Gems among Spanish Cathedrals

By Richard moore and Sawon Hong

This well-researched, easy-to-use guide to eight Spanish cathedrals and a basilica provides profiles of each, as well as their medieval settings. The locations of these special churches range from northwest

• Language: English
• Publisher: Sawon Hong
• Release date: Dec 1, 2022
• ISBN: 9798218100650

Book preview

GEMS AMONG

SPANISH

CATHEDRALS

Copyright © 2023 by Richard Moore and Sawon Hong.

All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means, without the written permission of the author.

ISBN: 979-8-218-10060-5 (print)

ISBN: 979-8-218-10065-0 (e-book)

Cover photo: Seville Cathedral

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Preface

Part One: Historical and Architectural Background

Socio-economic and Political Setting in Historic Spain

Architectural Styles in Spain

Part Two: Profiles of Selected Spanish Churches

INTRODUCTION

Selection Criteria

Visit Sequence

Transliteration and Terms

References

PROFILES OF EIGHT CATHEDRALS AND ONE BASILICA

Galicia Region

Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela

Castile and León Region

León Cathedral

Burgos Cathedral

Salamanca Cathedral

Castile La Mancha Region

Toledo Cathedral

Andalusia Region

Seville Cathedral

Mosque-Cathedral of Córdoba

Catalonia Region

Basilica of Santa María del Mar

Barcelona Cathedral

Annexes

Annex 1: Glossary of Terms

Annex 2: Biographical Information of Major Figures

Annex 3: References

Annex 4: Image Credits

Acknowledgements

PREFACE

Our long-standing fascination with Europe’s amazing religious architecture and its historical context has prompted us to visit many churches and cathedrals over the years. A question has perplexed us ever since our first encounter with these remarkable religious buildings: what happened that would produce some of the largest, grandest, and most architecturally complex structures in history? Over the years, we kept asking ourselves why and how these grand buildings were constructed many hundreds of years ago. This quest led us to write two previous books, Guidebook: Selected French Gothic Cathedrals and Churches (2016) and England’s Marvelous Gothic Cathedrals and Churches (2019). Encouraged by the positive responses, we continued our research into Spanish cathedrals. Since we have also included one basilica, we use the term church when referring to both cathedrals and the basilica.

We assume that our readers are diverse: those who are planning to visit one or more cathedrals in Spain; those who would like some background information to help them choose which cathedrals to visit; those who would like to have a guide while visiting; and those who just want general information about cathedrals for pleasure. In general, this book is intended to provide a common basis for those who are seeking information that is not too detailed, but not too superficial.

For this book we have similarly sought to provide general background and the highlights of each church with minimal technical detail. We researched information in print and online. We have also spent days in each church profiled herein to learn and verify facts, and to appraise our own reactions while in the presence of these awe-inspiring buildings. In doing so, we again realized that one cannot begin to grasp the sheer complexity of these structures without understanding the historical and social situations—the times—before and during which they were built.

In the end, what impressed us the most about Spanish churches is their complexity, aesthetics, and eclectic design features. In one Spanish church after another, we were amazed by their many chapels and areas to visit, the lavish use of gold and silver, and the bewildering mix of architectural styles. Added to these characteristics is the influence of Islamic architecture in Spain, with the cathedrals of Córdoba and Seville as the clearest examples.

What we found in the process of writing this book was the critical need for a practical, informative guidebook in English. Unlike abundant sources of information for comparable churches in France and England, there is a paucity of useful reference material in English on Spain’s marvelous religious architecture. Since Spain is a popular destination for non-Hispanics, we were puzzled by this lack. We had to double our efforts to find, verify, and be consistent with the information we have included in this book. However, even though we have sought to garner the best available information about dimensions and other factual data, our best effort is often an approximation or semi-guesswork.

It is essential that visitors be prepared for some confusion and even some disappointments. For example, one source of confusion is the historic practice of changing the names of chapels, while often retaining the old names as secondary or even tertiary descriptors. Fortunately that is likely to be a consideration only to those who pay attention to such minutiae. More important, every one of these churches, like all ancient and complex buildings, has been subject to damage and deterioration. They have, thus, experienced an almost continuous state of repair, renovation, and change throughout their history. Today’s visitors will therefore find parts of each church closed off or covered with scaffolding. Other features may well have changed even from what we found on our last visit in 2021—as the churches continue to be working and living edifices for the public.

