Astorga Cathedral

Astorga Cathedral Catedral de Astorga
Cathedral of Astorga
Basic information
Location	Astorga, Spain
Affiliation	Catholic Church
Leadership	Camilo Lorenzo Iglesias (Bishop of Astorga)
Architectural type	church
General contractor	1471 - Siglo XVIII

The Cathedral of Astorga (Spanish: Catedral de Santa María de Astorga) is a Roman Catholic church in Astorga, Spain. It was declared a national monument in 1931.

The edifice was begun in 1471, within the same walls of its Romanesque predecessors from the 11th-13th centuries. The construction lasted until the 18th century, thus to its original Gothic style appearance were added elements from later styles, such as the Neo-Classicist cloister (18th century), the Baroque towers, capitals and the façade, and the Renaissance portico.

File:Astorga Catedral 36 by-dpc.jpg

Cathedral interior.

File:Astorga Catedral 37 by-dpc.jpg

Cathedral altarpiece.

The interior houses numerous artworks, such as the Flemish-Spanish retablo of St. Michael, and the large high altar by Gaspar Becerra (1558), considered a masterwork of the Spanish Renaissance sculpture. Other sculptures include the "Purísima" by Gregorio Fernández (1626), "St. John the Baptist and St. Jerome" by Mateo del Prado (17th century) and the "Christ of the Waters" (14th century).

Next to the church is the Neo-medieval Episcopal Palace, designed by Antoni Gaudí.

External links

• Official website
• The Art of medieval Spain, A.D. 500-1200, an exhibition catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art Libraries (fully available online as PDF), which contains material on Astorga Cathedral (no. 70)