Royal Chapel of St. Anthony of La Florida

The Royal Chapel of Saint Anthony of La Florida is a small neoclassical hermitage on the bank of the Manzanares, on the western edge of Madrid, that holds one of the treasures of Spanish art. Built in the 1790s, it is famous not for its plain exterior but for the frescoes that cover its dome and vaults, painted by Francisco Goya in 1798.

Goya's ceiling is a revelation. He set the miracle of Saint Anthony of Padua, in which the saint raises a murdered man to testify to his father's innocence, not in heaven but among the ordinary people of Madrid: washerwomen, children, majas and beggars crowd a painted balustrade beneath a luminous sky. The loose, confident brushwork and the everyday cast prefigure modern painting.

The building is also the artist's tomb. Goya's remains were brought here from Bordeaux, where he died in exile, and lie beneath a simple slab before the altar, though the skull, mysteriously, was missing when the body was exhumed. To protect the frescoes from the smoke and wear of worship, an identical twin chapel was built alongside for services.

For visitors the chapel is free and open on set days, closed on Mondays, and sits near the Príncipe Pío station and the Casa de Campo park. Because the space is tiny and the light protected, numbers inside are limited, so a short wait is possible at busy times. A visit lasts only minutes but leaves a strong impression of Goya at the height of his powers. Each June a lively pilgrimage and fair in honour of the saint fills the surrounding park, when young women traditionally come to ask Saint Anthony for luck in love.