The Cerro de los Ángeles (''Hill of the Angels'') is a hill located in

Getafe Getafe () is a municipalities in Spain, municipality and a city in Spain belonging to the Community of Madrid. , it has a population of 180,747, the region's sixth most populated municipality. Getafe is located 13 km south of Madrid's city c ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

, about south of

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

. The site is famous for being the geographic centre of the

Iberian Peninsula The Iberian Peninsula ( ), also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in south-western Europe. Mostly separated from the rest of the European landmass by the Pyrenees, it includes the territories of peninsular Spain and Continental Portugal, comprisin ...

. On top of the hill there is a fourteenth-century

monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of Monasticism, monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in Cenobitic monasticism, communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a ...

named Our Lady of the Angels (''Nuestra Señora de los Ángeles''), as well as the Monument to the

Sacred Heart of Jesus The Most Sacred Heart of Jesus () is one of the most widely practised and well-known Catholic devotions, wherein the heart of Jesus Christ is viewed as a symbol of "God's boundless and passionate love for mankind". This devotion to Christ is p ...

(''Monumento al Sagrado Corazón''), built in 1919 to dedicate the country and inaugurated by king

Alfonso XIII Alfonso XIII (Spanish language, Spanish: ''Alfonso León Fernando María Jaime Isidro Pascual Antonio de Borbón y Habsburgo-Lorena''; French language, French: ''Alphonse Léon Ferdinand Marie Jacques Isidore Pascal Antoine de Bourbon''; 17 May ...

. The original monument was created by architect Carlos Maura Nadal and sculptor Aniceto Marinas y García, and was inaugurated by King Alfonso XIII on 30 May 1919. Republicans dynamited the monument on 7 August 1936 during the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...

, due to its religious and political symbolism, and because the

Catholic Church in Spain The Spanish Catholic Church, or Catholic Church in Spain, is part of the Catholic Church under the spiritual leadership of the Pope in Holy See, Rome, and the Spanish Episcopal Conference. The Spanish Constitution of 1978 establishes the non- ...

supported the

Nationalists Nationalism is an idea or movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, it presupposes the existence and tends to promote the interests of a particular nation, Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: Theory, Id ...

. There was a proposal to replace it with a figure representing Liberty or the Republic, but this was not executed due to the war and the defeat of the Republicans. Bullet marks dating from the war can be seen on the Sagrado Corazón monument as well as the walls of the monastery. After the war, the Franco government moved the remains of the monument across the esplanade and, funded by popular subscription, rebuilt a bigger version with an underground church. The current monument is almost identical in design to the 1919 monument, but on a larger scale. Construction began in 1944 in accordance with designs by the architects Pedro Muguruza and Luis Quijada Martínez. The monument shows Christ with open arms, inviting all men to come to Him. The high statue on a pedestal is the work of Aniceto Marinas, and the group of sculptures around the base is by Fernando Cruz Solís. The monument was opened in 1965. The crypt, which did not exist in the original monument, was opened in 1975. In the monument resides the patron virgin of Getafe. The slopes of the hill are populated with maritime pines as well as parks, springs, paths, a bar and soccer grounds. From the geologic point of view, the hill has a peak altitude of above sea level, with the base at . The area surrounding the hill is flat in all directions, making for great panoramic views of Madrid, Getafe, and the surrounding countryside. A radio tower sits on the peak of the hill besides the monastery. The

seminary A seminary, school of theology, theological college, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called seminarians) in scripture and theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as cle ...

for the diocese of Getafe is located by the monastery.

References

Bibliography

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External links

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Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cerro De Los Angeles Hills of Spain Getafe Monuments and memorials in the Community of Madrid Christianity in Spain Colossal statues of Jesus Landforms of the Community of Madrid

See also

References

Bibliography

External links