León Cathedral: A Masterpiece of Spanish Gothic Architecture
Cathedral of León
Chronology
From 1258 to 1302.
Style
Spanish Gothic style. The architect was Master Enrique; after his death in 1277, Juan Pérez replaced him. Materials used: stone and concrete. Construction system: Arquitrave and surrounded. It consists of three longitudinal naves, the central one being higher and wider, a shorter transept, an ambulatory where the radial chapels leave, doors decorated with rich sculptural decoration, and large windows which were then stained with rich ornamentation.
- Elements of support and supported: It uses lifting techniques introduced in the thirteenth century: vaults and arches, with fine nerves that extend into columns attached to the pillars and reach the ground, and flying buttresses on the outside. This new system of allocating forces relieves the burden of the walls and accommodates large glazed windows. The height of the columns and pillars creates a great verticality, characteristic of the Gothic.
It is covered with a vault that is combined externally with buttresses and rampant arches. To highlight a body of high walls of windows (clerestory) made in the French Gothic style, the windows depict images of saints and prophets.
Exterior and Interior Space
The western façade, the main one, is inspired by Chartres: it is flanked by two square towers ending in a pinnacle separated from the body of the nave, dominated by a large rosette. At the bottom, a triple gate of great depth is the main decorative element outside the temple. The image of Christ in the central tympanum, between the Virgin and St. John, and scenes of the Last Judgement on the edge form one of the most remarkable sculptures of Spanish Gothic.
At the southern end of the transept, there is another doorway, also triple, where the statue-column of the Virgen Blanca stands, located in the central mullion of the access.
The cathedral contains the main body of a cruciform basilica and an attached cloister on the left that embraces religious outbuildings. Inside, the plant is based on a reduction of the Cathedral of Reims; the ship has nine sections while León has five. The center has three naves, the central one higher than the sides, a large transept with three naves, a header, an apse with an ambulatory, and five radiating chapels of trapezoidal shape.
In the central part, between the transept and the apse, is the heart, which was built later, between 1474 and 1481.
The internal standard response to the triple division characteristic of classical Gothic arches is a triforium or gallery, a clerestory, and high windows. Thus, the walls of the nave, much higher than the sides, have a triforium composed of lancet windows (lance-shaped iron) holding on to a set of 230 high, pointed windows decorated with stained glass of impressive colors, and the western façade is crowned by a rosette.
The cathedral is a result of the direct influence of French Gothic, both in terms of the upward plant and the insertion of large windows. It incorporates the most characteristic features of the cathedrals of Reims and Chartres. It is the most representative model of Gothic architecture in Spain and, although it inspired other civil and religious works (such as the Cathedral of Burgos), its example had almost no following because of its technical complexity.
Meaning
As a religious building under the invocation of the Virgin Mary and known as Pulchra Leonina, due to its location on the Way of St. James, the Cathedral of León has an extensive iconographic program that symbolizes the fundamental aspects of the religious beliefs of the time. At the gates, the subject of the Last Judgement, Christ in Majesty, and the Virgin dominates. Furthermore, a silver chest at the foot of the altar contains the remains of St. Froilán, patron saint of the city of León.
The assignment of the construction was done in 1205 by the Bishop of León, Manrique de Lara, under the patronage of King Alfonso X.
The Cathedral of León, along with the Cathedral of Burgos, is the most representative model of French Gothic architecture in the Crown of Castile, which is evident in terms of height and brightness in the indoor plant, a form that is almost an exact copy, but limited, of the plant of the Cathedral of Reims.
The main façade also has a clear formal influence on the Cathedral of Chartres, and the sculptural decoration, which stands at the Virgen Blanca in the central mullion of the door of the south façade of the transept, also shows the style inheritance of northern France.
Function
It is a religious building for worship and veneration of relics by a large number of pilgrims who walked the Way of St. James.
On the other hand, some wanted to see in this building the desire to emphasize the importance of the Kingdom of León after joining the Spanish in 1230.