The Saint Sebastian Church or Iglesia de San Sebastián is a 16th-century church in central

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 ...

, Spain. It is located on Atocha street, #39. The name arises from a devotional chapel (ermita) which was found along the route to the Basilica of Nuestra Señora de Atocha, founded in 1541. The first architect around 1550 was Antonio Sillero, who also finished the Chapel of the Sagrado Corazón. This church like that of San Luis conserved for years the rights of asylum for those escaping official persecution. More chapels and enlargements were added by Antonio de la Tijera, Juan de Bulga Valdelastras, and Juan de Obregón between 1595 and 1598. The tower was built in 1612 by Lucas Hernández. 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 ...

, the church was sacked by Republican forces, before it ended up being almost destroyed during a bombing raid by the Nationalists around November 20, 1936. This caused many of the works to be transferred to other sites. For example, the icon of San Blas was moved to the convent of San Jerónimo el RealNews item in EL MUNDO about the procession of San Blas
/ref>). The church was rebuilt in a different orientation by Francisco Íñiguez Almech between 1943 and 1959. In 1969, it was declared a "

Bien de Interés Cultural (, , , ) is a category of the heritage register in Spain. The term is also used in Colombia and other Spanish-speaking countries. The term literally means a "good of cultural interest" ("goods" in the economic sense). It includes not only mater ...

" in the category of monument.

Chapels

The Chapel of Our Lady of Bethlehem, known as the "chapel of the architects", was built in 1693 with Francisco Moreno as director of the works, and remodeled by Ventura Rodríguez in 1766-1768. Both Ventura Rodríguez and Juan de Villanueva are buried here. The chapel is to the right of the entrance, protected by a crystal gate. The Chapel of the Holy Heart was designed by Antonio Sillero.

Historical importance

The archives of the church over the centuries have kept biographical data on numerous figures of renown, including:

Baptism

Iglesia San Sebastian Atocha Madrid 0143

* Ramón de la Cruz (1731) * Leandro Fernández de Moratín (1760) * Patricio de la Escosura (1807) * Jerónimo María Usera y Alarcón (1810) * Francisco Asenjo Barbieri (1823) * Luis Madrazo Kuntz (1825) * José de Echegaray (1832) * Jacinto Benavente (1866)

Funeral services

Miguel de Cervantes Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra ( ; ; 29 September 1547 (assumed) – 22 April 1616 Old Style and New Style dates, NS) was a Spanish writer widely regarded as the greatest writer in the Spanish language and one of the world's pre-eminent novelist ...

(1616) *

Lope de Vega Félix Lope de Vega y Carpio (; 25 November 156227 August 1635) was a Spanish playwright, poet, and novelist who was a key figure in the Spanish Golden Age (1492–1659) of Spanish Baroque literature, Baroque literature. In the literature of ...

(1635) * Juan Ruiz de Alarcón (1639) * Antonio de Pereda (1678) * Ventura Rodríguez (1788) * Ramón de la Cruz (1794) *

Nicolás del Campo Nicolás Francisco Cristóbal del Campo, Marquis of Loreto (March 12, 1725 – February 17, 1803) was a Spanish politician and soldier who occupied several posts in the Spanish American colonies, mainly in the River Plate area. Biography He wa ...

(1803) * Juan de Villanueva (1811) * José de Espronceda (1842)

Weddings

Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer Gustavo Adolfo Claudio Domínguez Bastida (17 February 1836 – 22 December 1870), better known as Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer (), was a Spanish Spanish Romance literature, Romantic poet and writer (mostly short stories), also a playwright, columni ...

* Julián Romea * Práxedes Mateo Sagasta * Emilio Thuillier * Mariano José de Larra

Cemetery

The cemetery, at the union of Huertas and San Sebastian streets, has disappeared and is now replaced by a flower shop. In this cemetery

is buried. It also was the site of the ghoulish incident after the burial of actress María Ignacia Ibáñez, when her lover, the writer José Cadalso, lovelorn, attempted to dig up her body.

References

External links

MadridHistorico
{{Authority control San Sebastian Bien de Interés Cultural landmarks in Madrid Renaissance architecture in Madrid Roman Catholic churches completed in 1693 16th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Spain 1693 establishments in Spain Buildings and structures in Cortes neighborhood, Madrid