The Granada Cathedral - Walking Tour - Andalusia - Spain

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"From an architectural perspective, the Granada cathedral is a version of a processional church or temple. Siloe's "Roman-style" design—related to early Christian antecedents—adopts the Renaissance model known as a temple composed of a large chevet and a basilica body. To understand the reasons for the design of this temple, it is necessary to consider two factors: a reformist atmosphere and an imperial decision.

First, the reformist atmosphere of the time and, more specifically, the pastoral orientation that Friar Hernando de Talavera—the first archbishop of the diocese—sought to instill in the newly restored diocese: the centrality of the Eucharistic celebration and the intimate participation of the Christian community. Both pastoral objectives are fully achieved in the design of the floor plan of the Granada Cathedral.

In 1526, the fifth archbishop of Granada, Pedro Ramiro de Alba—a Hieronymite trained in the House of Talavera and enthusiastic about the "Roman style" —asked Diego de Siloe, the great master from Burgos, for a new and definitive design for the cathedral. This initial architectural factor is not unrelated to the early Christian origins of the diocese, which underscored the interest in reviving the liturgical practices of the early Christians.

Secondly, Charles V's decision to be buried in the main chapel, a decision later modified by his son, Philip II, who made El Escorial the royal pantheon of the dynasty. Thus, the original funerary function of the temple disappeared. These two factors—the Reform and the imperial will—created a unique architectural form with varied functions that provided unity and coherence to the complex architectural and iconological program: The ancient history of the diocese prompted the Chapter, the City Council, and the Crown to erect a temple that would be, at the same time, a monument dedicated to the triumph of faith in Granada and a mausoleum for the imperial family.

The central form of the sanctuary served these commemorative and funerary purposes, but also responded to the desire of most Spanish reformers to attribute a central place to the Eucharist in Christian devotion and worship. The designers of the Granada cathedral may have been aware of the opposition to the images of the Council of Elvira. The centrality of the Eucharist was strengthened in Granada by Archbishop Talavera, "extremely devoted to the Blessed Sacrament of the altar ," by Saint John of Avila, and by his disciple, Brother Luis de Granada.

These three functions—historical, funerary, and liturgical—provide the raison d'être of the unparalleled main chapel, the central, convergent center of the entire cathedral complex. From Granada Cathedral—a Counter-Reformation city—Eucharistic piety spread both in works of art (temples, tabernacles, monstrances, chalices, etc.) and in Granada's popular religiosity, which culminates in the feast of Corpus Christi." - https://catedraldegranada.com/la-cate...

"Granada Cathedral is dedicated to Saint Mary of the Incarnation instead of the more common Saint Mary of the Annunciation. During the Renaissance, belief in the Incarnation, the first act of the Redemption, was a fundamental tenet of the Christian faith; Siloe adopted it as the central theme of its program conceived in 1528. The twenty-four stained-glass windows in the main chapel narrate the story of the Redemption: the ten upper windows, arranged in chronological order, begin with the preaching of the Baptist and end with the coming of the Holy Spirit; the lower windows show passages from the life of Christ. Among the sculptures in the main chapel, the twelve apostles stand out. The apostles, in fact, are the first witnesses of Christ, and their position on the columns of the first section evokes the traditional allusion as pillars of the Church. The corbeled busts of Adam and Eve also stand out, referring us to the beginnings of our sacred history. The historical event of the Incarnation of God—the great theme that generates the architectural and iconographic program—happens in Mary: "And so she was with the crucified Son, crucified; and also with the buried, buried; and also with the resurrected, resurrected . " (Fray Luis de Granada) . Hence the series of seven paintings by Alonso Cano on the life of the Virgin—the joys of Saint Mary—in the second section of the rotunda." - https://catedraldegranada.com/la-cate...