Church of San Martín

This church in Malasaña is a magnificent example of the Madrid Baroque from the second half of the 17th Century. The parish church of San Martín, founded in the 12th Century as a Benedictine monastery, was one of the oldest in the city, located originally in the Plaza de las Descalzas. During the reign of Joseph Bonaparte it was demolished, but its name and congregation were transferred to the current building in 1836, during the ecclesiastical confiscations of Mendizábal , occupying the former monastery of Portacoeli de Clérigos Menores, founded in 1648.

The church is laid out in the traditional Latin cross, with a central nave and two side naves with chapels, a domed transept and a flat apse. The main nave opens out onto a gallery with balconies, also highly characteristic of the Madrid Baroque. The facade presents a symmetrical tripartite composition, although the central section is slightly elevated. It is framed by two bell towers that accentuate this symmetry, and in the centre there is an interesting stone entrance-altarpiece, very in line with 18th Century trends.