Santuario de Santa Gema, Catholic shrine in El Viso district, Chamartín, Spain.
The Santuario de Santa Gema is a freestanding Catholic temple in El Viso with a tower and a red-brick main facade in the Neo-Herrerian style. Its octagonal dome shows a scene from the saint's life on each of its eight sides, and a wooden sculpture of Jesus by Mariano Rubio Martínez stands out inside.
The shrine was built in 1949 and consecrated on 17 October 1953 by architects Manuel Ambrós Escanellas and Joaquín Núñez Mesa. The Passionist Fathers established their community here in 1959 and continue to manage the complex.
The shrine is dedicated to Saint Gemma Galgani, a Passionist who died in Lucca in 1903 and was canonized by Pius XII on 2 May 1940. Since the 1950s a pilgrimage is held on the fourteenth of each month in her honour. The octagonal dome shows scenes from her life.
The shrine stands opposite Santa Gema Plaza in El Viso, a short walk from the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium area. The 14th of each month brings a pilgrimage in the saint's honour, so expect more visitors then. The building is free-standing with its own tower, entered from the plaza side.
The heart relic is not displayed bare: it lies inside a small silver sculpture of the saint made by Talleres Granda, brought from Rome in 1985. The relic rests in the Madrid shrine, while Gemma's remains are kept in Lucca.
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