🟢 IGLESIA DE SAN MANUEL Y SAN BENITO | DESCUBRE LA MEJOR ARQUITECTURA NEOBIZANTINA EN MADRID 🟢

#madrid #madridcentro #turismomadrid If you are walking through the Retiro Park in Madrid and want to see a different church, be sure to enter the Church of San Manuel and San Benito. Already from the outside it draws attention for its colors and its shape, everything is unconventional. But inside it is even better, with mosaics that leave no one indifferent. A temple that was part of the expansion of the Salamanca neighborhood at the beginning of the 20th century. The church of San Manuel and San Benito is a neo-Byzantine-style temple, the work of the architect Fernando Arbós y Tremanti, which was built between 1902 and 1910 and was inaugurated on January 1, 1911. The construction started from an initiative of the Catalan businessman Manuel Caviggioli Manau and his wife Benita Maurici Gauran. In love with Madrid and the Salamanca district, in full expansion, they donated the land for the construction of the church. Its location is exceptional, in the middle of Alcalá street, a few meters from the Puerta de Alcalá and right in front of the Retiro Park. Its exterior appearance is truly striking, where the white marble and the red bronze dome stand out, decorated with blind pointed arches, and topped by a stylized lantern crowned with a ball and a cross. Eight turrets can be seen on the outside, decorated with geometric designs, which help to lighten the exterior appearance and function as buttresses for the dome. Also noteworthy is the square tower, located next to the main entrance to the church and attached to it at its base. It consists of four bodies decorated with arches and is crowned by a small temple covered by a roof topped by a cross, 43 meters high. The main access to the temple is at the corner of Calle Lagasca and Calle de Alcalá. In the hall we will see two wooden doors crowned by an arch in an Arab or oriental style. We will also see 3 Corinthian style columns, two on the sides and one in the center. The interior of the church presents a peculiar mixture of a central plan and a Latin cross plan. To the right there is a funerary chapel with a rectangular floor plan, at the far end is the main altar, located in the apse, with a semicircular floor plan, and to the left is the chapel of Santa Rita. Light reaches the interior of the temple thanks to the 16 windows in the dome, the 4 large windows under the pendentives and the different windows in the apse and side chapels. All this allows a better appreciation of the quality of the mosaics and the beauty of the marble that was used for the different rooms. The funerary chapel is on the right side and is presided over by a Carrara marble altar dedicated to Saint Benedict. The image of the saint is located in the central part under a temple with classical lines. On both sides of the altar are the tombs of the founders, that of Don Manuel Caviggioli on the left and that of Doña Benita Maurici on the right. In the apse is the main altar, made of white Macaél marble and with geometric inlays of various colors. It is chaired by an image of the Savior and two sides representing Saint Augustine and Saint Joseph, all of them sculpted in Carrara marble. In the vault, covered with mosaics, is the seated figure of Christ, Lord of the universe, blessing and holding the globe of the world in his right hand, accompanied by the 12 apostles. Happy Friday! Become a member of this channel to enjoy benefits:    / @viajareslomio   If you liked the video, don't hesitate and hit the "Like" button 👍 and subscribe to the channel ✅. The songs that you have heard in the video are: 1. "Av Jord, Till Jord - Silver Maple." 2. "Eye of the Storm - Johannes Bornlof." Follow us on social networks! ▶️ Instagram: https://bit.ly/3i1uTlN ▶️Twitter: https://bit.ly/3k5ApXh ▶️ Book your hotel: https://bit.ly/3JpJQev