Royal Basilica of Our Lady of Atocha: Church facade

The original name refers to a lost icon from a chapel which was found among some high grasses, (called Tocha) during the time of the Reconquista. Located within a former Dominican convent. The church was transformed into a Basilica in 1863 by Pope Pius IX. The old church was in disrepair and rebuilt in the 1890's in an eclectic Neo-Byzantine style designed by Fernando Arb\u00F3s y Tremanti. Of the elaborate plan proposed by Arb\u00F3s y Tremanti, only the campanile and Pantheon of Illustrious Men (Spanish: Pante\u00F3n de Hombres Ilustres) was completed (and survive). The church was destroyed during the Spanish Civil War and reconstruction (in a simplified Neo-Baroque) completed in 1951.