Santiago Cathedral ( es, Catedral de Santiago; eu, Donejakue Katedrala) is a
Roman Catholic
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...
church
Church may refer to:
Religion
* Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities
* Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination
* Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship
* Chris ...
in the city of
Bilbao
)
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. The temple was originally built during the 14th–15th centuries as Bilbao's main parish church, and was only declared cathedral in 1950 when the
Roman Catholic Diocese of Bilbao
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Bilbao ( la, Dioecesis Flaviobrigensis) is a diocese located in the city of Bilbao and Province of Biscay in Northern Spain. It is part of the Ecclesiastical province of Burgos.
History
* November 2, 1949: Establi ...
was officially created. Its origins probably date to well before the foundation of the city in 1300, when Bilbao was little more than a small enclave of fishermen.
![Bilbao-cathedral-int-ZE-001](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ad/Bilbao-cathedral-int-ZE-001.jpg)
The temple is consecrated in honor of the apostle
Saint James the Great
James the Great, also known as James, son of Zebedee, Saint James the Great, Saint James the Greater, Saint James the Elder, or Saint Jacob (Aramaic ܝܥܩܘܒ ܒܪ ܙܒܕܝ, Arabic يعقوب, Hebrew בן זבדי , '' Yaʿăqōḇ'', Latin '' ...
(''Santiago in
Spanish
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries
**Spanish cuisine
Other places
* Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...
''), by virtue of being a point of transit for the pilgrims that followed the
Northern branch
The Northern Branch is a railroad line that runs from Jersey City to Northvale in northeastern New Jersey. The line was constructed in 1859 by the Northern Railroad of New Jersey to connect the New York and Erie Railroad's Piermont Branch ter ...
of the
Way of Saint James
The Camino de Santiago ( la, Peregrinatio Compostellana, "Pilgrimage of Compostela"; gl, O Camiño de Santiago), known in English as the Way of St James, is a network of pilgrims' ways or pilgrimages leading to the shrine of the apostle Saint ...
.
Architecturally, the present building is a mixture of styles: from the 15th century
Gothic
Gothic or Gothics may refer to:
People and languages
*Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes
**Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths
**Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...
of the cloister and the main vault, where of special interest are the cloister and the beautiful portal that gives access ''Correo'' street (''Puerta del Angel''), to the ostentatious
Gothic Revival
Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...
façade and spire.
A curious custom is the addition of stone carvings of local merchants along the buttresses of the main vault.
It should not be confused with the
Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela
The Santiago de Compostela Archcathedral Basilica (Spanish and Galician: ) is part of the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Santiago de Compostela and is an integral component of the Santiago de Compostela World Heritage Site in Galicia, Spain. The c ...
.
For various reasons, the
San Mamés stadium, home of local
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
team
Athletic Bilbao
Athletic Club ( eu, Bilboko Athletic Kluba; es, Athletic Club de Bilbao), commonly known as Athletic Bilbao or just Athletic, is a professional Association football, football club based in the city of Bilbao in the Basque Country (autonomous com ...
, was referred to as ''La Catedral'' several decades prior to the inauguration of Santiago Cathedral. A place of worship is depicted on the club's crest (as in the city coat of arms) but this is the nearby
San Antón church and its bridge.
San Mamés, la eterna Catedral del fútbol español (San Mamés, the eternal Cathedral of Spanish football)
FIFA
FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...
, 24 May 2013
References
External links
Information about Santiago cathedral
Photography of Bilbao cathedral (facade and interior)
Flickr
Flickr ( ; ) is an American image hosting and video hosting service, as well as an online community, founded in Canada and headquartered in the United States. It was created by Ludicorp in 2004 and was a popular way for amateur and professional ...
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Buildings and structures in Bilbao
Basilica churches in Spain
Tourist attractions in Bilbao
Roman Catholic cathedrals in the Basque Country (autonomous community)
Gothic Revival church buildings in Spain
20th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Spain
12th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Spain
13th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Spain