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MUSEUMS

Get ready for France’s ‘Night of the Museums’

There's a great opportunity to see France's museums as you've never seen before, with many opening late to offer behind-the-scenes access, shows and other special events on Saturday.

Get ready for France's 'Night of the Museums'
Photo: ChMN (Château-Musée de Nemours)/Nuit des Musees

“La Nuit des Musées” (Long Night of the Museums) on Saturday, May 21st, will see museums and other cultural sites including castles open late to the public – the vast majority free of charge.

Over 1,200 museums are participating, 150 in Paris alone, with behind-the-scenes access to the exhibits as well as events including workshops, dances and family-friendly activities at numerous sites.

Many tourist favourites are among them, including the Louvre, the Centre Pompidou and the Palace of Versailles where there will be equestrian shows. The Musee d'Orsay will host a big band, while there will be a ball at the Immigration Museum.

But it's not just the capital that gets to join in; there's plenty going on up and down the country too. Visit the official website to see what's happening near you.


The Louvre at night. Photo: AFP

Most sites are keeping their doors open from 6pm until midnight, but if there's a particular show or exhibit you want to see, be sure to check the programme here.

You can try to pack in several museums or focus on seeing all the exhibits in your favourite spot, but bear in mind that public transport and the bigger museums will likely be most crowded at the start and end of the evening.


Photo: Cinémathèque Française/Nuit des Musees

Yes, there will be queues. But it will be worth it for the extra effort the museums put on during this evening with performances, temporary exhibitions, and interactive activities.

The Long Night of the Museums is a Europe-wide initiative now in its 12th year.

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MADRID

Spain’s scrap cathedral: A monk’s 60-year self-build labour of faith and devotion

About 20 km east of Madrid, in the small town of Mejorada del Campo, stands a building that testifies to a former monk's lifetime of devotion to the Catholic faith. Paul Burge explores the Don Justo Cathedral, a religious edifice like no other.

Spain's scrap cathedral: A monk's 60-year self-build labour of faith and devotion
Don Justo's Cathedral in Mejorada del Campo, Madrid. Photos: Paul Burge

The structure has been built by 95-year-old former monk, Don Justo Gallego Martinez, using nothing but recycled, scavenged and donated materials giving the building chaotic, eclectic and perplexing, if not impressive style.


Don Justo pictured here at the age of 73 in August 1999. Archive photo: AFP

Visitors are free to explore, stepping over bags of cement, buckets and tools which are strewn across the two-floor monument. Downstairs there is a shrine to Jesus Christ and the Virgin Mary. Chillingly Don Justo has already also dug his own grave in the basement, where he will finally be laid to rest at the heart of his labour of faith and devotion.

Don Justo, as he is known, is 95 years old. The cathedral still needs at least ten years' work, years that its creator simply doesn’t have. Yet, such is his devotion that he still works on its construction every day, except on Sundays of course. You may catch a glimpse of him in his dusty blue overalls, white shirt and trademark red beret. But as the notices pinned to the wall advise, he is not open to speaking to members of the public.

What inspired Don Justo to build it?

After eight years in a Trappist order at Soria‘s Santa Maria de la Huerta monastery, Don Justo Gallego Martinez was ordered to leave, for fear of infecting the other monks with tuberculosis that he had been diagnosed with.

When his mother died in 1963 and bequeathed to him a large plot of land, including an olive grove in the center of the town, Gallego had an idea. If he would never again be allowed to enter a Catholic church as an ordained member of the faith, then he would express his devotion in a magnificent way. He would build his own church. In fact he would build his own Cathedral from scratch and make a shrine to “Our Lady of the Pillar”, or Nuestra Señora del Pilar.

The future of the cathedral

Set amongst monotonous 1960s apartment blocks, the frame of the huge structure, with its 50-meter-tall dome modeled on St. Peter’s in Rome, towers over the town of Mejorada del Campo. Like the cathedrals of old, it will not reach completion during Don Justo’s lifetime.

What will happen to the building after Gallego’s death remains an open question and its future is uncertain. No one has yet stepped up to take over the project, nor is his cathedral recognized by the Catholic Church. What is more, Don Justo never applied for planning permission to build the cathedral and the structure does not conform to any building regulations.

There are rumous that it could be pulled down after Don Justo passes away but there is a concerted campaign to preserve it.

How to get there

Catedral de Justo is located in Mejorada del Campo, a small town just 20km from Madrid. To get there, there are two public buses from the centre: Avenida de América (line 282) and Conde de Casal (line 341). 

The bus stop in Mejorada del Campo is called Calle de Arquitecto Antoni Gaudí and is located right in front of the cathedral. However, going by car is a better option, so you can continue your day-trip to Alcalá de Heneres, Cervantes’ hometown, which is about half an hour away.

Listen to the When in Spain podcast episode for an audio tour around the cathedral with Paul Burge. HERE

Paul Burge is a former BBC journalist who moved from Oxford, UK to Madrid in 2013 where he now hosts the highly entertaining When in Spain a weekly podcast show about life in Madrid and beyond.  Follow Paul's observations and advice about living in Spain on FacebookInstagram, Twitter and his new YouTube channel.

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