[Spain] Burgos Cathedral

The construction of the cathedral was ordered by King Ferdinand III of Castile and Mauricio, the English-born Bishop of Burgos. Construction started on the site of the former Romanesque cathedral on July 20, 1221, beginning at the chevet, which was completed in nine years. The high altar was first consecrated in 1260, then there was a lengthy hiatus of almost 200 years before construction was recommenced. The cathedral was completed in 1567, with the completion of the lantern spire over the main crossing (which rises above a delicate openwork star vault).

The architects principally responsible for its construction were a Frenchman in the 13th century and a German in the 15th century. In 1417, the bishop of Burgos attended the Council of Constance and returned with the master builder John of Cologne (Juan de Colonia), who completed the towers with spires of open stonework tracery. Among the most famous of the bishops of Burgos was the 15th-century scholar and historian Alphonsus a Sancta Maria. In 1919 the cathedral became the burial place of Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar ("El Cid"), and his wife Doña Jimena. On October 31, 1984, it was designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.

The Burgos Cathedral (Catedral de Burgos) is a Gothic-style Roman Catholic cathedral in Burgos, Spain. It is dedicated to the Virgin Mary and is famous for its vast size and unique architecture. Its construction began in 1221, and was completed nine years later, following French Gothic parameters.

The 15th-century façade of the west front has triple entrances framed by three-dimensional arches, a gallery enclosed by a pinnacled balustrade and a delicately-pierced rose window. Over the three doorways rise the two lofty and graceful towers, crowned with spires.

In the uppermost level of the three-storied façade are two ogival double-arched windows and statues on pedestals, crowned with a balustrade of letters carved in stone: PULCHRA ES ET DECORA ("Beautiful art Thou, and graceful"), with a statue of the Virgin Mary in the center. There are more balustrades and balconies in the towers, with further open-carved inscriptions: needle-pointed octagonal pinnacles finish the four corners.

The cathedral's cruciform floorplan is difficult to see from the outside, due to the 15 chapels added at all angles to the aisles and transepts, the beautiful 14th-century cloister on the northwest, and the archiepiscopal palace on the southwest.

The north transept portal, known as the Puerta de la Coronería, has statues of the Twelve Apostles and is crowned with ogival windows and two spires. The south portal features the evangelists at their writing desks. Many of the altars, chapels and monuments within the cathedral are of artistic and historical interest. The magnificent octagonal Chapel of the Condestable is of flamboyant Gothic style, filled with traceries, knights and angels and heraldry.

It had very important modifications in the 15th and 16th centuries (spires of the principal façade, Chapel of the Constable, cimborio of the transept: these elements of advanced Gothic give the cathedral its distinguished profile). The last works of importance (the sacristy or the Chapel of Saint Thecla) occurred during the 18th century, the century in which the Gothic statuary of the doors of the principal façade was also transformed.