The Santa Barbara, also known as Church of the Monastery of the Salesas Reales is a
Catholic church, built in
Neoclassic style, in central
Madrid, Spain. It is one of a number of Spanish churches dedicated to
St Barbara
Saint Barbara ( grc, Ἁγία Βαρβάρα; cop, Ϯⲁⲅⲓⲁ Ⲃⲁⲣⲃⲁⲣⲁ; ; ), known in the Eastern Orthodox Church as the Great Martyr Barbara, was an early Christian Lebanese and Greek saint and martyr. Accounts place her in ...
.
History
This church was built in 1757 for the
Convent of the Salesas Reales, housing nuns belonging to the order of
St. Francis de Sales. (The order is also known as the
Order of the Visitation of Holy Mary).
The convent was founded in 1748 by the Queen
Bárbara de Braganza
Barbara of Portugal (Maria Madalena Bárbara Xavier Leonor Teresa Antónia Josefa; 4 December 1711 – 27 August 1758) was an Infanta of Portugal, and a Queen of Spain by marriage to Ferdinand VI of Spain.
Life Princess of Portugal
The marriage ...
, wife of
Ferdinand VI of Spain. The church, which stood next to the convent, was designed by
Francisco Carlier in collaboration with
Francisco Moradillo
Francisco is the Spanish and Portuguese form of the masculine given name ''Franciscus''.
Nicknames
In Spanish, people with the name Francisco are sometimes nicknamed "Paco". San Francisco de Asís was known as ''Pater Comunitatis'' (father of ...
. In 1870, the monastery was closed, and the government used the monastery as the Palace of Justice, now as the Supreme Court. In 1891, the church was open to parish worship.
Overview
The exterior is noted for the statues of
St. Francis de Sales and
St Jeanne de Chantal, founders of the Order, sculpted by Alfonso Giraldo Vergaz. In the interior, are the burial tombs of Ferdinand VI and his wife. These were commissioned by
Charles III of Spain
it, Carlo Sebastiano di Borbone e Farnese
, house = Bourbon-Anjou
, father = Philip V of Spain
, mother = Elisabeth Farnese
, birth_date = 20 January 1716
, birth_place = Royal Alcazar of Madrid, Spain
, death_d ...
and completed by the architect
Francisco Sabatini
Francesco Sabatini (1721 – 19 February 1797), also known as Francisco Sabatini, was an Italian architect of the 18th century who worked in Spain.
Biography
Born in Palermo, he studied architecture in Rome. His first contacts with the Spa ...
and the sculptor Francisco Gutiérrez. In addition, it holds the tomb of the general
Leopoldo O´Donnell, first duke of Tetuán, work of
Jeronimo Suñol
Jeronimo Suñol y Pujol (13 December 1839–16 October 1902) was a Spanish sculptor born in Barcelona. His early training was in the atelier of Agapit and , perfecting his art at Rome where he maintained a studio for many years. Never prolific, ...
.
See also
*
Catholic Church in Spain
*
List of oldest church buildings
References
External links
Web site of the Parish of Santa Bárbara Madrid Histórico entry
{{DEFAULTSORT:Barbara Madrid
Roman Catholic churches in Madrid
Neoclassical architecture in Madrid
18th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Spain
Buildings and structures in Justicia neighborhood, Madrid
Neoclassical church buildings in Spain