Logbook · 2 places

Cathedral of Justo Gallego

Mejorada del Campo, Área Metropolitana, Madrid

1 Villages · 1 Monuments

Spain › Community of Madrid › Área Metropolitana › Mejorada del Campo › Cathedral of Justo Gallego

Cathedral of Justo Gallego

Monument · Mejorada del Campo, Área Metropolitana, Madrid

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.

Photo: Tony Rotondas (Wikimedia Commons) (CC BY-SA 3.0)

What to see and do in Mejorada del Campo