One of the most outstanding architectural landmarks of Madrid, referring to the field of Sacred Architecture, is none other than the monumental and at the same time spectacular Basilica of San Francisco el Grande.
Located in the vicinity of the popular Lavapiés neighborhood, a short distance from the no less monumental Puerta de Toledo and not excessively far from the Almudena Cathedral and the Royal Palace, the Basilica of San Francisco el Grande shows, in its neoclassical conception, that retrospective look towards the ancient world, which still, after centuries and having as precedents the Art of the Renaissance and Culture, is found again in the dark scriptoriums of the medieval Benedictine monasteries - with the search and copying of the great texts A phenomenon similar to that which occurred in Europe after World War II occurred, although it seems incredible, when the Secret Services of both the United States and the Soviet Union became famous for recovering all the Alchemy manuscripts that fell into their books. hands - regaining interest, even if it was as a fashion, in the same way as in places like France, architects like him Duc advocated recovering, in addition, other styles, such as Romanesque and Gothic, some of whose examples we have already discussed previously.
Before going into details about the fascinating elements that make up this monumental sacred place, it may be convenient to take a look back, also and place yourself in that 12th century, supposedly after the conquest of Magerit - the name that the Muslims gave to the city of Madrid , which previously obeyed the Roman name of Madritum- when Tradition says - and in that sense, I continue to insist and say that of 'blessed treasure' - that Saint Francis of Assisi passed through here, while making his pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela, being, precisely this, the place granted by the sovereignty so that it could build another of the many churches and convents that according to it is thought, it was founding in its pilgrimage through different parts of Spain.
In fact, although the works were completed by the Italian architect, Francesco Sabatini, it was, nevertheless, Franciscan architects who began and developed a good part of a project, which was about to go to waste, precisely because of one of its elements. most monumental: its spectacular dome.
I will not enter into absurd debates about whether this constitutes, as they say in the same place, the third largest dome of Christendom - behind, only, the Basilica of Saint Peter and the Pantheon, both in Rome - or if we have to place it behind, even, the dome of the church of Santa María del Fiore, in Florence: no merit remains to occupy the third or fourth place to what is considered, without any discrepancy, the largest dome in Spain.
When mentioning the Franciscan architects who began and developed this monumental project, it is perhaps relevant, at least in the anecdotal world, to point out that the medieval Franciscans were in part heirs of the Templars' architecture, especially considering that Many of these knights, once the Order of the Temple was dissolved, went on to swell the Franciscan ranks and it is possible to assume that the stonemasons who had accompanied them on their adventure also did, having a good example of this in the church of San Francisco, built on what was a small Templar encomienda in the Coruña town of Betanzos and exchanged with the Crown for some possessions in Zamora, among them, Alba de Aliste.
That said and leaving aside the romantic world of speculation and anecdote, the truth is that although on the outside it does not give that feeling of monumental grandeur that one can feel compared to other great achievements of Sacred Architecture, it is inside where the soul is overwhelmed, feeling like a speck of dust in a universe that seems to extend to infinity.
Sensation, which is even more evident, if we consider that unlike other temples, its circular plan is not diminished by the support of those Herculean columns - called Atlanteans, because somehow, like Atlas, they supported the weight of the architectural universe on their backs - which in other styles and places seem to encircle the space, limiting something as complex, as is the sensation.
Monumental are, in addition, its six grandiose chapels, covered by cupolas, located on both sides of the place occupied by the apse, whose altar receives the faithful from the front, giving it the symbolic light and fulfilling the old function of entrance by the indicated darkness. by the west to receive the light -or the illumination- marked by the east or projection.
Along with the chapels, it should also be noted the presence, in beautiful life-size carvings and unmistakable classicism, of the Apostles, and that arrangement brings into place the old ambulatory of the great Romanesque monasteries, which symbolically represented the so-called Sepulchrum Domini or Sepulcher of the Lord, in Jerusalem.
But the great thing about the whole and also what the Achilles heel supposed that was about to make the project fail, due to its greatness, monumentality and weight, is the superb dome, which apart from measuring 33 meters - coincidence with the age that did Christ have when he was crucified? - it also has the most important pictorial works of great Masters of Painting of the time, such as Zurbarán or Francisco de Goya himself, among others.
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