![Catedral zamora](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c2/Catedral_zamora.JPG)
The Cathedral of Zamora is a
Catholic
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
cathedral
A cathedral is a church that contains the '' cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denominatio ...
in
Zamora, in
Castile and León,
Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, i ...
, located above the right bank of the
Duero
The Douro (, , ; es, Duero ; la, Durius) is the highest-flow river of the Iberian Peninsula. It rises near Duruelo de la Sierra in Soria Province, central Spain, meanders south briefly then flows generally west through the north-west part of ...
It remains surrounded by its old walls and gates.
Built between 1151 and 1174, it is one of the finest examples of Spanish
Romanesque architecture.
History
A previous church, also entitled ''El Salvador'' ("Holy Savior") existed at the time of King
Alfonso VII of Castile
Alphons (Latinized ''Alphonsus'', ''Adelphonsus'', or ''Adefonsus'') is a male given name recorded from the 8th century (Alfonso I of Asturias, r. 739–757) in the Christian successor states of the Visigothic kingdom in the Iberian peninsula. ...
but it was apparently in ruins, so that the king donated the church of St. Thomas in the city to act as cathedral.
The church was built under Bishop Esteban of the
Diocese of Zamora, under the patronage of Alfonso VII and his sister,
Sancha Raimúndez. The date of construction (1151–1174) is traditionally attested by an epigraphy in the northern side of the transept,
although recent discoveries have proven that the church had been already begun in 1139, at the time of bishop Bernardo.
The cathedral was consecrated in 1174 by bishop Esteban, and works continued under his successor Guillermo (1176–1192), including the transept. The cloister and the bell tower date to the first half of the 13th century. The designer of the church is unknown.
Overview
The building, in
Romanesque style
Romanesque architecture is an architectural style of medieval Europe characterized by semi-circular arches. There is no consensus for the beginning date of the Romanesque style, with proposals ranging from the 6th to the 11th century, this later ...
, is on the
Latin cross
A Latin cross or ''crux immissa'' is a type of cross in which the vertical beam sticks above the crossbeam, with the three upper arms either equally long or with the vertical topmost arm shorter than the two horizontal arms, and always with a mu ...
plan; it has a nave and two aisles, a short
transept
A transept (with two semitransepts) is a transverse part of any building, which lies across the main body of the building. In cruciform churches, a transept is an area set crosswise to the nave in a cruciform ("cross-shaped") building wi ...
and three semicircular
apse
In architecture, an apse (plural apses; from Latin 'arch, vault' from Ancient Greek 'arch'; sometimes written apsis, plural apsides) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault or semi-dome, also known as an '' exedra''. ...
s. The latter were replaced by
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 ...
ones in the 15th century. The transept is covered by
barrel vault, the aisles by
groin vault
A groin vault or groined vault (also sometimes known as a double barrel vault or cross vault) is produced by the intersection at right angles of two barrel vaults. Honour, H. and J. Fleming, (2009) ''A World History of Art''. 7th edn. London: Lau ...
, and the nave by
cross vault
A groin vault or groined vault (also sometimes known as a double barrel vault or cross vault) is produced by the intersection at right angles of two barrel vaults. Honour, H. and J. Fleming, (2009) ''A World History of Art''. 7th edn. London: L ...
in late-Romanesque or Proto-Gothic style.
250px, The dome.
Over the transept is the dome-tower, featuring 16 side narrow and tall semicircular windows enclosed in and between four turrets. These support two domes, an external one with a slightly pointed top, and an interior one with semicircular shape. Over the turrets are small domes, also with columns and thin windows, and tympani with similar decoration. With its exterior, original scale decoration, the dome is one of the symbols of the city.
Similar domes are found in other churches of the
Duero
The Douro (, , ; es, Duero ; la, Durius) is the highest-flow river of the Iberian Peninsula. It rises near Duruelo de la Sierra in Soria Province, central Spain, meanders south briefly then flows generally west through the north-west part of ...
valley (
Salamanca
Salamanca () is a city in western Spain and is the capital of the Province of Salamanca in the autonomous community of Castile and León. The city lies on several rolling hills by the Tormes River. Its Old City was declared a UNESCO World Herit ...
