Catedral del Buen Pastor de San Sebastian (San Sebastián Cathedral), San Sebastian (must see)

In August of 1887, the San Sebastian City Council donated some land of dunes and marshes between the river Urumea and La Concha Beach to build a church. In December, a design competition was held. Local architect Manuel de Echave submitted the winning entry. The new church would be named "The Good Shepherd."

The foundation stone was laid in September 1888. Queen Maria Christina and the Royal family were in attendance. The minutes of the ceremony were signed by baby king Alfonso XIII with his mother's help. The San Sebastián Cathedral was consecrated on July 30, 1897. Manuel de Echave was inspired by Cologne Cathedral in France.

The Cathedral of the Good Shepherd has a Latin cross plan, three aisles, a transept nave, and a pentagonal sanctuary. The double gables of the transept house have two rose windows. The naves are in five sections, covered with ribbed vaults. The bell tower is a vertical mass of pilasters and buttresses topped with pinnacles and spirelets adorned with buds.

Inside the Main Chapel, on a pedestal hanging from the central boss of the apse, is the neo-Gothic sculpture of the Good Shepherd by artist Josep Llimona i Bruguera. The sculptor also made the figures of the Four Evangelists on the columns of the crossing. Two neo-Gothic gold-covered altarpieces are under the rose windows.

The seven double windows of the apse portray the twelve apostles and the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary. There are more figurative windows in the baptistry. Stained glass windows, double and triple-paned, run around the side walls. Under the presbytery, the crypt serves as the parish sacristy and the priestly tomb of Priest Lorenzo de Urizar.

At its installation in 1954, the current organ was considered the largest in Spain and Europe. It has five keyboards for the hands and one for the feet. It has 106 stops. The choir organ houses in its interior and exterior 9,535 pipes, the largest measuring 10 meters, the whole thing weighing 30 tons.