between 1946 and 1951.  Several royal marriages have taken place in the basilica.

The first picture is from Flickr, the second from a local source, the third from Pinterest, and the other two from Wikipedia.

Basilica of St. Vincent de Paul, Madrid, Madrid

Declared a minor basilica by Pope Pius XI in 1923.

The basilica is also known as the Church of the Miraculous.  It was constructed in a neo-Gothic style between 1900 and 1904.  It achieved basilica status in part to petitions from various associations of the Miraculous Medal, hence its other name.  The basilica was mostly destroyed during the Spanish Civil War but has been restored.

Both pictures are from Wikipedia.

Pontifical Basilica of St. Michael, Madrid, Madrid

Declared a minor basilica by Pope Pius XI in 1930.

The brick Baroque church was built between 1739 and 1745.  Queen Isabel provided funding for the church.  She intended it to be a church to be used by the Archbishop of Toledo when he was in Madrid, which was part of the Archdiocese at the time.  Her 8-year-old son, Luis, had been appointed Cardinal Archbishop of Toledo in 1735.  (Yes, you read that correctly.)  As part of a larger agreement with the Vatican, the church became the property of the Pope in the 19th Century.  It has been the church of the Apostolic Nuncio to Spain since 1892 and is administered by Opus Dei.

The first picture is from a local source and the other two are from Wikipedia.

Basilica of the Holy Cross, El Valle de los Caidos, Madrid

Declared a minor basilica by Pope John XXIII in 1960.

The basilica is part of a complex, known as the Valley of the Fallen that also includes a monument and a Benedictine abbey.  It was built between 1940 and 1958 under orders by Francisco Franco, the Spanish head of state, to commemorate the end of the Spanish Civil War.  The complex was built by political prisoners and indentured servants and holds the mortal remains of almost 34,000 soldiers who fought on both sides of the War.  The most obvious feature of the complex is a 500-foot tall cross.  The basilica is totally underground.

All pictures are from Wikipedia.

Royal Basilica of St. Francis the Great, Madrid, Madrid

Declared a minor basilica by Pope John XXIII in 1962.

St. Francis of Assisi is said to have established a convent here in 1217.  The current neoclassical granite and brick church was built by the Franciscans between 1761 and 1764.  Its dome is considered the third largest of any Christian church.  The Franciscans were expelled in 1836, and the church became a property of the State.  In the late 1800s, the church was restored and many works of art, including a painting by Goya, were used to decorate the interior.  The church was returned to the Franciscans in 1926.

All pictures are from Wikipedia.

Basilica of Jesus, Madrid, Madrid

Declared a minor basilica by Pope Paul VI in 1973.

A statue known as the Father Jesus of Nazareth was carved in Seville in the late 17th Century and soon attracted pilgrims.  Small chapels were built by the Dukes of Medinaceli to house the statue.  The current Baroque church was built between 1927 and 1930.  It was occupied by military forces during the Spanish Civil War and the statue was hidden.  Today the church is administered by the Capuchins.

The first two pictures are from local sources and the last two are from Wikipedia.

Basilica of the Assumption of Our Lady, Colmenar Viejo, Madrid

Declared a minor basilica by Pope John Paul II in 2002.

The Gothic church was constructed between 1563 and 1579 and has a Renaissance altarpiece.  It has many paintings and statues.

All pictures are from Wikipedia.

Basilica of the Immaculate Conception, Madrid, Madrid

Declared a minor basilica by Pope Francis in 2014.

The neo-Gothic church was built between 1912 and 1914.

The top picture is from the basilica's website, the next two are from local sources, and the last is from Wikipedia.

Basilica of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, Cerro de los Angeles, Madrid

Declared a minor basilica by Pope Francis in 2019.

A 90-foot stone tower was constructed between 1916 and 1918 at a location that is the geographical center of Spain.  It was built to spread veneration of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, and the monument is topped with a statue of Jesus.  In 1936, during the Spanish Civil War, five young people were killed for guarding the monument.  Two weeks later, Republican army soldiers were photographed shooting the statue of Jesus.  The monument was destroyed but was rebuilt between 1944 and 1965.  In 1975, a church was built underground beneath the monument.

All pictures are from Wikipedia.

Basilicas in Spain—Tarragona—2

Basilica of St. Mary Major, Morella, Castellon

Declared a minor basilica by Pope Pius XII in 1958.

The church was primarily built between 1265 and 1343 although work continued until 1593.  It is primarily Gothic with some Renaissance elements.  The church has a 17th Century Churrigueresque altarpiece.

The first picture is from Pinterest, the second from TripAdvisor, and the rest from Wikipedia.

Basilica of St. Mary of Poblet, Abadia de Poblet, Tarragona

Declared a minor basilica by Pope John XXIII in 1963.

A Cistercian monastery was built here in the 12th Century with a Romanesque church.  The monastery soon became one of the most important in Europe and some kings of the ancient Kingdom of Aragon are buried here.  The monastery was abandoned in 1835 but was restored in 1930 and the Cistercians returned in 1940. 

All pictures are from Wikipedia.

Basilica of St. Mary, Castello d’Empuries, Girona

Declared a minor basilica by Pope Benedict XVI in 2006.

The Gothic church was built between the 13th and 15th Centuries to replace a 10th Century Romanesque church.

All pictures are from Wikipedia.

Basilica of St. Felix, Girona, Girona

Declared a minor basilica by Pope Benedict XVI in 2011.

This church was constructed between the 12th and 17th Centuries and once was the cathedral for the diocese.  It is primarily Romanesque but has a Gothic nave and Baroque façade.

The first three pictures are from a local source and the last is from Wikipedia.

Basilica Sanctuary of Our Lady of Meritxell, Meritxell, Andorra

Declared a minor basilica by Pope Francis in 2014.

The basilica consists of an old and a new sanctuary.  A church was built here in the 12th Century to house a wooden statue of the Virgin Mary that had been found.  This church was renovated in a Baroque fashion in the 19th Century.  The church and the statue were destroyed in a 1972 fire.  The old church has been restored and is still in use.  A new church was built between 1974 and 1976 and houses a replica of the original statue.  The church has a collection of over 1,500 bibles in more than 1,200 languages.

The first three pictures are from local sources and the last two are from Wikipedia.

Basilica of the Virgin Mary of Nuria, Nuria, Girona

Declared a minor basilica by Pope Francis in 2014.

A church was built here in the 11th Century and eventually housed a statue of Our Lady that dates to the 13th Century if not earlier.  The church is located over 6,500 feet above sea level.  A new church was built in 1911.

Pictures are from local sources

Basilica of the Holy Christ of Balaguer, Balaguer, Lleida

Declared a minor basilica by Pope Francis in 2016.

This 17th Century Baroque and Neoclassical church replaced an earlier Romanesque church that had in turn replaced a mosque.  The church has a sculpture of Christ that is said to have been executed by Nicodemus, a disciple of Christ.  There are thought to be a half dozen of these sculptures in existence.  This sculpture is a copy as the original was destroyed during the Spanish Civil War.

The first two pictures are from Dreamstime and a local source and the last two are from Wikipedia.

Basilica of St. Stephen, Olot, Girona

Declared a minor basilica by Pope Francis in 2024.

Five churches dedicated to St. Stephen have been on this site since the 8th Century.  This Neoclassical church was built in the 18th Century.  The parish museum has the painting “Christ Embraced on the Cross” by El Greco.

The first three pictures are from local sources and the last two are from Wikipedia.