Basilica of the Immaculate Conception, Gothic Revival church in Recoletos, Madrid, Spain.
The Church of La Concepción is a Neo-Gothic church on Calle Goya at the corner of Calle de Núñez de Balboa, built in pale cream stone between 1912 and 1914. Its 43.7 m tower carries an iron spire crowned by a sculpture of the Immaculate Conception. The nave reaches 23.3 m, the side aisles 15.2 m; the building is 67 m long and 23 m wide.
Designed by Eugenio Jiménez Corera, who died in 1910, the church was built between 1912 and 1914 and completed by Jesús Carrasco-Muñoz. King Alfonso XIII and Queen Victoria Eugenie attended its opening on 11 May 1914. It was renovated in the 1950s, in 1985 and in 2013, and in 2014 Pope Francis raised it to the rank of minor basilica for its centenary.
The dedication to the Immaculate Conception is visible on the tower, where an iron spire is crowned by a sculpture of the Virgin. In 2014 Pope Francis raised the church to the rank of minor basilica, a decree granted through Cardinal Antonio María Rouco Varela, Archbishop of Madrid, in the year of its centenary.
The church stands on Calle Goya at the corner of Calle de Núñez de Balboa, in the Salamanca district. The 43.7 m tower with its iron spire and sculpture of the Immaculate Conception marks the corner from a distance. The building was renovated in the 1950s, in 1985 and in 2013, so some interior finishes differ from the 1914 state.
The 43.7-metre tower ends in an iron spire crowned by a sculpture of the Immaculate Conception, a detail easily missed from street level. King Alfonso XIII and Queen Victoria Eugenie attended the opening on 11 May 1914. In 2014 Pope Francis granted the church the title of minor basilica, timed to its centenary.
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