Granada Cathedral - Complete Tour / Catedral de Granada Visita Completa
Granada Cathedral was built by Queen Isabella immediately after the conquest of Granada on the site of the Mosque. This cathedral is a masterpiece of Spanish Renaissance style.
Cathedral of Granada has impressive facades and a stunning interior with a grand altar and several chapels. It is the 4th largest Cathedral in the world.
The Cathedral of Granada was built upon the site of the Great Mosque with a clear message that after 600 years of Muslim dominance, “The people of Granada give Faith and Charity to the Catholic Monarchs”. Like all cathedrals it took many years to be constructed. The construction started in 1523 with the foundation and finished in 1704. It took in total 181 years to be built. Although the initial designs were of Gothic style the Cathedral was mainly constructed during the Spanish Renaissance period
After the conquest of the city of Granada and the great triumph of Christianity the construction of the Cathedral was not immediate. Granada had been under siege for many years and there were not enough funds to start construction. On top of that, wars in other locations diverted the attention of the Spanish rulers onto other projects.
The cupola is the most important part of the cathedral. It´s stained-glass windows gives a great amount of light. The structure of the cupola uses the medieval technique of buttressing with traditional buttresses and flying buttresses. This gives a greater strength to the cupola walls. Following the rules of Gothic architecture, the altar should be placed as a natural conclusion to the central aisle. In the Renaissance, it was common to have a central raised altar or something in between the two options. Siloé chose to move the elevation to the end of the nave and made an opening in the cylinder where it joined the central nave.