Built between the 16th and 18th centuries, the Santa Iglesia Catedral de Nuestra Señora de la Asunción and San Frutos, is part of the late Gothic period. It is one of the later Gothic cathedrals in Spain and Europe. It was erected in the 16th century, specifically between 1525 and 1768.
At this time the prevailing architecture in Europe was already the Renaissance. That is why in the Cathedral of Segovia we can discern a predominantly Gothic style, being late Gothic, but already framed with some Renaissance features.
Its beauty and elegance, as well as its visual strength and dimensions, make possible its name as La Dama de las Catedrales, coined by the President of the First Spanish Republic, Emilio Castelar. Located in the Plaza Mayor of Segovia, halfway through we can find two monuments of great historical and architectural value for the city: the Roman Aqueduct and the Alcázar. It should also be noted that Segovia is one of the Spanish cities with the most churches.
Each of the different stones that make up the Holy Cathedral Church of Our Lady of the Assumption and of San Frutos reveals centuries and centuries of great history. The same story that prevails throughout the city, chosen in 1985, a World Heritage Site.
In history from the first Cathedral of Segovia to the current one we can distinguish 3 main stages:
First stage: up to 516 AD
All of them start from the first cathedral, the oldest, commonly known as primitive. This was located in the Alameda del Parral, on the banks of the Eresma River and was destroyed during the Arian persecution of the year 516. It should be noted that the Eresma Valley was already populated by ancient churches at that time.
Second stage: 12th century - 1525 AD
The second stage begins in the 12th century, around 1117, moving the location of the new cathedral in front of the current Alcázar. According to the writings of the canons of that time, the Romanesque cathedral was small in size and consisted of three naves, a transept and a chevet with three apses, dedicated to Santa María, Santiago, San Frutos and the Saints Juanes. It also had a crypt dedicated to San Salvador and a bell tower similar in height to the Alcázar tower.
One of the first news about this new cathedral dates from the year 1117, when the gentleman of French origin but settled in Segovia, Domingo Petit, delivers his will, giving part of his fortune to cover the construction costs of the new Cathedral of Segovia, which which shows that the construction of the temple is about to begin.
Already in the year 1115, Don Pedro de Agen took possession of the Segovian bishopric. This occurs after the order of King Alfonso VI to repopulate Segovia in 1085 and the need to establish its institutions, including the main one: a bishop and a cathedral.
Once Don Pedro de Agen is appointed bishop, the land between the church of San Andrés and the Alcázar is donated by the Council to the Cabildo. In this space between the neighborhood and the fortress, in addition to the new cathedral of Segovia, a hospital and the Bishop's Palace are built. Practically, they formed a space in which the political power represented by the nobles and the religious, with the bishop at the head, lived together and decided together.
Alfonso VII received the crown in 1126, becoming King of León and Castile. His reign was decisive for the construction of the cathedral. Once completed, it was consecrated on July 16, 1228 by the Bishop of Sabinia, but in 1257 it was re-consecrated after several reforms carried out in 1247.
Segovia has been experiencing a period of splendor since the 13th century thanks to its strategic position on the transhumance route that made it a center for wool and textile manufacturing. King Enrique IV (1425-1474) saw this splendor in Segovia and, also, the need for political and religious power to be separated, which made him request the transfer of the Cathedral to the Plaza de San Miguel. Request rejected by the Cabildo.
Isabel la Católica is proclaimed Queen of Castile in the Church of San Miguel in Segovia, a sign of the importance that this city would have in her reign. In the year 1520 under the reign of Carlos I and V of the Holy Roman Empire, successor to Queen Juana de Castilla, the War of the Communities began (1520-1522) that pitted the commoners of all Castile against King Carlos I In the year 1521 the temple was the object of numerous attacks and finally in the year 1525 its ruin was decreed by the king due to its situation and, also, to the need to separate it from the Alcazar area. The Gothic cloister was one of the few elements that was preserved after its destruction.
Third stage: 1525 AD-present
Once the War of the Communities was over and the comuneros were crushed, Carlos I of Spain and V of Germany forced the Cabildo to build a new cathedral away from the royal residence. Once the decision to build a new headquarters has been made, the location is chosen and a master builder is sought. Regarding the location, the current Cathedral was built in one of the highest points of the city, in the so-called “Plaza Grande” and on the old convent of Santa Clara.
