Two Beautiful Spanish Churches

Hello, hello!  Happy last day of June!  I can not believe we are only one day away from the 4th of July holiday weekend but I am still talking about my trip to Spain from the end of April.  C’est la vie! On one of our mornings of Madrid my Mom and I took the time out to visit two gorgeous churches and the first up was the Catedral de la Almudena.  The full name of this church is the Santa María la Real de La Almudena and while the brochure brags that is the seat of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Madrid I would say the most noticeable thing is the stunning roof. 

This Baroque cathedral has a number of colorful chapels and by the time we left I had a crick in my neck from looking up so much. Of all of the pieces in the church the almost rainbow square cupola was definitely my favorite, so much so there are three photos of it this post: 

After the Catedral de la Almudena we walked the half mile to the second church of the day which despite the despite the short distance was a bit off the beaten path.  From the outside it may not look like much but all of my research said a visit to The Royal Basilica of San Francisco el Grande was a must when visiting Madrid and we were glad we went.   It is also a Roman Catholic church this one located in the Barrio neighborhood and has two famous features, the gorgeous dome and the art. The dome is over 100 feet, similar to the Pantheon, and the church contains paintings by Zurbarán and Francisco Goya.  It was cool, quiet and for a few Euro donation you can go in and admire the art. 

Which of these two churches is your favorite?