Madrid - Las Salesas Reales

The Convent of the Salesas Reales in Madrid, founded by Barbara of Braganza, wife of Ferdinand VI, and built by Francisco Carlier, is an imposing example of the Spanish Baroque architecture of the Bourbon period. Carlier was assisted by Francisco Moradillo, to whom a number of changes in the original plan, such as the small towers on the facade and the dome of the church, are to be attributed.

The royal couple are buried in the official and rather cold splendor of a tomb by Francisco Gutiérrez, who also created the Fountain of Cybele. Of the original convent there survives only the church. Most of the building was converted into the Palacio de Justicia at the end of the 19th century. This was burned down in 1915 and rebuilt in 1926, at which time the opportunity was taken to give the building its present Neo-Baroque facade facing the Plaza de la Villa de París.