Mejorada del Campo, Spain: travel guide to the town of the self-built cathedral near Madrid

Mejorada del Campo is a town in the Community of Madrid, in central Spain, set at the meeting of the Jarama and Henares rivers about 20 kilometres east of the capital, within the protected Parque Regional del Sureste. Home to around 24,000 people, it is an unassuming town with one truly extraordinary attraction.

For travellers searching for Mejorada del Campo, the Cathedral of Justo, Justo Gallego or unusual sights near Madrid, it offers one of the most astonishing buildings in Spain.

The Cathedral of Justo

The town's famous landmark is the Catedral de Justo, a vast votive cathedral built almost single-handedly over some sixty years by Justo Gallego Martínez. A farmer and former monk with no training in architecture, he began work in 1961 as a vow after recovering from illness, raising domes, columns and arches largely from recycled and donated materials until his death in 2021. Unfinished and unofficial, it has become an internationally known monument to one man's faith and perseverance.

Other sights and surroundings

Mejorada also preserves the Baroque chapel of San Fausto, a jewel of 17th-century Madrid architecture, and the striking brick church of Madre del Rosario, built in 1998 to a design by the Uruguayan engineer Eladio Dieste. The surrounding riverbanks form part of the south-eastern regional park, with wetlands and riverside woods good for walking and birdwatching.

Practical information

Mejorada del Campo lies about 20 kilometres east of Madrid, easily reached by road and by regular buses from the city, making the cathedral a popular and easy half-day trip from the capital.