Ciudad Rodrigo Cathedral, Ciudad Rodrigo, Spain

Construction of the Ciudad Rodrigo Cathedral began in the 12th century and did not finish until the 14th century. The architecture of the cathedral is uniform, despite later reforms and additions that can be seen in some of the chapels, such as the San Blas chapel.

The Portico del Perdón alone contains more than 400 Romanesque and Gothic sculptures of great beauty. Although it began in the 12th century, the work continued to the 15th, meaning that its style shows a clear transition from Romanesque to Gothic, as well as the Neoclassic tower.

One of the principal attractions is the impressive Gothic vault. The choir should not be forgotten either, strangely it has no religious motifs instead is decorated with fauna and flora images. The cloister is wonderful and is where the contrast between the two styles of architecture is best noted.

Another jewel, the impressive Portico del Perdon is compared by some to the Catedral de Santiago de Competela. During the War of Independence this part of the building was fired at by Napoleonic troops and has the impacts of cannon fire on it.

References:

Junta de Castilla y León

User Reviews

kytuuup (12 months ago)
If you like to reminesce and get to know more about Spain historically this is one of those you should visit and take 2 days in the city to appreciate the local restaurants

Mª Evangelina Rodríguez (12 months ago)
Preciosa tanto desde el exterior como desde el interior. Merece la pena entrar y dedicarle un ratito a mirar los detalles del claustro. La visita al museo también tiene interés. Es pequeño, está muy bien presentado para admirar las imágenes preciosas, casi todas de autores anónimos, los cuadros, ornamentos y hasta varios pares de zapatos y guantes de los obispos que dan un toque del día a día en la vida de los antiguos obispos. Recomiendo la visita.

Lou Acero (2 years ago)
Worth taking the time to see.

Javier Jiménez (2 years ago)
Ok

Mark Auchincloss (2 years ago)
Beautiful 12th/14th romanesque/gothic style Cathedral. Roman cloisters. Amazing 13th Pardon Porch similar to The Glory Porch in Santiago Cathedral.The hand carved choral chairs are pretty too. See if you can spot where the apostle Santiago is in the ceiling!

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Photo from Flickr, copyright Frans.Sellies

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Kromeriz Castle and Gardens

Kroměříž stands on the site of an earlier ford across the River Morava. The gardens and castle of Kroměříž are an exceptionally complete and well-preserved example of a European Baroque princely residence and its gardens and described as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The first residence on the site was founded by bishop Stanislas Thurzo in 1497. The building was in a Late Gothic style, with a modicum of Renaissance detail. During the Thirty Years' War, the castle was sacked by the Swedish army (1643).

It was not until 1664 that a bishop from the powerful Liechtenstein family charged architect Filiberto Lucchese with renovating the palace in a Baroque style. The chief monument of Lucchese's work in Kroměříž is the Pleasure Garden in front of the castle. Upon Lucchese's death in 1666, Giovanni Pietro Tencalla completed his work on the formal garden and had the palace rebuilt in a style reminiscent of the Turinese school to which he belonged.

After the castle was gutted by a major fire in March 1752, Bishop Hamilton commissioned two leading imperial artists, Franz Anton Maulbertsch and Josef Stern, arrived at the residence in order to decorate the halls of the palace with their works. In addition to their paintings, the palace still houses an art collection, generally considered the second finest in the country, which includes Titian's last mythological painting, The Flaying of Marsyas. The largest part of the collection was acquired by Bishop Karel in Cologne in 1673. The palace also contains an outstanding musical archive and a library of 33,000 volumes.

UNESCO lists the palace and garden among the World Heritage Sites. As the nomination dossier explains, 'the castle is a good but not outstanding example of a type of aristocratic or princely residence that has survived widely in Europe. The Pleasure Garden, by contrast, is a very rare and largely intact example of a Baroque garden'. Apart from the formal parterres there is also a less formal nineteenth-century English garden, which sustained damage during floods in 1997.

Interiors of the palace were extensively used by Miloš Forman as a stand-in for Vienna's Hofburg Imperial Palace during filming of Amadeus (1984), based on the life of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, who actually never visited Kroměříž. The main audience chamber was also used in the film Immortal Beloved (1994), in the piano concerto scene.

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