Madrid entdecken

The Convent of Las Descalzas Reales is a convent of Poor Clare nuns in central Madrid, founded in 1559 by Joanna of Austria, daughter of Emperor Charles V, in the palace where she was born. Run by Patrimonio Nacional and seen on a guided tour, it holds a painted main staircase, chapels and a series of tapestries after designs by Rubens.

Almudena Cathedral is the seat of the Archdiocese of Madrid, facing the Royal Palace. Begun in 1883 to plans by Francisco de Cubas, it was finished more than a century later and consecrated by Pope John Paul II in 1993. Behind its grey-and-white classical exterior lies a Gothic Revival nave with modern chapels, and a Romanesque Revival crypt lies beneath.

The Convent of las Comendadoras de Santiago, on Plaza de las Comendadoras near Conde Duque, has housed nuns of the Order of Santiago since 1650. Its church, built by the brothers Manuel and José del Olmo and dated 1697, has a Greek-cross plan under a central dome. The visit covers the church, the lower choir, the Chapel of the Girls and the Knights' Sacristy.