The municipality of Mejorada del Campo, just a few kilometres from Madrid, is home to this emblematic cathedral built by Justo Gallego Martínez, which he worked on from 1961 until shortly before his death in 2021. The building, which has not yet been fully completed, is constructed using all kinds of waste and recycled materials, and its creator had no previous knowledge of architecture.
The cathedral is 4700 m2, stands 35 metres and has more than 2000 stained glass windows, in addition to 12 towers and 28 domes. Inside there are several rooms including a sacristy, chapter house, baptistery, library, two cloisters, four houses, the church and a crypt. Justo built the cathedral in honour of the Virgen del Pilar and, from 12 October 1961 onwards he worked on it alone for sixty years, although he was unable to finish it.
The NGO "Mensajeros por la Paz", led by the popular Father Ángel, was chosen by Justo Gallego to finish his work. The NGO engaged the services of Calter, a specialist structural engineering company, to inspect the building, confirming that the structure was sound despite the total absence of plans, since Gallego had all the work in his head. Currently, various arrangements are being made by a team of professionals to get the cathedral finished according to its creator’s wishes.
Next to the cathedral there is an annex building in which several prayer rooms have been set up for visitors of other religions, such as Muslims and Orthodox Christians.
