Considered the oldest in Madrid, the church of San Pedro el Viejo (Saint Peter the Old) is a fragmentary testimony of an art, the Mudejar Romanesque, whose best exponents progressively disappeared as the city grew and expanded and new architectural styles, such as the Baroque they came pushing with unusual force.

Clear proof of this can be found, without going any further, on the site attached to Hill of Saint Vincent and Bailen Street, where the neoclassical Almudena Cathedral is currently located, whose foundations rise in the same place as since the 13th century it occupied the church of Santa María, where the wonderful image of the Virgen de Lis belonged, by the way -found while the old church was being demolished- which can be seen, a few meters from the phenomenal carving of the Cristo del Buen Camino (Good Way), in the neo-Romanesque crypt of the cathedral.

There is also speculation that the church of San Pedro el Viejo -located a few meters from the church of San Andrés and the house-museum of San Isidro Labrador, at the confluence of the Plaza del Nuncio, with the streets Corredera de San Pedro y Segovia- was originally an Arab mosque -a case that would not be uncommon, with excellent examples in the imperial city of Toledo and the popular mosque converted into a church, which bears the name of Cristo de la Luz- although personally Judging by the characteristics that can still be seen in its apse or head, it gives me certain doubts.

Unfortunately, although it has survived numerous ups and downs in its nine centuries of existence, it did not, at all, in terms of its original integrity, which is known to have been practically remodeled in the 16th century -specifically, in the year 1655 - by the architect Francisco Sanz, whose performance is said to have managed to maintain a unified appearance inside - let us remember its original cross-shaped floor plan, which it still maintains and in whose transept the traditional Epistle and Gospel chapels are located - although on the outside it may suggest a model of 'Frankenstein architecture', in which various styles from different eras can be seen.

To this should be added, as one of its intrinsic values, the wonderful 14th century tower in a distinctly Mudejar style, which can be seen from different points in the capital and, of course, from the famous Segovia Aqueduct, which rises from Bailen Street and the beginning of Segovia Street, being a spectacular viewpoint of the Ribera del Manzanares.

Of the interior remodeling carried out by the architect Francisco Sanz, the checkered floor of the nave stands out -that eternal dichotomy between two ambivalent principles, such as black and white, Good and Evil, which was not only part of the banner or Beauceant of the Knights Templar, but it is also the sovereign battlefield of that vital and universal game, which is chess- which stands out in a nave with a barrel vault -including a small dome, which seen from the outside, gives it a curious appearance- as well as two side naves, leading to the choir, in whose atrium, it has a magnificent period organ, created, apparently, in the 17th century, by the artist Pedro Liborna Echevarría.

In the Main Altarpiece -made in 1671, by Sebastián de Benavente- it contains a splendid painting by Guido Reni, entitled 'The Crucifixion of Saint Peter', whose interest, apart from the artistic, may also be historical, since in said crucifixion, performed upside down - which has nothing to do with black masses, as has been speculated on occasion - was the type of crucifixion used by the ancient Romans for all those accused of treason against Rome.

But perhaps the most valuable piece of art in this oldest church is none other than the exceptional carving from the 18th century, made by the sculptor Juan de Astorga and given to the temple by the widowed Duchess of Santisteban and Medinaceli, which enjoys great popularity and that every year, in the Holy Thursday Procession, thousands of people gather: Jesus the Poor.

In short: a temple, which despite its renovations, is of great architectural, artistic and historical interest, located in a place of special relevance in the capital - the Lavapies area - and whose visit is recommended, especially for all those who want to enter not only the architectural and artistic aspect of the capital, but also, in another no less succulent and cultural, such as the traditional ‘castizo’.

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