The main facade of Granada Cathedral

The façade of the Cathedral of Granada is one of the most outstanding areas of this monument, with a great historical and artistic richness.

Would you like to know the architecture and decoration of the façade of the Cathedral of Granada? Stay and read this post, we show you everything you need to know below!

The façade of Granada Cathedral

The façade of Granada Cathedral was not built until 1660, in the final phase of construction. This is due to the fact that after the death of Guerrero in 1649, the work came to a near standstill due to a lack of financial resources.

The aim of the town council was to continue and complete the siloesque design. The first stone was laid on the liturgical solemnity of the Announcement, 25 March 1523.

Subsequently, he was succeeded by various masters, such as Alonso Cano, José Granados de la Barrera, Teodoro Árdeman and Melchor de Aguirre.

We can distinguish two important aspects of this monumental Baroque façade, its architecture and decoration, as well as its iconographic programme. All of this is linked to the architectural and iconological symbolism of the Cathedral's interior.

On the other hand, the symbolism of the door and the light are other aspects that will help us to understand a little more about the Christian content of this façade.

Architecture

Alonso Cano was commissioned to design the façade in 1667. He was the main master, responsible for the layout of the façade and the structure of its five naves.

He had previously made contributions to the main chapel with his series of seven oil paintings on the cycle of the life of the Virgin. It is considered unique in the history of Spanish painting.

He also designed for this same space two incredible chandeliers and the lectern crowned first with the jewel of his Immaculate Conception and later with his Virgin of Bethlehem.

Cano reflected the layout and organisation of the church with four abutments of the arches on which the three vaults rested. Thus the triumphal dimension was recovered with three gigantic arches open on a system of superimposing stacked orders, dividing the façade into two bodies. One with the abutments by means of a projecting cornice and the other by means of an organised entablature.

It was after his death, in the same year, that the masters José Granados de la Barrera and Melchor de Aguirre completed the iconographic and architectural Canesque programme.

The central doorway is higher than the lateral ones, giving rise to an ornate triumphal arch resting on pilasters without capitals. It has a triple arcade with three triumphal arches divided by a projecting cornice. Separating the arches are four buttresses designed as banded pilasters.

It was in 1692 that the master builder Melchor de Aguirre was able to convince the chapter to finish off the façade with a linteled attic. This would replace the statues designed by Cano with the current six pinnacles flanking the large central cross.

Decoration

The ornamentation and decoration of the façade was not completed until the 18th century by the Granada-born José Risueño y Alcónchez, the Sevillian Pedro Duque Cornejo y Roldán and the French Verdiguier.

There is an important contrast of light and shadow due to the different tones and contrasts between stones and marble. The strong recessing of the planes between the abutments of the arches and the wall panels replaced the deep Renaissance decoration.

It should be noted that not all the elements have the same aesthetic quality. This is due to the fact that all the artists who have been involved in its decoration have been trained in different schools, giving rise to different aesthetic criteria.

On both sides of the central door we can see the statues of St. Peter and St. Paul supported by shelves. In the first section, on the upper part of the pilasters, there are framed medallions with high reliefs of two evangelists, Mark and Luke, with their iconographic attributes, a lion and a bull. A star-shaped skylight can be seen in the second central body.

At the foot of the central pilasters are two stone statues representing the Old and New Testaments. In the centre of the central arch is an iron cross, and on the sides are two pinnacles, the result of the intervention of Melchor de Aguirre. He replaced Alonso Cano's plan to crown the tops of the façade with statues of the apostles.

On the other hand, above each of the triumphal arches of the two side doors of the façade, there are two large reliefs of The Visitation of Mary to her cousin Elizabeth and The Assumption of Mary into Heaven.

It is inside the first body, at the top of the pilasters, where two new medallions are repeated, this time showing Saint Matthew and Saint John.

Why visit the Cathedral of Granada?

As you have seen throughout this article about the façade of the Cathedral of Granada, the exterior of this monument already shows some special singularities, giving us a first sample of the majesty that we can see inside the temple.

If you would like to visit this monument, you can buy your tickets to the Cathedral of Granada on our official website of the Archdiocese of Granada.

Enjoy the history and charm of this temple!