Fodor's Expert Review Plaza de la Paja
At the top of a hill, on Costanilla de San Andrés, sits the most important square of medieval Madrid. It predates the Plaza Mayor by at least two centuries. The sloped plaza's jewel is the Capilla del Obispo (Bishop's Chapel), built between 1520 and 1530, where peasants deposited their tithes, called diezmas—one-tenth of their crop. Architecturally the chapel traces the transition from the blocky Gothic period, which gave the structure its basic shape, to the Renaissance, the source of its decorations. It houses a polychrome altarpiece with scenes from the New Testament and a carved alabaster cenotaph by Francisco Giralte that art historians fawn over. Seven cloistered nuns live in the building and hold Mass in the chapel on Sundays at 6:30 pm and at several other times during the week (check the schedule on the door or call for details). To visit the chapel it is imperative to reserve in advance; tours are in Spanish only. The chapel is part of the complex of the domed Iglesia... READ MORE
At the top of a hill, on Costanilla de San Andrés, sits the most important square of medieval Madrid. It predates the Plaza Mayor by at least two centuries. The sloped plaza's jewel is the Capilla del Obispo (Bishop's Chapel), built between 1520 and 1530, where peasants deposited their tithes, called diezmas—one-tenth of their crop. Architecturally the chapel traces the transition from the blocky Gothic period, which gave the structure its basic shape, to the Renaissance, the source of its decorations. It houses a polychrome altarpiece with scenes from the New Testament and a carved alabaster cenotaph by Francisco Giralte that art historians fawn over. Seven cloistered nuns live in the building and hold Mass in the chapel on Sundays at 6:30 pm and at several other times during the week (check the schedule on the door or call for details). To visit the chapel it is imperative to reserve in advance; tours are in Spanish only. The chapel is part of the complex of the domed Iglesia de San Andrés (Church of San Andrés), one of Madrid's oldest.
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