Spain Guide
Madrid
Nuestra Señora de la Almudena cathedral
Address: Plaza de la Armería
Opening time: Daily: summer 10am–2pm & 5–9pm; winter 9am–9pm; not open for visits during Mass; crypt daily 10am–8pm
Planned centuries ago, bombed out in the Civil War, worked upon at intervals since, and plagued by lack of funds, Madrid's cathedral, Nuestra Señora de la Almudena was eventually opened for business in 1993 by Pope John Paul II. The building's bulky Neoclassical facade was designed to match the Palacio Real opposite, while its cold neo-Gothic interior is largely uninspiring; the crypt (entrance on Cuesta de la Vega), with its forest of columns and dimly lit chapels, is far more atmospheric.