Anyone who has “done” Europe, knows that visiting cathedrals is part and parcel of the experience. For many of us the first visit to a cathedral is awe-inspiring. However, after visiting a half-dozen of these massive churches, many tourists’ eyes glaze over. Here are six visits you’ll never forget.
On a recent trip through Spain with a group of friends, I delighted in poking my nose into every single church I passed. After a while, my friends were secretly praying that the church would be closed. Or, they would tell me to take a look and come back and get them if there was anything different and really interesting.
Here are six Spanish cathedrals (and churches and basilicas) that are memorable. Every one of these churches stands out in my mind because of some quirky feature that made them different and something to remember. Each will leave a memory visitors never forget.
The Sagrada Familia in Barcelona is one of the ciy’s most famous sights. Not really a cathedral since after 125 years, hasn’t been officially finished. The building is still an active construction zone. Antoni Gaudi, one of Spain’s most famous and revolutionary architects dedicated himself to this structure and it became his passion. He was hit by a streetcar and died before completing the church. Later during the Spanish Civil War, the Republicans destroyed Gaudi’s plans because they were considered too conservative. So, the current construction is based on some sketches and other architects’ thoughts about Gaudi’s probable plans.
This church with eight spires has undergone many changes since I first began visiting it almost 30 years ago, however I will never forget the elevator ride to the top of the spires past stonework that seemed to be melting, mosaics and carvings of strange creatures and plants that were crawling and growing up the spires to heaven.
The Basilica of Montserrat is part of a monastery of the same name. It is home to La Moreneta, The Black Virgin, the patron saint of Catalonia. Thousands of pilgrims visit this site every year, especially on Sundays, so avoid visiting on that day. OK, the small statue, supposedly carved by St. Luke, is way up in its niche and every so often the exceptional boy’s choir performs (1 p.m. most days and noon on Sunday except in July) but that is not what I remember.
The memories that are still vivid are of the setting of the monastery and the basilica beneath jagged saw-toothed mountains. These gray circular cliffs towering above the buildings that have been fit into mountain’s nooks and crannies were absolutely inspriring. The drive and ingenuity needed to construct such a building, for me, shows far more faith that simply arriving on a bus and praying.
The Cathedral of Burgos is the final resting place of El Cid. The edifice itself is massive and inspiring. It represents to me a statement by The Church that it is here to stay and that it is immoveable. I have known this cathedral over decades as the stonework was carefully cleaned from sooty black to brilliant white. It is an amazing church filled with artwork, sculptures, domes and vaulting, but the feature that I have always remembered has been Papamoscas (the flycatcher). This character above the clock in the back of the cathedral opens and shuts its mouth as the church bells chime out the hour.
As the story goes, in the late 1300s, Henry of Trastamare, upon becoming King of Castile and Leon, has the papamoscas built to commemorate a mysterious woman who saved his life several times in the woods with her screams. The original clock screeched, but eventually one of the bishops, irritated by the screams during his sermon, had the statue silenced. Hence, it now sits with its mouth silently open — nothing more than a flycatcher.
The Cathedral of Leon presents an absolutely unforgettable sea of stained glass surrounding the main altar. The supports for the roof disappear in the sun-powered kaleidoscope colors that sparkle in blue, burgundy, yellow, green, purple, gold and red. So much so, that I expect the ceiling to float into the heavens. Where the Cathedral of Burgos declared the territoriality of the church, this cathedral announces its pure spirituality. Outside, this cathedral seems uninteresting, squat and uninspiring. Inside, on a sunny day, one’s spirits cannot help but soar.
At the end of the pilgrimage route in the northwest corner of Spain , rises the massive Cathedral of Santiago de Compostella built above the tomb of St. James. The pedestrian-only town center adds a sense of timelessness to the experience. The cathedral façade is one of the most ornate in Europe, Doorways are crowned with carvings of Christ flanked by profits, saints and apostles, as well as scenes of purgatory and the Last Judgement. Inside, gold and lavish decorations are the theme. All of this is impressive, but not as impressive as the incense burner, the largest censer in the world.
The prelates have devised a system of ropes and pulleys that swing the five-foot-high, 150-pound “botafumeiro” (incense burner) across the transept from sky-high ceiling to sky-high ceiling. Try to plan a visit to see this dispensation of incense. The censer is filled with 80 pounds of charcoal and insense and eight red-robed priests start the swinging. The whooshing sound of the botafumeiro as it soars 100 feet high on one side of the church and then swings 100 feet high on the other side of the altar is breathtakingly unforgettable and almost terrifying. Those near the altar can hear it clearly over the organ music, choir voices and murmuring of the crowd.
Usually the Botafumeiro is swung after the Pilgrims’ Mass, normally scheduled on Saturday at 6 p.m. It also is swung following Sunday’s High Mass at 11 a.m. There are more often swingings during the Jubilee year (2010 is the next one). Some groups can pay for a special performance, but the experience with the mass, the singing and the organ is best.
The Cathedral in Cordoba is unforgettable for its unique situation, in the middle of the preserved remains of what used to be the largest mosque in Spain and one of the most important in the Islamic world.
Cordoba and La Mesquita are one of the world’s mystical centers. The old mosque is a sight that cannot be adequately explained or described. It must be experienced. Just as, back in the 60s, those who dropped acid or did psychedelic drugs could never really relate their experiences, a walk through the repetitive arches of the mesquita and its mind-altering effect is difficult to relate to another.
The Cordoba Mosque is not lush, covered with intricate decoration, like the Alhambra in Granada or the Alcazar in Seville. This building, just about as plain as dirt on the outside, becomes, upon entrance, enchanting. Its repetitive simplicity and symmetry, the play of dim light on the expanse of columns and red and white arches, and the changing perspectives of views down long corridors of tiered arches or across seemingly endless angled columns is mesmerizing. Even the most jaded tourists are hushed after only a few moments wandering in this forest of columns with the canopy of red and white arches.
To understand the magic of the mosque visitors only need a few minutes. The massive cathedral that was constructed in the center of the sea of columns and arches is only a distraction, just as foreign to the experience as the souvenir hawkers outside the mosque walls. However within this sea of thousands of columns one can easily spend hours lost in a personal altered state where time moves with a different rhythm from the world outside La Mezquita’s walls.
After visiting any of these churches, anyone will have memories that will last a lifetime. Sometimes searching out the little things and unknown stories will add plenty of magic to any vacation in Spain.
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Love this off-piste look at the innards of Spanish culture. It takes one out of the “armchair” to be sure.
Thanks for the article and for the video at Cathedral of Santiago de Compostella. I was intrigued by the techniques to start and stop the swinging of the censer. I hope they keep that rope in good condition!