Vitoria-Gasteiz. Old Cathedral (Catedral de Santa María de Vitoria)

The Cathedral of Santa Maria (on the map) is located on the top of a hill, the slopes of which are occupied by the medieval city. The residents themselves call it "Old", since there is another Cathedral of the virgin Mary in the city, built in the 20th century.

The origins of the temple go back to 1181, when king Sancho VI of Navarre (Sancho the Wise) in the town of Gasteiz initiated the construction of a city with the name "New Victoria". The temple became one of the first structures, and in fact was just one of the fortifications, part of the city wall. Now the Cathedral is a complex of buildings that were built at different times and had different purposes. Most of the buildings date back to the 14th century, although construction was not fully completed until the 19th century.

The Church was consecrated in 1491 and has been a collegiate Church (run by the Council of canons) for almost 400 years. In 1862, the diocese was founded, uniting the churches of the Basque Country, with the center in Vitoria and the Church received the status of a Cathedral.

The tower of the Cathedral began to be built in the 16th century and was built for almost 200 years.

Башня сотоит из четырехугольного основания и восьмиугольной звонницы со шпилем, достигающим высоты 60 метров.

В 19 века шпиль был разрушен во время пожара, и затем восстановлен.

В 1994 году собор был закрыт для публики по причине ветхости, находиться в нем стало просо опасно. Тогда же была принята программа всестороннего восстановления собора. Работы ведутся и сейчас, однако попасть собор можно. На экскурсии можно не только увидеть интерьеры, но и познакомиться с ходом восстановительных работ, которые потребовали применения оригинальных инженерных решений.

Access to the Cathedral is only granted for groups and by prior reservation, which specifies the time of the visit. You can reserve a visit to the Cathedral by calling 945-255-235 or on the Cathedral's website.

For today as well as tomorrow? everything was already planned. The girl at the information Desk had kindly offered to leave the phone number in case there was a vacancy in the next few days, but I had to go on my way tomorrow morning. Moral-read the information BEFORE the TRIP!

And I had only to look with envy at the tourists in hard hats walking on the balconies and belfry. But I will definitely come back here!