The architecture of the chapel in Granada Cathedral

Have you taken a close look at the architecture of the chapel of Granada Cathedral? It was not until 12 August 1561 when the chapter decided to begin liturgical celebrations in the new and definitive cathedral. 

Find out all about its architecture and elements in this article.

The chapel of Granada Cathedral

Once the liturgical celebrations had begun, years before Siloé's death, the chancel of the temple was architecturally finished except for ornamental details, the placement of the apostles and the paintings on the life of the Virgin.

Therefore, we will now look at the most decisive aspects of its architecture.

The chancel

The chancel of the chapel of the Cathedral of Granada consists of two sections and is characterised by a tripartite formation: a high rotunda housing the main chapel, a ring of the subsidiary ambulatory and a lower crown of radial chapels.

In the first section we can see how the iconography develops three hagiographic themes, apostles, founders and holy fathers with doctors of the Church. The first two themes are depicted in sculptures and the third in paintings.

The second body, on the other hand, is formed with a surrounding railing and crowned with a second entablature. It also has Corinthian half-columns that are slightly thinner than the lower ones, thus reducing their weight and strength. These stand on pedestals decorated with busts of saints, works by Bocanegra, Sevilla and Risueño. The decoration of this body combines the art of painting with the art of stained glass.

The Dome

The ascending perspective of the entire architecture of the main chapel of Granada Cathedral is crowned by a splendid hemispherical dome made of stone and glass.

It was designed by Diego de Siloé and rests on a circular base. Above it are ten round-arched windows opening from the lower edge of the dome. At the beginning of the 17th century, the dome was ‘populated with gold stars on a blue field’. Today, after the recent restoration, it is once again. The central oculus of this dome is surrounded by petal shapes.

The large windows of the dome are occupied by a new series of ten stained glass windows with an obvious catechetical purpose and meaning for the narration of the history of salvation. We can contemplate the life of John the Baptist, the life of Jesus and the time of the Spirit.

The architecture of the chapel of the Cathedral of Granada has a circular layout on which two aspects stand out, which we will see below: the centrality of the high altar and the community around the Eucharistic table.

The centrality of the high altar

There is a surprising deviation between the high altar and the community. Following his project with Archbishop Alba and probably also with instructions from the Chapter, Siloé eliminated the traditional barriers by making the altar totally visible and central, thus bringing it closer to the community.

With this architectural arrangement, the worship experience of the community became different from that characteristic of both medieval and contemporary European churches.

Community around the Eucharistic table

Its first archbishop, Fray Hernando de Talavera, repeatedly expressed his desire to re-found diocesan practices in the ‘apostolic customs’ of early Christianity.

Siloé's project for Granada Cathedral replaced the traditional longitudinal layout with a circular layout. It demonstrates the will of his first archbishops to base the practices of the restored diocese on those of the first churches and Christian communities. The circular layout architecturally determines the chevet, the spherical dome, all through the great toral arch.

Main arch

The main chapel communicates with the central nave by means of a toral arch, the work of Siloé. Its architecture is complemented by its brief iconographic programme that refers to the origins of humanity, Adam and Eve, and to the beginnings of the Church in Spain, the apostle St. James, and in Granada, St. Cecilius.

The triumphal arch underlines and preludes the circular movement of the chapel's outline. The whole ensemble is in keeping with the vivacity of the curvilinear expressions: the dome of the tabernacle, the connecting arches of the ambulatory and the secondary ambulatory, the arches of the paintings and stained glass windows, the hemisphere of the great central dome.

The Cathedral of Granada was dedicated to Our Lady of the Incarnation instead of the more frequent Santa María de la Anunciación; the emphasis is thus placed on the Incarnation of the Son of God. Around this central event the story of salvation is told through stained glass windows, statues and paintings; a story of salvation that has its climax in the celebration of the Eucharist.

If you have not yet seen the Cathedral of Granada or you want to know it even more in depth after having known the origin of its architecture and decoration, do not hesitate to buy your tickets through our website.
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