Spanish Gothic architecture

León Cathedral, a fine example of Gothic architecture in Spain

Spanish Gothic architecture is the style of architecture prevalent in Spain in the Late Medieval period.

The Gothic style started in Spain as a result of Central European influence in the twelfth century when late Romanesque alternated with few expressions of pure Gothic architecture. The High Gothic arrives with all its strength via the pilgrimage route, the Way of St. James, in the thirteenth century. Some of the most pure Gothic cathedrals in Spain, closest related to the German and French Gothic, were built at this time.

In some cases the Gothic style was built and decorated with Mudéjar elements by Mudéjar craftsmen and Christian craftsmen influenced by them, creating a highly distinctive Gothic style unique to Spain and Portugal. The most important post−thirteenth-century Gothic styles in Spain are the Levantine Gothic, characterized by its structural achievements and the unification of space, and the Isabelline Gothic, under the Catholic Monarchs, that predicated a slow transition to Renaissance architecture.

Sequence of Gothic styles in Spain

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Ages of the main Gothic elements in many Spanish cathedrals.

The designations of styles in Spanish Gothic architecture are as follows. Dates are approximate.

Examples

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Early Gothic

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High Gothic

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Mudéjar Gothic

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Valencian Gothic

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Balearic Gothic

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Catalan Gothic

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Flamboyant/Late Gothic

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Isabelline Gothic

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Modern Spanish Gothic

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See also

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References

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