This guidebook consists of two parts. Part One provides background information on Spanish churches, including the historical context and the impact of evolving architectural designs. Although this information is helpful for understanding these buildings, this material can be skipped by those already knowledgeable, or simply uninterested. Part Two offers concise profiles of each of the nine churches we have selected, including their historical background and the special features of each. The book ends with Annexes, which include a glossary of terms, biographical information of major figures, references, and image credits.

Like any important historic places, the churches profiled here have undergone almost constant changes over the centuries, and this continues. Potential visitors are advised to consult the official website of a church prior to a visit. Particular attention should be given to current opening hours, entry fees, special holy days, and closures of important features.

PART ONE

HISTORICAL AND ARCHITECTURAL BACKGROUND

Socio-economic and Political Setting in Historic Spain

Spain has some of the grandest, most elaborate, and heavily decorated churches in Europe, and it has had a fascinating and varied history. By the fourth century, the Iberian Peninsula, of which we now know as Spain and Portugal were part, was converted to Christianity. Then, in the eighth century the peninsula was dominated by the Moors. During the seven centuries (718–1492) of the Reconquest of Spain (Reconquista), it was re-Christianized from north to south through a slow and at times uncertain enterprise. The uncertainty was facilitated by discord among the Moors as well as the Christians. National unification was finally achieved by Ferdinand and Isabella, the Catholic monarchs, with the conquest of Granada in 1492 after a long siege. The Spanish rulers did not stop there, unfortunately, but proceeded to expel the major religious and ethnic minorities—the Jews and the Moors—by the 17th century.

Spanish society was made up of five classes during the Middle Ages and into modern times: royalty, aristocracy, the Church, merchants, and peasantry.

Royalty. During Spain’s early centuries, the royal houses ruled small principalities scattered around the peninsula, headed by weak, non-wealthy monarchs. The major early development that enhanced the status and power of royalties in the north was their quasi-collaboration to expel the Moorish invaders. By the 10th century, the kingdom of Castile had achieved a special status due to its role in the struggle, and it merged with the kingdom of León. While the monarchs lagged in developing political and economic power, they did retain the power to appoint bishops, which gave them influence over local affairs. Stronger monarchs, such as Ferdinand and Isabella—famous as the sponsors of Columbus and as the conquerors of Granada—, emerged by the 15th century. Following the colonization of the New World, massive imports of silver and gold enriched royalty and made the Spanish empire Europe’s strongest.

Aristocracy. The warrior elements of the aristocracy also benefitted from the Reconquest by taking over land controlled by the fleeing Moors. Gradually a hereditary aristocracy developed, consisting of a lower warrior class and an elevated class of aristocrats with more important titles and wealth. By the late Middle Ages, Castile was dominated by these upper classes, due mostly to their socio-economic power in an economy driven by the export of wool and other raw materials. By the 16th century about half the land was under the control of these aristocrats, and most of the wealth was held by them. The widespread social acceptance of seigneurial values formed the basis of Spanish society until the 19th century. The extended period of conquest created greater upward mobility. The previously poor warrior class was elevated to a higher status and received access to land and even a role in political life.

Church. By the 10th century the cult of St. James in Santiago de Compostela was attracting hordes of pilgrims from many areas of Catholic Europe. As a result, Church wealth and power grew. By the 16th century the Church controlled nearly 20 percent of the land. Major sources of church wealth included pilgrims’ donations, taxes from Moors and Jews, and the huge 16th- and 17th-century imports of gold and silver from the New World. An important use of the Church’s growing wealth was the construction of the great cathedrals of Burgos, León, Toledo, and others. This surge in church construction attracted French Benedictine monks from Cluny in France, who influenced church building and design, and who became bishops in León and Galicia.

Merchants. Beginning in the 13th century, Spain’s greatest economic resource was the export of wool. By the 14th century, the growth in trade, especially the export of wool and other raw materials, was sufficiently vigorous to give rise to a non-aristocratic urban merchant class.

Peasantry. The socio-economic situation of the peasant class varied considerably by area and over time, from being free but unable to own land to a status of semi-slavery. Peasants owned only about one percent of the land and had no civic power.

All these people had something in common, however. They had the same desire to build grand churches to the glory of God (and the Church). Given the huge sums required to build one, church construction was typically financed by the church’s links with royalty and nobility. The additional support included donations from merchants and contributions of labor and materials from local people. Those who could afford it bought a form of individual immortality via commissioning monuments, tombs, and chapels in their honor. Unlike church buildings in France and England, there is little documentation on the poorer classes contributing their labor. The exception is their well-known role in building the Basilica of Santa María del Mar in Barcelona.

