Spain Guide
Madrid
San Francisco el Grande
Address: La Latina neighbourhood
Opening time: Aug Tues– Sun 11am–12.30pm & 6–7.30pm; rest of year Tues– Fri 11am–1pm & 4–7pm, Sat 11am–1.30pm
Price: €3
Among Madrid's grandest, richest and most elaborate churches, San Francisco el Grande, was built towards the end of the eighteenth century as part of Carlos III's renovations of the city, and has a dome even larger than that of St Paul's in London. The interior, which you can only visit with a guided tour, contains paintings by, among others, Goya and Zurbarán, and frescoes by Bayeu. After a painfully slow twenty-year restoration programme it is now possible to appreciate this magnificent church in something close to its original splendour.