Logbook · 2 places

What to see and do in Mejorada del Campo

What to see and do in Mejorada del Campo (Área Metropolitana, Madrid): 2 places across monuments, nature, activities and curiosities, with a photo and a Google Maps location.

1 Villages · 1 Monuments

How far each place is from the centre of Mejorada del Campo

Cathedral of Justo Gallego 450 m

Towns near Mejorada del Campo

Spain › Community of Madrid › Área Metropolitana › Mejorada del Campo

What to see and do in Mejorada del Campo

Mejorada del Campo
Village
Mejorada del Campo is a municipality in the Community of Madrid, in the east of the metropolitan area, at the confluence of the Jarama and Henares rivers. It has around 25,000 inhabitants; its origins go back to the Paleolithic and the town was founded in the 12th century, being called Mejorada del Rey from the 13th onward. It lived on dryland grain and olives, which gave its name to the Los Olivos neighborhood, built in the 1970s for families arriving from other regions. On 27 November 1983 a Boeing 747 operated by Avianca crashed near the urban center and 181 people died. It is famous for the cathedral that Justo Gallego built by hand until his death in 2021, and it preserves the Madre del Rosario church, a work in reinforced ceramic by the Uruguayan Eladio Dieste.
Cathedral of Justo Gallego
Monument
Built in Mejorada del Campo, some 20 kilometres from Madrid, this cathedral was raised by Justo Gallego Martínez, who began work on 12 October 1961 after being expelled through illness from the Cistercian monastery of Santa María de Huerta, in Soria, and undertook it as a promise after his recovery. He worked without plans or a building permit, using defective bricks and reused drums as formwork, selling his land and helped by his nephews and volunteers, until his death at 96, when he donated the work to Mensajeros de la Paz so that they could finish it. It covers about 4,700 m² and its dome reaches 35 metres in height. It is neither consecrated nor recognised as a place of worship by the diocese of Alcalá de Henares, but a 2005 advertising campaign made it known internationally.