The convent of Santa Clara, which was located exactly above the head, consisted of a two-storey cloister with its dependencies, houses, corrals, orchards and church. In the first years of construction of the Cathedral of Segovia, which began on the current western facade, this church served as the main place of worship in the city to later be demolished.
The first architect that the Cathedral had was D. Juan Gil de Hontañón. Together with him, his rigger García de Cubillas would work side by side, both under the watchful eye of the then manufacturing canon, Juan Rodríguez.
The first stone was placed on the western façade on June 8, 1525 and its consecration was on July 16, 1768 by Bishop José Martínez Escalzo, 243 years after the first stone was laid. To lower costs, some elements of the old cathedral were moved to the new location: the magnificent 15th century cloister designed by Juan Guas and paid for by Bishop Juan Arias Dávila; the choir, also from the 15th century, made of walnut wood with the seats of King Henry IV and his wife Juana de Portugal, sculptures and paintings.
Rodrigo Gil de Hontañón, son of D. Juan Gil de Hontañón, succeeded his father as the architect of the Cathedral. He died in 1577 and in that year the traces of the ambulatory with its 18 chapels were already completed, being completed in 1607. Gil de Hontañón was succeeded by D. Juan de Mugaguren who was appointed master builder and, among other tasks, would be in charge of the reform of the Tower in 1615.
As a whole, the last phase of the construction of the Cathedral covers from 1607 to 1685 and the architects D. Pedro de Brizuela and D. Francisco de Viadero would play a leading role in the execution of the traces of the transept and dome, respectively. Outside, the façade of San Frutos, the main access to the Cathedral, was conceived in granite in 1608 but it was not finished until 1633. The arrangement of this façade reproduces a reduced scheme of that of San Lorenzo de El Escorial. The image of San Frutos, the patron saint of Segovia, was carved by D. Felipe de Aragón in 1611. Two other doors complete the entrances to the Cathedral, that of Perdón located in the west and that of San Geroteo in the south.
Inside the Cathedral we can find works that stand out not only for their artistic quality but because through beauty they speak of the History of Salvation, the most beautiful love story. Among these works, the Cry over the Dead Christ by Juan de Juni (1571), the triptych by the Flemish painter Ambrosius Benson (c.1532-36); the Tree of Life by Ignacio de Ríes (17th century), the Reclining Christ by Gregorio Fernández (17th) or the altarpiece by José de Churriguera.
Inside the cloister you can visit the Chapter House, designed by García de Cubillas. It has a fantastic coffered ceiling carved in 1559 and a collection of Flemish tapestries in which scenes of Queen Zenobia of Palmyra are narrated. In the anteroom to the Chapter House you can see the gilded silver monstrance that processions on the day of Corpus Christi. Next, a small museum room with works by Sánchez Coello, Pedro Berruguete, among others. In the central part of the room is the tomb of the infant Don Pedro.
Inside the Cathedral of Segovia, the light that passes through the flamenco windows envelops the visitor in a fascinating world of color, always within the architectural materiality. Between the years 1539 and 1544, the most valuable stained glass windows were made whose authors were Pierre de Holanda, Pierre de Chiberry, Walter de Roch, Nicolás de Holanda and Nicolás de Vergara. Different scenes from the Old and New Testaments or from the life of the Virgin, remind the human being that the Cathedral evokes the Celestial Jerusalem, the Kingdom of God on earth. In the Cathedral, God is mysteriously present, it is the place of theophany, of the manifestation of the sacred. This is what the Apocalypse of Saint John says "it was pure gold like transparent glass."
The altarpiece of the main altar is the work of the Italian architect Francesco Sabatini, dedicated to the Virgin of Peace and made of marbles of various colors and bronzes, clearly neoclassical in style. Its completion led to the consecration of the Cathedral in 1768.
In this journey through the great historical wealth of the cathedral, it is worth highlighting an event of great importance: the fire caused by lightning in the old wooden spire, 25 meters high, on September 18, 1614. This led to a reform complete that would influence the current silhouette and slenderness of the Cathedral of Segovia. This was possible thanks to the alms of the institutions and the Segovian people. Its current structure was designed by the Baroque architect Pedro de Brizuela and executed by Juan de Mugaguren. Its total cost was 11,000 ducats. The four Gothic buttresses on which the American mahogany wood structure rested were respected, although this material was replaced by stone.
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