,
Toro,
Plasencia
Plasencia () is a walled market city in the province of Cáceres, Extremadura, Western Spain. , it has a population of 41,047.
Situated on the bank of the Jerte River, Plasencia has a historic quarter that is a consequence of the city's stra ...
,
Evora).
Several inspirations for the dome have been proposed, from Byzantium to France.
Miguel Sobrino
-->
Miguel is a given name and surname, the Portuguese and Spanish form of the Hebrew name Michael. It may refer to:
Places
*Pedro Miguel, a parish in the municipality of Horta and the island of Faial in the Azores Islands
* São Miguel (disamb ...
has argued for a now-disappeared Romanesque dome over 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 ...
.
left, (''Bishop's Door'').
On the south side of the church, facing the (Bishop's Palace), is the richly sculptured (Bishop's Doorway). It is divided into three vertical sectors, divided by blind columns and topped by semicircular arcades. In the lower sides are lunettes with Romanesque sculptures.
Notable features of the interior include the choir-stalls constructed in 1512–1516 by Juan de Bruselas, carved not only with figures of saints and famous men of antiquity but also with vigorous and earthy scenes of country life. The has a marble table, and the high altar is flanked by two
Mudéjar
Mudéjar ( , also , , ca, mudèjar , ; from ar, مدجن, mudajjan, subjugated; tamed; domesticated) refers to the group of Muslims who remained in Iberia in the late medieval period despite the Christian reconquest. It is also a term for ...
pulpits. In the , which is found to the right of the south doorway, is a large figure of Christ by
Gaspar Becerra
Gaspar Becerra (1520–1568) was a Spanish painter and sculptor of the School of Valladolid.
Biography
He was born at Baeza in the Province of Jaén. He went to Rome in 1545, and studied with Giorgio Vasari, whom he assisted in painting the h ...
.
The Cathedral contains numerous tombs; particularly notable is the tomb of Grado in the at the east end. The (named after cardinal
Juan de Mella
Juan de Mella (1397 – October 12, 1467) (called the Cardinal of Zamora) was a Spanish Roman Catholic bishop and cardinal.
Biography
Juan de Mella was born in Zamora, Spain, the son of a nobleman, Fernando de Mella, notary of the episcopal cu ...
), also at the east end, has an altar by
Fernando Gallego
Fernando Gallego ( 1440 – 1507) was a Castillan painter, and his art is generally regarded as Hispano-Flemish in style. Gallego was likely born in Salamanca, Spain, and worked throughout Castile and Extremadura, most notably in Ciudad Rodrig ...
, in Gothic-Flemish style (1490–1494).
The bell tower, with a height of 45 m, was built in the 13th century in Romanesque style.
Cathedral Museum
The Cathedral Museum, in the 17th century
cloister
A cloister (from Latin ''claustrum'', "enclosure") is a covered walk, open gallery, or open arcade running along the walls of buildings and forming a quadrangle or garth. The attachment of a cloister to a cathedral or church, commonly against a ...
, is notable particularly for its fine Flemish tapestries of the 15th–17th centuries depicting scenes from the
Trojan War
In Greek mythology, the Trojan War was waged against the city of Troy by the Achaeans (Greeks) after Paris of Troy took Helen from her husband Menelaus, king of Sparta. The war is one of the most important events in Greek mythology and ...
,
Hannibal's Italian campaign, and the life of
Tarquin the Etruscan king of Rome. Another treasure is a Late Gothic
monstrance of 1515.
Other burials
*
Ponce Giraldo de Cabrera
Ponce Giraldo de Cabrera (''floruit'' 1105–1162), called Ponç Guerau (or Grau) in Catalan or Pons in Occitan, was a Catalan nobleman, courtier and military leader in the kingdoms of León and Castile.
Ponce came to León in the entourage o ...
See also
*
History of medieval Arabic and Western European domes
The early domes of the Middle Ages, particularly in those areas recently under Byzantine control, were an extension of earlier Roman architecture. The domed church architecture of Italy from the sixth to the eighth centuries followed that of the ...
References
Bibliography
*
External links
Photos
{{Authority control
Buildings and structures completed in 1174
12th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Spain
Roman Catholic churches in Castile and León
Zamora
Romanesque architecture in Castile and León
Church buildings with domes
Buildings and structures in Zamora, Spain