Architectural Styles in Spain

Due to its historical and geographical diversity—and proximity to Northern Europe and the Middle East—Spanish architecture has drawn from a long series of diverse pre-Christian, Christian, and Islamic influences. The cathedrals in Spain have a number of unique qualities.

First, the amalgam of at least six different architectural styles—Visigothic, Islamic, Romanesque, Gothic, Renaissance, and Baroque—is often represented in a single church. This is in contrast to French and English churches, which are far less complex and more stylistically unified; the latter rarely added Renaissance and Baroque to the earlier Romanesque or Gothic styles. To complicate things even further, Spanish architects concocted their own variants to these styles.

Second, a unique Islamic architecture and decoration was used in Spain. This design element is less commonly found in the rest of Europe.

Third, the sheer proliferation of chapels and tombs dedicated to saints, royalty, church officials, and eminent lay persons served to display wealth in the lavish use of sculpture and gilding. Spain’s many famous artists—including Goya, El Greco, Zurbarán, Murillo, and Velázquez—also contributed famous paintings and sculpture to glorify Spanish churches.

The following is a brief historical context of when religious architectural styles emerged in Spain. Note that the dates for each of the periods are only approximations, sometimes with a substantial overlap. The architectural contributions to Spanish religious buildings are described for each of them. It is important for the reader to understand that every church profiled here was modified or heavily renovated over the centuries, as each style became popular.

The Pre-Christian Period (800 BCE–1492 CE)

THE PRE-ROMANS (800–218 BCE)

Prehistoric remains found in Spanish caves date back more than a million years. The two groups that figure most prominently are the indigenous Bronze Age societies and the Celts. Other early cultures include Phoenicians, Greeks, and Carthaginians, who came about 800 BCE, but none left a significant architectural legacy.

THE ROMANS (218 BCE–415 CE)

The Romans controlled the peninsula for about 600 years, longer than any other part of its large empire. They introduced Christianity in about the first century and left behind some of Spain’s most outstanding structures, including the Aqueduct of Segovia, bridges, lighthouses, theaters, amphitheaters, temples, mausoleums, and triumphal arches.

Architectural characteristics. One very important contribution is the Roman basilica design, which formed the basic model for Romanesque, and nearly all subsequent Christian church architecture. The first Christian churches often used former Roman basilicas. The basic design consists of: rectangular buildings with a central nave flanked by two side aisles; a higher ceiling over the nave to admit small clerestory windows; and a rounded apse at one end.

THE VISIGOTHS (415–711)

A barbarian tribe, called the Visigoths, overran the Roman Empire in the 5th century and left a modest pre-Romanesque architectural imprint in Spain. They were one of several migratory Germanic or Gothic tribes who were dominant in Spain until the Moorish invasion. The Visigoths, like most Gothic tribes, gradually converted from paganism to Christianity over the course of the fifth and sixth centuries.

Architectural characteristics. Although some historians credit the Visigoths with the development of the horseshoe arch, others attribute that design to the Moors.

THE MOORS (711–1492)

The Moorish conquest of much of the Spanish peninsula which began in 711 led to great advances in Islamic culture, including architecture, for about 700 years. The Moorish period was a high point in Medieval European civilization, and marked a period in Spain when three religions—Islam, Judaism, and Christianity—co-existed and cross-fertilized.

Architectural characteristics. The application of the traditional Islamic elements to Christian architecture is found mainly in southern Spain. It began to emerge as early as the 11th century as a result of the co-existence of Moorish and European cultures. It is a true hybrid and is unique to Spain. These features include lobed and horseshoe arches, open courtyards, ornate carvings, Kufic writing, and stalactite work, as well as the use of geometric and nature-based motifs in wood, plaster, and tile work. These features were incorporated into the European styles of the time, such as Romanesque, Gothic, and Renaissance. They are often referred to as the Mudéjar style, discussed below.

The Christian Period (First century to the present)

Christian kingdoms from the north gradually pushed back the Moors from Northern Spain until, by the 13th century, all that remained of Moorish Spain was roughly the area called Andalusia. All of Moorish Spain finally fell to Ferdinand and Isabella in 1492, marking the end of the Reconquest. In the same year the Jews and Moors were expelled, America was discovered, and Spain’s lucrative colonization of Latin America began.

