Located on Atocha Street at number 87 on the corner of Costanilla de los Desamparados we find the church of the Santísimo Cristo de la Fe which was previously the church of Incurables del Carmen. Without a doubt it is one of the oldest in Madrid.

It is part of the complex built in times of Philip III, between the years 1592 and 1620. At the end of the XNUMXth century, there was a hospital here and at the beginning of the XNUMXth century the Colegio de los Desamparados, dedicated to orphaned children, later a hospital for men was installed, the Hospital de los Incurables de Nuestra Señora del Carmen.

We can see how it appears represented in the Texeira map with the façade practically identical to the one we can see today.

Next to the church, in the house next door, the Don Quixote printing press, widow of Juan de la Cuesta. The relief of Lorenzo Coullaut Valera which represents Don Quixote and Sancho Panza reminds us that in this building, today headquarters of the Cervantine Society, was printed in the year 1605. first edition of Don Quixote.

During the Civil War It was burned down although it was later restored. However, with the passage of time it fell into neglect and deteriorated. Finally, the Archbishopric gave the church to the City Council. In 1974, the City Council handed over the management of the church to the Brotherhood of Crusaders of Faith, who since then have cared for and maintained the church.

The whole thing is very simple, almost Spartan. A lintel doorway and above it two large windows with grilles, made of Madrid forging from the 17th century, and above all a belfry topped by a triangular pediment without a bell tower.

The itinerary of the Procession of Silence, one of the most notable of Holy Week in Madrid, begins from this church and runs through the Neighborhood of the letters.

A abrazo.