page_title: Burgos Cathedral
section_title: Facade of Saint Mary
hierarchical_section_title: Burgos Cathedral / Exterior building / Facade of Saint Mary
caption_attribution_description: Español: Vista de la Catedral desde el Paseo del Espolón. Burgos, España.
context_page_description: The Cathedral of Saint Mary of Burgos is a Catholic church dedicated to the Virgin Mary located in the historical center of the Spanish city of Burgos. Its official name is Santa Iglesia Catedral Basílica Metropolitana de Santa María de Burgos.
  Its construction began in 1221, in the style of French Gothic architecture and is based on a Latin Cross. After a hiatus of almost 200 years, it went through major embellishments of great splendor in the 15th and 16th centuries: the spires of the main facade, the capilla del Condestable, 'Chapel of the Constable' and dome of the transept. These are elements of the flamboyant Gothic which gives the cathedral its unmistakable profile. The last works of importance were performed in the 18th century, during which the Gothic portals of the main facade were also modified. The style of the cathedral is the Gothic, although it has several decorative Renaissance and Baroque elements as well. The construction and renovations were made with limestone extracted from the quarries of the nearby town of Hontoria de la Cantera.
context_section_description: Descending the stairs to the Plaza de Santa María, one comes in front of the western facade of the cathedral, inspired by the facade of the cathedrals of Paris and Reims.
  The Portal of Saint Mary consists of three pointed arches. The central portal is called the Royal Door, or the Door of Forgiveness.The lateral portals are dedicated to the Assumption and the Immaculate Conception. This portal was built in the 13th century and, with its iconography dedicated to the Virgin, it was considered the most important sculptural manifestation of Gothic art in Castile. The side portals were rebuilt, due to their serious deterioration,  in 1663 by Juan de Pobes. In 1790 the central portal was rebuilt in Neoclassical style, with horizontal lintels and a triangular pediment. In the tympanums of the side portals reliefs were placed of the Conception and the Coronation, holding the hand of Juan de Pobes, and in the spandrels, two doubles side arches that shelter the respective statuettes.
  The second part of the facade was also erected in the 13th century. It contains in its middle a rosette of Cistercian inspiration, with tracery of a six-pointed star, or of Solomon's seal.
  The third part show an elegant gallery marked by spires and several pinnacles, and consists of two large windows with mullions and tracery of three quadrilobed oculi. Under the eight arches that form the mullions of both arches are placed the statues of the first eight kings of Castile from Ferdinand I of León "the Magnus" to Ferdinand III of Castile "the Saint". Above it stands a thin rail-cresting of pointed arches with a statue of the Virgin and Child, accompanied by the inscription Pulchra es et decora ("Thou art fair and beautiful"), alluding to the Mother of Christ. This final addition was made in the mid-15th century by Juan de Colonia.
  Above the side doors of the first part were raised two almost identical towers in the 13th century. They consist of three stories, with pilasters decorated with pinnacles and statues at their corners, and with decorated openings pointed on each side of each story: one flared with mullion and tracery with an oculus, covered with stained glasses, in the first; two are arranged in pairs without mullion and without tracery, in the second; and two other are arranged in pairs with mullion and tracery, in the third.
  In the middle of the 15th century, Juan de Colonia raised on these towers open pyramidal needles or spires with an octagonal base. Their fine fretwork definitely shaped the silhouette of the Burgos cathedral. He originated from Cologne (as Johan von Köln). His design matches the project of the Cologne Cathedral, which at that time only existed in drawings that he could have seen. The spires of the Cologne cathedral were only added much later. The spires of the Burgos cathedral were raised with the financial contributions of the bishop Alonso de Cartagena and of his successor at headquarters, Luis de Acuña, whose coats of arms, along with the Castilian-Leonese monarchy, appear in the parapets that connect to the tops of the towers. In these parapets master Juan also had the inscription pax vobis and the sculpture of Christ showing the footsteps of his Passion, in one, and the inscription ecce agnus dei and a sculpture of Saint John the Baptist, in the other.
  Two polygonal turrets mark the facade, decorated with lobed arches, with statues and pinnacles and topped in pyramidal spires amounting to the start of the spires. Inside are spiral staircases ascending to the clerestory and the vaults of the naves.
caption: View from the Paseo del Espolón.
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