Too boxed in by other buildings to manifest its full glory to observers at ground level, Granada’s cavernous cathedral is, nonetheless, a hulking classic that sprang from the fertile imagination of the 17th-century painter cum sculptor cum architect Alonso Cano. Although commissioned by the Catholic Monarchs in the early 1500s, construction began only after Isabella’s death, and didn’t finish until 1704.
The result is a mishmash of styles: baroque outside, courtesy of Cano, and Renaissance inside, where the Spanish pioneer in this style, Diego de Siloé, directed operations to construct huge piers, white as meringue, a black-and-white tile floor and the gilded and painted chapel. Even more odd, the roof vaults are distinctly Gothic.
