Bilbao Cathedral

Bilbao Cathedral, west facade

Interior

The Cathedral of Bilbao ( Catedral de Santiago Apóstol - "Cathedral of the Holy Apostle James ") is the episcopal church of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Bilbao, founded in 1949 in the Basque metropolis of Bilbao . The Gothic church, which was elevated to a minor basilica in 1819, goes back to a pilgrimage church on the coastal route of the Camino de Santiago . Except for the neo-Gothic portal facade, it was built from the end of the 14th to the beginning of the 16th century.

history

The Romanesque station chapel for the St. James pilgrims existed long before the city of Bilbao was founded in 1300. Remains of it are preserved in the crypt of today's church. The extensive new building with cloister was started around 1380 as a parish and collegiate church and testifies to the rapidly growing importance of the city. In 1408 Vincent Ferrer preached in the unfinished church. In 1483 Queen Isabella I confirmed the privileges ( Fuero ) of the city here.

At the same time as the completion of the north portal Puerta del Ángel - crowned with the scallop shell - and the last flamboyant chapels at the beginning of the 16th century, the church received a late Gothic Mannerist interior, which was famous at the time , but has largely been lost. Fires in 1571 and 1641 and the floods of 1593 also caused damage and changes to the architecture. The portal facade and the bell tower were completely rebuilt from 1885 to 1890 according to plans by the local architect Severino Achúcarro ; the originally planned second tower was dispensed with.

Architecture and equipment

The Jacob's Cathedral is inspired by French cathedral Gothic. It is an east - facing three-aisled basilica with a central transept . The side aisles accompany the two nave - and the two choir - yokes and continue around the apse as the ambulatory . This is surrounded by a wreath of eleven chapels. The cloister is added to the north, the neo-Gothic west building with the bell tower to the west .

Despite the long construction time, the interior impresses with its clear and harmonious proportions. A triforium gallery runs around the entire room beneath the ribbed vaults and the upper cladding windows .

The altars are mostly baroque .

organ

View of the organ

The organ was built from 1994 to 2002 by the organ builders Pellerin & Uys. built. The slider chest instrument has 36 registers on three manuals and a pedal. The game actions and stop actions are mechanical.

I Hauptwerk C – g 3 Quintadena 16 ′ Reed flute 08th' Principal 08th' Viola di gamba 0 08th' Octav 04 ′ Reed flute 04 ′ Quinta 03 ′ Octav 02 ′ Mixture IV Zimbel II bassoon 16 ′ Trumpet 08th'

II Rückpositiv C – g 3 Principal 8th' Dumped 8th' Octav 4 ′ Salizional 4 ′ Sesquialtera II 0 2 2 ⁄ 3  ′ Gemshorn 2 ′ Quinta 1 1 ⁄ 2  ′ Zimbel II Funnel Dulcian 8th' Tremol

III Breastwork C – g 3 Reed flute 8th' Italian principal 0 4 ′ Forest flute 2 ′ Seventh 1 1 ⁄ 7  ′ Sif flute 1' Scharff II shelf 8th' Tremol

Pedal C – f 1 Pedestal 32 ′ Principal 16 ′ Octav 08th' Octav 04 ′ Mixture IV 0 0 trombone 16 ′ Trumpet 08th' Trumpet 04 ′

• Pair: I / P, II / P, III / P, I / II, III / II

Individual evidence

1. ↑ gcatholic.org
2. ↑ floor plan
3. ↑ Information about the organ (Spanish)

Web links

Commons : Bilbao Cathedral  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Catedral de Santiago (villadebilbao.net, Spanish)

Coordinates: 43 ° 15 '25.7 "  N , 2 ° 55' 25.6"  W.