Granada Cathedral
Built on the city's main mosque in 1518, this cathedral broke two architectural rules at once — and took 181 years to finish.
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Diego de Siloé's 1529 redesign defied convention: five naves instead of the usual three, and a fully circular principal chapel (capilla mayor) where every other cathedral has a semicircular apse — an idea borrowed from Italian Renaissance theories of perfect circular buildings. Alonso Cano grafted a Baroque facade onto the plan in 1667. The two 81-meter towers Siloé intended were never built, leaving the silhouette permanently unfinished.
What to look for
- The circular capilla mayor — almost no other cathedral has one; most use a semicircular apse
- Alonso Cano's 1667 facade: three pillars crowned by semicircular arches, supported on pilasters, arranged as a triumphal arch
- The breadth of the five-nave interior, wider than the standard three-nave plan Siloé replaced
The cathedral stands in the old Muslim Medina; the adjacent Royal Chapel of Granada, by the original architect Enrique Egas, shows what the Gothic design would have looked like.
Granada Cathedral is one of 7 sights worth the detour in Granada, all bundled offline in Voyage GO — download the Granada pack and it sits on your map with no signal, filling your travel passport the moment you walk past.
More to see in Granada
- AlhambraThe only well-preserved medieval Islamic palace in the world — two civilizations built on the same hilltop and left the seam showing.
- GeneralifeThe Nasrid sultans came here to escape their own palace — a hilltop estate where royal retreat met working farmland.
- University of GranadaFounded by papal bull in 1531, this 60,000-student university still holds classes in buildings Charles V built before the ink was dry.
- Estadio Nuevo Los CármenesReal Madrid played the opener here in 1995, and a young Raúl scored in the first official match — this 21,600-seat bowl has been Granada CF's home ever since.
- Royal Chapel of GranadaThe monarchs who ended Moorish rule in Spain in 1492 then chose Granada as their own burial ground — and ordered this chapel built to seal the claim.
- Palace of Charles VA Michelangelo-trained architect planted a Roman Renaissance palace in the heart of an Islamic citadel — then it sat roofless for 330 years.