During this period Spanish architects developed their own versions of the mainstream European architectural styles. The best examples are the so-called Mudéjar, Plateresque, and Churrigueresque. An important variant of the Gothic design was developed in Catalonia, called Catalan Gothic.

As noted, major features of historic Spanish churches are the large number of chapels, monuments, and shrines, which often line each side aisle of the nave, continue around the ambulatory, and even occupy spaces in the cloister. To the best of our knowledge, these features are unique to Spanish churches.

ROMANESQUE (10th to 12th centuries)

A form of Romanesque architecture reached Spain almost simultaneously with the rest of Europe. The masons of the Cluny Monastery in France helped to bring this style to Spain, traveling via the pilgrims’ Way of St. James, which ends at the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela. Some of the most heavily influenced areas of Spanish Romanesque architecture include Aragon, Navarre, and Castile-León in the Northern provinces.

During the Romanesque period pilgrimages became even more important than before. As people searched for salvation and miracles, holy relics were powerful attractions and had almost magical properties for the pilgrims. They included human remains (bones, teeth, skin, hair, blood) or objects associated with the life of a saint or martyr. Pilgrims would travel hundreds of miles and would give whatever they had to see famous relics. Europeans of all classes engaged in pilgrimages, which influenced church design in terms of the size, the flow of worshipers inside, and the proliferation of chapels.

Architectural characteristics. Romanesque is characterized by thick walls, lack of decoration, and few small windows, resulting in dark interiors. In addition, its features include rounded-top arches, windows, and doorways, and barrel-vaulted ceilings.

GOTHIC (12th to 14th centuries)

Like Romanesque, the Gothic style also arrived in Spain via the Way of St. James. It evolved in northern France from Carolingian architecture, which in turn had its origins in Roman architecture in Italy. Given the Spanish propensity to renovate most major churches in the latest architectural styles that appeared in Europe, the Gothic style was added to the existing Romanesque architecture, to the degree that it is hard to find a pure Gothic style in Spain.

Gothic design began earlier in Spain than in Italy, and lasted longer, due to Spain’s closer connections with France. Towards the end of Spain’s Reconquest campaign against the Moors, the French connection helped to integrate Spain with the other Christian countries. The French Cluny monastery complex played an important role, as did the French Way of the pilgrimage route. Thus, the adoption of French architecture and culture came first to Santiago de Compostela. This helps to explain how French models—for example, Laon Cathedral and the abbey church of St. Denis—served as partial influences on the designs of Ávila cathedral and the Cistercian convent in Burgos.

Spanish churches were based only upon elements of the new gothic style—not modeled on it. For example, elements of Burgos Cathedral were only partially a copy of Bourges Cathedral in France. And, while the Toledo Cathedral incorporated French style, it continued to integrate Islamic elements. The goal was to have Toledo seen as the religious center in all Iberia.

León Cathedral sought to adopt the gothic style, influenced by the examples of Reims Cathedral and the St. Denis abbey church. Gothic also came to Aragon and Catalonia, but was more varied in its styles.

Architectural characteristics. The Gothic style is characterized by higher ceilings, many large windows, with an emphasis on stained glass, rib-vaulted ceilings, pointed arches, and flying buttresses.

MUDÉJAR (13th to 16th centuries)

Mudéjar is a style of architecture and decoration unique to Spain. Following the end of Moorish rule in Spain, it was developed by the Christian elite in Andalusia. The term Mudéjar is a Spanish corruption of the Arabic word mudajjan, meaning permitted to remain and refers to the Muslims who remained in Spain after the Reconquest. Used mainly by Moorish artists working in Christian-ruled Spain, it was applied to Romanesque, Gothic, and Renaissance architectural styles in buildings, furnishings, and ceramics.

Architectural characteristics. The ornamental and elegant patterns included the horseshoe and multi-lobed arch, plus calligraphy and intricate geometric decorations. These rich and complicated designs are found in tile work, brickwork, wood carving, plasterwork, ceramics, and metals often applied to ceilings and walls.

RENAISSANCE (Early 15th to early 18th centuries)

This later style played only a minor role in Spanish religious architecture, and it appears mostly as decoration.

Architectural characteristics. This style rejected the intricacy and verticality of the Gothic style, seeking a return to the simplicity, harmony, and balanced proportions of classicism. For example, in many doorways and domes the simpler classical designs were revived.

PLATERESQUE (Late–15th to the 16th centuries)

A local architect developed this style of decoration, which was used in Spain as well as in its American colonies. The term is based on the way this style seemed to mimic the motifs of