Studying in Spain – Journal 9: Basilica of San Francisco El Grande
The Royal Basilica of San Francisco El Grande, or Real Basilica de San Francisco El Grande in Spanish, is a Roman Catholic church built between the year 1761 to 1768 by Francisco de las Cabezas.
The Latin word “Basilica” was originally used to refer to ancient Roman buildings that served official and public functions. After the Roman people adopted Christianity, the design was used on churches and gradually became popular throughout Europe. Nowadays the word basilica is used to refer to important churches that has been given special ceremonial rights by the Pope.
The Royal Basilica of San Francisco El Grande is located in the area of La Latina in Madrid. It is close to the Royal Palace of Madrid and a few other major Cathedrals and Basilicas in Madrid, including the Almudena Cathedral and the Pontifical Basilica of St. Michael. The closest metro stations to the Basilica are La Latina and Puerta de Toledo; both metro stations are on metro line 5.
The Royal Basilica is open from 10:30 to 12:30 and 16:00 to 18:00 on Tuesday to Saturday if no religious events are taking place. On July, August and September, the Royal Basilica is open from 10:30 to 12:30 and 17:00 to 19:00. A ticket for an adult cost 5€, and the Basilica offers a 2€ discount to students under 25 years old with a student ID.
The Royal Basilica and Hummus
The Royal Basilica of San Francisco El Grande was bigger than what I expected. In Taiwan, we don’t have impressive churches like in Europe, so I was really amazed by how divine and sacred a building could seem.
There are amazing paintings hanging on the wall and sculptures carved on the wall. The complexity of the structure and the detail in everything was incredible, it totally changed whatever imagination I had for churches. In my opinion, the Royal Basilica of San Francisco El Grande is just as worthy of a visit as the Prado museum.
After spending a morning in the Royal Basilica, walking to metro station La Latina would take approximately 10 minutes. On the same metro line is metro station Chueca, and walking from Chueca to La Hummuseria would take 5 minutes.
La Hummuseria is one of my favorite vegetarian restaurants in Madrid. They mainly serve delicious hummus of different flavors with focaccia bread. They have different tapas every week and I highly recommend their salads and desserts as well.
La Hummuseria is open from 13:30 to 16:30 and 20:30 to 23:30 everyday except Saturday, and it is open from 13:30 to 23:30 on Saturday. They offer “Menu del dia” during lunch hours, which is a set of food that would be cheaper than dinner hours. They have an English menu and the waiters there speak English as well.
Of all the salad options, I recommend the Seasonal Salad which is with strawberries and a mixture of green leaves. And for hummus I highly recommend “The Shy”, which is hummus served with mushroom stew, the combination of the flavor is not to be missed.
After the main course, I recommend their ice tea and “Malabi”. Their ice tea is not too sweet and very refreshing. As for Malabi, it is a kind of cream mixed with rose and coconut, and the flavor was nothing like I’ve ever tasted before.
