CALATRAVAS CHURCH MADRID

In the 17th and 18th centuries the most important street in Madrid was the Calle de Alcala, which led to the university town of Alcala de Henares. Facing today's traffic and hemmed in by office blocks, this church is all that is left of the original 17th century convent of the military order of the Comendadoras of Calatrava, founded by the wives of knights who joined the Crusades. Topped by a fine dome, the massive pink-brick exterior is covered in ornate sculpture. The interior is even more opulent. Here, the focal point in the gloomy light is the massive altarpiece of Jose Churriguera, the sculptor who lent his name to an exuberant baroque decorative style Churrigueresque.