Located in Habsburg Madrid, the Iglesia del Sacramento, known today as the Cathedral of the Armed Forces or Castrense, was the temple of the former Convent of Bernarda Nuns, founded in 1615 by Cristobal de Sandoval y Rojas, Duke of Uceda and King Philip III’s favourite. Declared a National Artistic Monument in 1982, it is considered to be one of the best examples of Madrid’s religious Baroque style.
The church was built between 1671 and 1744, in accordance with a project by three architects: the Jesuit friar, Francisco Bautista, Manuel del Olmo and Bartolomé Hurtado García. It has a Latin-cross layout with a single nave and it is covered by a half barrel vault with steady rests in the arches.
Its external façade is interesting, built in granite by Pedro de Ribera, with three entrance arches and low relief above the main entrance, which represents Saint Benedict and Saint Bernard adoring the Blessed Sacrament.
Inside, several paintings by Luca Giordano can be enjoyed, as well as a set of altarpieces in Rococo style, fresco paintings on vaults and walls by the González Velázquez brothers, and the main altarpiece, with a painting of Saint Bernard and Saint Benedict adoring the Eucharist, by Gregorio Ferro.
In 1979, it was acquired by the Ministry of Defence as a home for the Castrense Archiepiscopal Church of the I Military Region, a function that it still holds today.
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