Iglesia-Catedral de San Isidro (La Colegiata)

Still popularly known as La Colegiata, this massive church, built in 1622-33 once formed part of an important Jesuit college attended by many of the Golden Age playwrights. The high-baroque design by Pedro Sánchez was inspired by the quintessential church of the Jesuits, the Gesù in Rome; the façade was completed by Francisco Bautista in 1664. In 1768, after Charles III expelled the Jesuits from Spain, the church was separated from the college, dedicated to San Isidro and altered by Ventura Rodríguez to house the remains of the saint and his wife, which had been brought here from the Capilla de San Isidro. La Colegiata was the city's provisional cathedral for nearly a century, between 1885 and 1993, when the Catedral de la Almudena was finally finished and inaugurated.