Catedral de Sigüenza

Catedral de Sigüenza Review

Begun around 1150 and not completed until the early 16th century, Sigüenza's remarkable cathedral combines Spanish architecture dating from the Romanesque period all the way to the Renaissance. The sturdy western front is forbidding but houses a wealth of ornamental and artistic masterpieces. Go directly to the sacristan, the officer in charge of the care of the sacristy, which holds sacred vestments. From there (the sacristy is at the north end of the ambulatory), you can go on a guided tour, which is a must. The late-Gothic cloister leads to a room lined with 17th-century Flemish tapestries. In the north transept is the late-15th-century plateresque sepulchre of Dom Fadrique of Portugal. The Chapel of the Doncel (to the right of the sanctuary) contains Don Martín Vázquez de Arca's tomb, commissioned by Queen Isabella, to whom Don Martín served as doncel (page) before dying young (at 25) at the gates of Granada in 1486.