Granada Cathedral, Granada (must see)

Granada Cathedral is a Roman Catholic church. It is the seat of the Archdiocese of Granada and it was built on top of the bones of the Mosque of the City. The construction took place in 1518 after the Christian Reconquest of Andalusia.

The Cathedral was started in The Spanish Renaissance style rather than the Gothic. In 1523 the first architect, Enrique Egas was replaced by Diego de Siloe. The work continued for forty years. Diego planned for a triforium of five naves rather than three. His principal chapel (capilla mayor) was circular, not a semicircular apse.

For 181 years alterations and revisions proceeded under different architects until 1667. Alonso Cano and Gaspar de la Pena introduced Baroque elements to the facade. In 1699 after 181 years, this document of stone might be considered almost complete. But two high towers were planned and never built. The ground underneath was considered unstable.

The Cathedral was meant to be the royal mausoleum but Philip II moved the royal burial site to the palace of El Escorial near Madrid.