ALMUDENA CATHEDRAL, Chapels

If you have time, a more detailed tour of the cathedral will reveal several interesting contemporary vestments and teach you about some of Madrid's major religious traditions.

Go toward the raised altar on the right nave, at the point opposite the entrance. Below the arch of the double staircase lies the tomb of Queen María de las Mercedes, who lived in the second half of the 19th century and died of tuberculosis two days after she turned 18. Her tomb was transported here because the queen was very devoted to the patron saint of Madrid, from whom she took her name. The venerated image of the Virgin of Grace (called "Maria de las Mercedes") is imposing on a silver pedestal in the center of the "retablo", as the wooden structures in panels surrounding the altar are called in Spain.

The numerous chapels of this original and modern Madrid cathedral are decorated with images, altars and contemporary furnishings. Starting at the end behind the main altar, the first on your left is the "Capilla del Santísimo", where it's hard to sit and pray without being distracted by the monumental golden mosaics surrounding you. The chapel is preceded by a grand painting, "Christ stripped of his clothes" by the Baroque painter Francesco Rizi.

The central chapel is dedicated to San Isidro Labrador (Saint Isidro the Worker), who is the patron saint of Madrid, along with his wife Santa María de la Cabeza. Among the images of the saints you can see the medieval coffin that kept the patron's remains intact until 1700, when they were moved to San Isidro Church....