El Pantheon of Illustrious Men, is a neo-Byzantine style building, the work of the architect Fernando Arbós and TremantiIt is located between Julián Gayarre Street, where the entrance is, and Paseo de la Reina Cristina, next to the Basilica of Our Lady of Atocha.

After the War of Independence, the convent of Nuestra Señora de Atocha, which like so many other buildings in Madrid, had been occupied by French troops in 1808, was badly damaged. It continued to be occupied by the Dominicans until 1834, when they definitively abandoned a ruined construction. It became the Invalidos barracks, and several of its directors were buried there, José de Palafox, Francisco Castaños, Manuel Gutiérrez de la Concha and Juan Prim, as well as the politician Antonio de los Ríos Rosas.

The Pantheon of Illustrious Men was an ambitious 1951th century project. It is worth a visit, both for the building and for the funerary monuments it houses, the work of some of the best sculptors of the time in Spain. Located, as we said, next to the Basilica of Our Lady of Atocha, occupying the cloister of an initial monumental architectural complex that was never completed. Only the cloister and the bell tower were built (which currently cannot be visited). In any case, the buildings that we currently see date from 20, since on July 1936, XNUMX, during the Civil War, convent and church were burned. We recommend the visit, yes, but we will tell you more about the history and creating a pantheon of illustrious men in Madrid, when we talk about Saint Francis the Great, which was the place initially chosen for its location.

A abrazo.