Cruise restoration of the Church of Nuestra Señora del Carmen and San Luis

The current church of Carmen and San Luis belonged to the Convent of Carmelitas Calzado founded in 1573 under the patronage of Felipe II and his president, Jacobo Trenci, known as El Caballero de Gracia. The traces are due to the architect Miguel de Soria who began its construction in 1611.

Over the centuries it has suffered numerous ups and downs: looting by Napoleonic troops, fires, confiscation decrees, demolition of the convent with its large cloisters and occupation by anarchists during the Civil War. After it, the two side chapels at the foot of the church were demolished in order to place the façade of the nearby church of San Luis, which was in ruins after being bombed. The access market located on Calle del Carmen also disappeared, modifying the accesses to the church. The facades lost their original plaster.

The church has a Latin cross plan with a vault over the transept topped by a lantern. The side chapels, closed by important bars, have a valuable decoration due to their movable assets. The shields placed on the pendentives of the transept stand out, corresponding to the Royal Council of the Indies, under whose Board of Trustees the Convent was left in 1635, according to the documentation found in the investigation parallel to the execution of the works.

Behind these two pendentives have been discovered two coats of arms of Carmelo Calzado, supported by angels belonging to the original decoration of the Convent.

As a consequence of all the events described and the great works carried out in its surroundings, the temple underwent important structural movements.

After the studies and follow-ups carried out, the risk of collapse existing in the vaults of the transept, which presented significant cracks, was verified. Likewise, in its walls there were important cracks and fissures.

These urgent and necessary works have made it possible to recover the stability of the building and the original appearance of the church, cleaning the walls and gilding characteristic of this church, while updating the entire electrical installation, providing it with new, more sustainable and efficient lighting. . 

The project focuses its action on the vaults and walls of the transept, in order to give them the necessary stability, solving all the pathologies collected in the study carried out. The actions have been the following:

• Installation of a perimeter scaffolding with a platform that would allow access to the interior of the lantern.
• Opening and cleaning of all cracks and fissures in the vault and walls.
• Study of them and the solutions for their correct consolidation.
• Sewn large cracks using steel rods.
• Stitching of minor cracks and fissures with fiberglass rods.
• Filling of joints with lime mortar.
• Recovery of volumes of cornice decoration.
• Cleaning, stabilization and painting of the wooden railing that borders the cornice.
• Restoration and painting of balconies.
• Placement of access stairs to the lower deck of the nave of the presbytery.
• Restoration and painting of the carpentry of the lantern.
• Cleaning and restoration of the golden decoration of all the moldings of vaults and cornices.
• Restoration of the original paintings found on the pendentives: coat of arms of the Order of Carmelo Calzado and angels.
• Restoration of the shields located on the pendentives, ordering the colors according to the investigations carried out, documenting that they belong to the Royal Council of the Indies, under whose patronage the Convento del Carmen was located, so they would be after 1668.
• Painting of all the walls, recovering the original colors after the stratigraphic studies carried out. Volumes lost by previous works have been recovered.
• Granite plinth cleaning and consolidation.
• New electrical installation with lighting based on LEDS luminaires and with a panel adapted to regulate the different needs of the events that take place in the church.