Salamanca's Two Cathedrals

The New Cathedral

Salamanca, Spain had a cathedral, its construction begun around 1125. It was nice, a fusion of late Romanesque and early Gothic in style. But as Spain's wealth and power soared, fed by its New World empire, it came to seem small and dingy. So a new cathedral was planned, and its construction began in 1520.

Alas, things did not go as planned, and the nw Cathedral was not actually completed until 1733. By that time everyone had gotten used to having the smaller old cathedral attached to the side of the new one, so it was left in place. This view shows the crossing tower of the old cathedral set against the bulk of the new cathedral to the left.

Here is a plan of the resulting arrangement; the remains of the old cathedral are the lighter colored sections to the lower left.

Interior views of the old cathedral.

And the new.

Looking over the roof of the old Cathedral at the new.

Two facades of the new Cathedral.

Choir stalls.

Seems like a wonderful place.