iglesia de San Matias - Granada

The first parish church of San Matías in Granada stood in Calle Navas above the Mosque of Ibrahín , but after Emperor Charles V visited the city on his honeymoon, he ordered the construction of a new church , and construction of the new church began on the current place, thus receiving the title of "Imperial Church of San Matías" .

The Imperial Church of San Matías was completed in 1550 . This church has a rectangular plan with a single nave, covered with a Mudejar framework and supported by four Gothic pointed arches.

Inside this beautiful church , the highlight is the altarpiece of the main chapel, polygonal in shape, built in the mid-18th century, which is separated from the rest of the nave by a toral arch, on which the Imperial coat of arms and that of Archbishop Gaspar de Avalos are depicted. The church also has eight side chapels , four on the left and four more on the right.

In the choir of the church, located high at the foot of the temple, is a beautiful 17th-century organ.

The church has two entrances to the interior. The main entrance, from 1543, has a semicircular arch, framed by columns on pilasters on high pedestals, surmounted by a niche depicting the church's patron saint.

The side door also has a semicircular arch between Corinthian columns on pilasters. On the left side of the church is another walled door similar to that of San Bartolomé in the Albayzín. The exterior is notable for its beautiful Mudejar-style tower.

Willem Vandenameele