Camino Frances - 2014
Pamplona - Saturday 19th April 2014
Plaza de Castillo
"Running of the Bulls" Statue
Pamplona Cathedral
| Pamplona Cathedral was built in the 14th and 15th centuries over the remains of a Romanesque church. The neoclassical facade from 1799 is by Ventura Rodriguez and the interioir is French Gothic. The cloister, completed in 1472, is considered one of the most beautiful in Europe. Outstanding features inside the cathedral are the altar pieces, choir stalls be Esteban de Obray, the 12th century carving of the Virgin Mary, the Holy Christ by Anchieta, the alabaster tomb of King Carlos III ("el Noble") and his wife by Johan Lome de Tournai, and the Barbaranza chapel with its octagonal Gothic vault, the oldest monastic part of the cathedral. |
Saint John The Baptist Chapel
The Saint John The Baptist Chapel is the first on the north (Gospel) side, where the parish church of the cathedral used to stand. It now holds the crucific of Anchieta, a masterpiece of the Spanish Renaissance from 1577. The altar-piece was sculpted by Juan de la Hare and Gaspar Ramos in 1610 and represents scenes from the life of John the Baptist. |
Royal Mausoleum
The Royal Mausoleum with the death statues of Carlos III el noble and his wife Leonor de Trastamara, Monarchs of Navarre. This sculpture is a unique work of 15th Century sculpture and was carried out between 1413 and 1419 by Jehan Lome de Tournai and his craftsmen. The figures of the mourners are particulalry striking and are made from alabaster, as is the rest of the sculpture. |
The Cloister - 14th Century
Of all the buildings in the Pamplona cathedral complex, the oldest of the gothic period is the cloister, most of which went up in the 14th Century. At first sight, one is taken aback by its size. its apparent stylistic unity, the graceful elegance of its architecture and the wealth of sculptural decoration.The cloister occupies to spave of the old Romanesque one and makes up an almost perfect square with a side of 38 meters. A more careful look reveals, within the unity, the variations introduced during the different construction phases. In the first one, 1280 to 1318, the east and north walks of the Barbazana Chapel were built. The second one saw the construction of the west alley, with the Amparo, Archdeaconry, Refectory and Preciosa doorways, the templet of the washbasin and the contibuous bay of the south walk. In the last stage, at the end of the 15th century and the beginning of the 16th, after a short pause due to the initiation work of the church, the details of the cloister were finished off, including the upper storey. |
The Chapel of las Navas de Tolosa
The shrine of the washbasin of the cathedral's cloister occupies the chapel of las Navas de Tolosa, so called because, according to the tradition the gate was built with part of the chains that surrounded the tent of the Caliph al-Nasir Miramamolin, and were broken by the Navarrese king Sancho VII the Strong, during the course of the celebrated battle between Christians and Muslims which took place in 1212. In fact, the original invocation of this Chapel was the Mount of Olives |
Amparo Doorway
The Amparo Doorway is now the access to the church. The tympanum shows the Dormition of the Virgin and the mullion is decorated with the image of Our Lady of Amparo. It was built between 1315 and 1355 |
The Virgin with child
The Refectory
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