Description

Don Íñigo de Zapata y Cárdenas and his wife, Doña Isabel de Avellaneda, arranged for the foundation of a monastery of the Order of Santiago in Madrid, as set out in the founding document and its testamentary confirmation (1584). The foundation did not come to fruition until 1650, thanks to the firm intervention of Philip IV.

Numerous architects were involved in the construction process at various stages. The church has a centralised Greek cross plan beneath a large dome supported by chamfered pillars and pendentives; it is the work of the brothers Manuel and José del Olmo (1667–1696); the Sacristy of the Knights is by Francisco de Moradillo (1745–1753); the convent building was designed by Sabatini (1774–1779).

The convent lost part of its assets following Mendizábal’s confiscation in 1836. Subsequently, during the Spanish Civil War, it suffered severe damage and looting. In 1970, it was declared a Historic-Artistic Monument. It is a BIC (Site of Cultural Interest).

Bibliography

• A. Ponz (1776): Viaje de España, vol. 5, pp. 186-187.
• E. Tormo y Monzó (1927): Las iglesias del antiguo Madrid, vol. 2, Imprenta de A. Marzo, Madrid, pp. 269-278.
• Bonet Correa, Antonio (1984): Iglesias madrileñas del siglo XVII, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Instituto "Diego Velázquez", Madrid, p. 14, il. 32, 44, 45.
• Sánchez Rivera, J. Á. (2011): "Precisiones sobre un altar de la iglesia madrileña de las Comendadoras de Santiago", Espacio, Tiempo y Forma, Serie VII, Historia del Arte, vol. 14, UNED, p. 182.
• J. A. Sánchez Rivera (2014): El Real Monasterio de Comendadoras de Santiago el Mayor de Madrid: patrimonio histórico-artístico, Fundación Universitaria Española, Madrid.