Basilica of San Francisco el Grande, Madrid
in Madrid, SpainCategory: Attraction
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Plaza San Francisco, 2, 28005 Madrid, Spain Print route »
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The Royal Basilica of San Francisco el Grande (in Spanish : Real Basílica de san Francisco el Grande) is a Roman Catholic church in central Madrid, Spain, located in the Barrio (neighborhood) of La Latina. The main façade faces the Plaza of San Francisco, at the intersection of Bailén, the Gran Vía de san Francisco, and the Carrera de san Francisco. It forms part of the convent of Jesús y María of the Franciscan order. The convent was founded in the 13th century at the site of a chapel.The basilica was designed in a Neoclassic style in the second half of the 18th century, based on a design by Francisco Cabezas, developed by Antonio Pló, and completed by Francesco Sabatini. The church contains paintings by Zurbarán and Francisco Goya. The temple once functioned as the National pantheon and enshrined the remains of famous artists and politicians.
The dome is 33 metres (108 ft) in diameter and 58 metres (190 ft) in height; its shape is very similar to the Pantheon's dome, having a more circular shape than the typical domes built in the 18th century.
Although they are derelict and unringable, the church holds the only peal of change ringing bells in Spain, and in Southern Europe, cast by John Warner and Sons in 1882 and weighing around 430kg. Although unringable they were the only peal of change ringing church bells in mainland Europe until 2017, when St George's Church in Ypres received a peal of their own.
