- Address: Glorieta de San Antonio de la Florida, 5, Madrid.
- Website: http://sanantoniodelaflorida.es/
- Phone: +34 (91) 5420722
- Discovery: 1798
The neoclassical church of San Antonio de la Florida , or the San Antonio Deserts of Florida , is located near the temple of Debod , near the station Principe Pio, on the site where once was the palace palace of Queen Maria Luisa, the wife of Carlos IV. This small church was a "pridomovym" temple, and on the instructions of Carlos IV, his painting was handled by the court royal painter Francisco Goya. The name of the church was due to the palace of la Florida, bought by the king at the Marquis de Castel Rodrigo. The name of the church is sometimes also translated into Russian as "The Church of St. Anthony in bloom."
The construction of the church lasted from 1792 to 1798, it was led by the Italian architect Felipe Fontana. In terms of the church has an equal Greek cross, and the dome, which also designed the Fontana, is crowned with a lateral.
In 1905 the church received the status of a national monument; in 1919 the remains of Goya were transported here. And in 1928, the centenary of the death of the artist, another church was erected nearby, to which the "temple" moved, and in this church there was only a museum of the artist's works. Sometimes it is called the " pantheon of Goya ". The tomb of Goya is next to the choir and is decorated with a stone brought from Bordeaux - the site of its first burial.
Today, the San Antonio Church also features a theatrical performance for children, dedicated to the life and work of Francisco Goya. Tickets must be booked in advance by phone (you can do it from Tuesday to Friday).
Frescos of Goya
Due to the fact that Goya was a court painter and the work was "supervised" by the monarchs themselves, the church did not control the work of the master in any way (like the Academy of Arts), and Goya was not limited in the choice of the plot and the ways of its execution. Perhaps that is why the frescoes are made with more love than the frescoes in Zaragoza and San Isidoro.
All work on painting the dome and walls took the painter a little over five months. For the dome, the artist chose the plot of one of the miracles performed by Saint Anthony of Padua - the resurrection of the murdered youth, so that he could appear on the court and remove suspicions from his father, accused of murder. When creating the image, Goya resorted to the effect of optical illusion: in addition to the basic "story-forming" characters, there is an exaggeration in the image of a whole crowd, some of whom watch the miracle, and some - as if looking down at the visitors of the church. As the models from which the characters of the fresco were "written off", ordinary Madriders performed, and the miracle itself looks as if it was happening not in Lisbon in the 13th century, but in Madrid itself, in modern times. The painting of the dome took the master most of the time, about 4 months.
On the fresco of the main altar, he presented "Worship of the Holy Trinity". On the walls depicts effeminate angels dressed according to the fashion of that time. Goya used sponge to make colors more vivid when writing frescoes.
Chapel
As mentioned above, in 1928 a similar church was built nearby (sometimes called twin churches), which was decorated with copies of Goya's frescoes. It is an active temple in which worship services are performed. Every year on June 13, St. Antony's day, the church becomes a place of pilgrimage for widows and unmarried women who turn to the saint for help in finding family happiness.
When can I visit the church and how can I reach it?
Opening hours of the church: Tuesday-Friday - from 9.30 to 20.00, Saturday, Sunday, public holidays - from 10.00 to 14.00. You can reach it by using public transport - the metro (Principe Pio station) or by bus (routes Nos. 41, 46, 75). A visit to the church is free of charge.
Convenient location in the heart of the capital allows you to visit a lot of nearby attractions : the Royal Palace , the East Square , Teatro Real , the monastery of Encarnación , the Cathedral of Almudena .| | | |
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