Almudena Cathedral (Catedral de la Almudena)

The Catedral de Santa María la Real de la Almudena is Madrid's Roman Catholic cathedral, standing directly opposite the Royal Palace on Calle de Bailén with its Neoclassical facade facing the Plaza de la Almudena. Construction began in 1879 under the designs of Francisco de Cubas, who originally envisioned a Neo-Gothic cathedral, but the project underwent multiple design changes and did not conclude until 1993, when Pope John Paul II consecrated the building in a ceremony attended by around 300,000 people. The cathedral is therefore one of the most recently completed major cathedrals in Europe.

The exterior presents a Neoclassical facade designed by Fernando Chueca Goitia in the 1940s to complement the neighbouring Royal Palace. The interior, however, is Neo-Gothic — ribbed vaulting, stained-glass windows, and pointed arches rise to 45 metres in the nave, producing an atmosphere of Gothic height and light quite distinct from the exterior's classical restraint. The ceiling vault is decorated with modern paintings completed in 1994 by Miguel Oriol — a highly unconventional colourful scheme that has divided critical opinion since the cathedral's opening. The crypt beneath is an entirely separate Romanesque-Revival space from a different architectural era — low, dark, and intimate.

The cathedral museum displays vestments, religious paintings, and liturgical objects. The rooftop terrace, accessible via a separate ticket (€7), offers one of Madrid's most spectacular viewpoints: across the tiled rooftop toward the Royal Palace, down the Manzanares valley, and across the Casa de Campo to the Sierra de Guadarrama. Entry to the main cathedral is €1. Dress code applies and shoulders and knees must be covered; disposable coverings are available at the entrance. The patroness, the Virgen de la Almudena, is honoured in a dedicated side chapel and her annual festival on November 9 is marked by processions through the surrounding streets.