Salamanca New Cathedral

About

The Catedral de la Asunción de la Virgen (Cathedral of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary), popularly known as New Cathedral (Spanish: Catedral Nueva) is, together with the Old Cathedral, one of the two cathedrals of Salamanca, Castile and León, Spain. It is the seat of the diocese of Salamanca. It was constructed between 1533 and 1733 mixing late Gothic, Plateresque and Baroque styles. It was commissioned by Ferdinand V of Castile. It is one of the largest cathedrals in Spain in size and its bell tower, at 92 meters high, is also one of the tallest.

The New Cathedral was built between 1513 and 1733 preserving the Old Cathedral. At first they thought to demolish it, although the criterion was imposed to keep it open to the faithful while the construction of the new one was carried out. When the works were finished in the 18th century, they reconsidered the idea of destroying it and for that reason it is conserved at the present time. However, the south wall of the New Cathedral rests on the north wall of the Old one, which had to be reinforced towards the interior of the old temple, whose lateral nave was partially reduced with the new construction. The tower of the new cathedral was built over the bell tower of the Old Cathedral.

The idea of building a new cathedral arose in the 15th century due to the demographic increase of the city, especially because of the strong attraction of the University. Therefore, the Old Cathedral seemed at that time "small, dark and low". They had the support of King Ferdinand the Catholic ( Ferdinand II of Aragon ), who in 1509 ordered the architects who had worked in Toledo and Seville, Antón Egas and Alonso Rodríguez, to go to Salamanca to draw the design of the new temple.

The cathedral, after several discussions, was designed parallel to the old one, made of freestone from Villamayor and in Gothic architecture style. It has a rectangular plan, with three naves and two more niche chapels. In principle, the chevet was to end in an ambulatory and polygonal apses, but finally the project was changed to the current one, which finishes the temple with a rectangular chevet that makes a hall plan. The first stone was laid in 1512, being bishop of Salamanca Francisco de Bobadilla.

During most of the 17th century the works were stopped and were resumed again in the 18th century, until its completion in 1733. The cathedral suffered the devastating effects of the Lisbon earthquake, which occurred on November 1, 1755, leaving visible signs in the cracks and broken stained glass windows. After the earthquake, the dome had to be rebuilt (by Juan de Sagarvinaga ) and the bell tower had to be reinforced, which was more slender, very similar to that of the Cathedral of Segovia. The belfry suffered serious damage during the earthquake, even tilting and threatening ruin. After consulting several architects who recommended its demolition, it was finally Baltasar Dreveton who proposed to strap it with 8 taut chains and line it with stone in the form of a slope reaching up to the body of bells (about 40 meters from the ground). The direction of this work was entrusted to Jerónimo García de Quiñones with Manuel de los Ríos. This is how it can be seen today, lined with stones and leaning to one side due to the Lisbon earthquake. Currently this catastrophe is remembered with the tradition of the " Mariquelo " on October 31.

Around 1812 the Napoleonic French army of occupation demolished the block of houses located to the north of the cathedral, creating the current Plaza de Anaya and highlighting the north façade, which was not prepared for exhibition and was not very attractive. This fact has caused that the best known photos of the cathedral are taken from this side, making us forget the main facade, much more interesting but located in a narrow street and without enough width to get good pictures.

It was declared a national monument by royal decree in 1887 and in 1999 Protective Environment.

Western facade of the New cathedral of Salamanca, in 1890, color photochrom. Library of Congress.

The cathedral is, together with Cathedral of Segovia, one of the last two cathedrals of Gothic style to be built in Spain. The new cathedral was built, continuing with the late Gothic of its origins, between the 16th and 18th centuries, although at the end of the 16th century the chevet, thought with a Gothic ambulatory, was changed for a flat one and during the 18th century two elements were added that broke strikingly with the predominant style of the temple: a Baroque dome over the transept and the upper bodies of the bell tower. This bell tower is 93 meters high.

The plan and elevation of the building maintain a Gothic uniformity and the exterior presence of flying buttresses and buttresses, as well as the interior elevation of the naves attest to this.

The interior of the cathedral is very similar to that of the Cathedral of Seville. However, despite the fact that the side naves are not at the same height as the central nave, following the " ad triangulum " scheme typical of Gothic architecture, the church gives the impression of great amplitude and luminosity due to the compensation in height and the achievement of the interior space. The triforium, typical of buildings from the late Romanesque period, is replaced by two tribunes running around the perimeter of the cathedral and at two heights, allowing the aisles to be raised even higher. The pillars collect the weight of the vaults where each of the ribs of the vaults descends to the floor by the pillar in a thin column that helps to unload the weight. The vaults have all kinds of combinations of ribs, cambered and terceletes, which make them very attractive for their variety and complexity of work.

The New Cathedral has a plan with three naves and two more chapels-horns, which were finished in 1520 by Juan Gil de Hontañón the ones on the left and Juan de Álava the ones on the right. In 1538 Rodrigo Gil de Hontañón became the master builder of the cathedral, after the death of his father Juan Gil de Hontañón. At first an ambulatory was planned for the chevet and polygonal apses, but the delay in the work made the criteria change to a flat chevet, a decision taken in 1584 by the then master builder Juan Ribero de Rada, following the chevet model designed by Juan de Herrera in the Cathedral of Valladolid. In 1588 the Cantabrian master Juan de Nates was called in to continue the work.

The original dome was erected by Joaquín de Churriguera when the works were resumed, after being stopped for almost the entire 17th century, due to lack of budget. It was finished in 1725 and it seems that it was similar to that of the Cathedral of Burgos, with ribs and baroque decoration. The earthquake of Lisbon in 1755 cracked the central dome and replaced it with another Neoclassical one made by the architect Juan de Sagarvinaga, which is the one that can be seen today.

The Main Chapel has a rectangular plan, covered by starred vault with the same design as the rest of those of the central nave, but with the peculiarity that it is angled and polychrome.

The Chapel lacks altarpiece, as the one made by Alberto de Churriguera, completed only 11 years earlier, was dismantled in 1743. It was planned to replace it with a marble tabernacle designed by Ventura Rodríguez that would be located in the transept under the dome. The project could not be carried out due to its high cost. The Cathedral Museum, designed by Román Bravo Riesco, preserves a model of it.

On the ashlar wall there is a crimson velvet canopy and drop on which appears an image of the Virgin of the Assumption by Esteban de Rueda from 1624, polychromed by Antonio González. The angels that accompany her are the work of Francisco Sánchez.

On the entablature that crowns the walls of the presbytery appear the image of Religion, angels and Church Fathers from the disappeared altarpiece.

The marble and jasper tabernacle by Simón Gavilán (1750) and the silver urns with the remains of Saint John of Sahagún and Saint Thomas of Villanova stand out.

It was built between 1730 and 1740 by Joaquín de Churriguera. The choir stalls, in two sections, high and low, are the work of several artists. The grille that closes the choir and the one that closes the Main Chapel are the work of Duperier.

The New Cathedral of Salamanca has two organs: