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Real Oratorio del Caballero de Gracia

The Real Oratorio del Caballero de Gracia, between the street of the same name and the Gran Vía, occupies the site of a chapel built in 1654 by the congregation founded by Jacobo de Grattis (1517-1619), an Italian settled in the Madrid of Philip II known as the Caballero de Gracia, who is buried in the church. The current Neoclassical building was raised by Juan de Villanueva between 1786 and 1795: a single nave on a basilica plan, with false side aisles, a barely marked transept topped by a dome, and a semicircular apse. Twelve monolithic granite columns with Corinthian capitals support the interior, and the oval dome opens with four oculi and a lantern. The façade facing the Gran Vía was added between 1911 and 1916 by the architect Carlos de Luque López, when the opening of the avenue left the oratory with a new front. Inside are Neoclassical paintings by José Beratón and Zacarías González Velázquez, and a Christ of the Agony, a Baroque carving by Juan Sánchez Barba.

Things to do at Real Oratorio del Caballero de Gracia: 4 missions

• Find the four oculi of the oval domeStand beneath the oval dome of the transept and find the four circular oculi and the lantern that light it, the work of Juan de Villanueva.
• Count the twelve granite columnsWalk along the nave and count the twelve monolithic granite columns with Corinthian capitals that support the church.
• Find Sánchez Barba's Christ of the AgonyFind the Baroque carving of the Christ of the Agony, by Juan Sánchez Barba, among the pieces kept in the oratory.
• Look for the tomb of the Caballero de GraciaFind inside the church the tomb of Jacobo de Grattis, the Caballero de Gracia, whose congregation built the original chapel in 1654.

Near Real Oratorio del Caballero de Gracia

Source: esmadrid.com — Ayuntamiento de Madrid