The Cathedral of the Incarnation () is a

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

cathedral A cathedral is a church (building), church that contains the of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, Annual conferences within Methodism, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually s ...

Guadix Guadix (, ) is a city and municipalities of Spain, municipality in southern Spain, in the Granada (province), province of Granada. The city lies at an altitude of 913 metres, in the centre of the Hoya of Guadix, a high plain at the northern footh ...

, Spain. Construction began during the 16th century and was completed by the mid-18th century. It is the seat of the Diocese of Guadix.

Location and historical context

Guadix is believed to be one of the oldest

diocesan In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associated ...

seats in Spain; tradition has it that the diocese was founded by Saint

Torquatus of Acci Saint Torquatus () is venerated as the patron saint of Guadix, Spain. Tradition makes him a Christian missionary of the 1st century, during the Apostolic Age. He evangelized the town of ''Acci'', identified as Guadix, and became its first bisho ...

in the first century A.D. The cathedral sits on the site of an earlier Hispano-

Visigoth The Visigoths (; ) were a Germanic people united under the rule of a king and living within the Roman Empire during late antiquity. The Visigoths first appeared in the Balkans, as a Roman-allied barbarian military group united under the comman ...

ic church extant in the 10th century, and which functioned during the Islamic period as a

mosque A mosque ( ), also called a masjid ( ), is a place of worship for Muslims. The term usually refers to a covered building, but can be any place where Salah, Islamic prayers are performed; such as an outdoor courtyard. Originally, mosques were si ...

. During the ''

Reconquista The ''Reconquista'' (Spanish language, Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese for ) or the fall of al-Andalus was a series of military and cultural campaigns that European Christian Reconquista#Northern Christian realms, kingdoms waged ag ...

'', Guadix was captured by the Christian forces in 1489, and the Hispano-Visigothic church was reestablished as the seat of a

bishopric In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associate ...

. It was given the name of the Church of Saint Mary of the Incarnation (''Iglesia de Santa María de la Encarnación''), was made a cathedral by a

bull A bull is an intact (i.e., not Castration, castrated) adult male of the species ''Bos taurus'' (cattle). More muscular and aggressive than the females of the same species (i.e. cows proper), bulls have long been an important symbol cattle in r ...

Pope Innocent VIII Pope Innocent VIII (; ; 1432 – 25 July 1492), born Giovanni Battista Cybo (or Cibo), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 29 August 1484 to his death, in July 1492. Son of the viceroy of Naples, Cybo spent his ea ...

, and was somewhat expanded under the direction of

Pedro de Morales Pedro de Morales (1538–1614) was a Spanish religious writer. In 1579, a letter he sent to Pope Gregory XIII regarding festivities surround relics contained the first known record of the word chocolate Chocolate is a food made from roa ...

. Plans were made to replace the old church with a

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, a Germanic people **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Gothic alphabet, an alphabet used to write the Gothic language ** Gothic ( ...

cathedral as a symbol of the ''Reconquista'', but by the time construction began, that style was already considered antiquated. Cardinal Ávalos and others wanted a cathedral more in accord with the style of the times.

Diego de Siloé Diego Siloe (anglicized) or Diego de Siloé (c. 1495–1563) was a Spanish Renaissance architect and sculptor, progenitor of the Granadan school of sculpture. He developed the majority of his work in Andalusia. Biography Siloe was most likely ...

was commissioned in 1549 to develop a design reflecting the influence of the cathedrals of

Málaga Málaga (; ) is a Municipalities in Spain, municipality of Spain, capital of the Province of Málaga, in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia. With a population of 591,637 in 2024, it is the second-most populo ...

and

Granada Granada ( ; ) is the capital city of the province of Granada, in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada (Spain), Sierra Nevada mountains, at the confluence ...

. The

apse In architecture, an apse (: apses; from Latin , 'arch, vault'; from Ancient Greek , , 'arch'; sometimes written apsis; : apsides) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical Vault (architecture), vault or semi-dome, also known as an ' ...

, part of the crossing, the chapel of Don Tadeo and part of the

sacristy A sacristy, also known as a vestry or preparation room, is a room in Christianity, Christian churches for the keeping of vestments (such as the alb and chasuble) and other church furnishings, sacred vessels, and parish records. The sacristy is us ...

were completed according to Siloé's plan.

Construction

Besides Siloé,

Francisco Roldán Francisco Roldán (circa 1450 - 11 July .S. 1 July1502) was a Spanish colonial administrator. Biography He was left as ' (local governor) of La Isabela when Christopher Columbus returned to Spain from his second voyage. In 1497, Roldán revolted ...

Francisco Antero Francisco is the Spanish and Portuguese form of the masculine given name ''Franciscus''. Meaning of the name Francisco In Spanish, people with the name Francisco are sometimes nicknamed "Paco". San Francisco de Asís was known as ''Pater Commu ...

, and others were involved in designing the new cathedral. Siloé planned the main chapel in a

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

style, with an alternation of straight lines and curves, with profuse decoration in the classical style and highly developed

entablature An entablature (; nativization of Italian , from "in" and "table") is the superstructure of moldings and bands which lies horizontally above columns, resting on their capitals. Entablatures are major elements of classical architecture, and ...

. Juan de Arredondo was appointed master builder. The Freyla brothers, Pedro and Miguel, worked many years on a tower intended as an emblem of identity for the city. In 1574, work stopped for lack of money, and was not resumed until 1594, when Bishop Juan de Fonseca y Guzmán resumed the project. The work received a new impulse at the end of the 17th century and beginning of the 18th with economic assistance from the king. Blas Antonio Delgado was placed in charge of the new plans, with changes in the design giving more emphasis to horizontal lines. Delgado laid out the general design of the cathedral, the

elevations The elevation of a geographic ''location'' is its height above or below a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational surface (see Geodetic datum § ...

, the doors and the

cupola In architecture, a cupola () is a relatively small, usually dome-like structure on top of a building often crowning a larger roof or dome. Cupolas often serve as a roof lantern to admit light and air or as a lookout. The word derives, via Ital ...

, but in 1714 had to move to

Jaén Jaén may refer to: Places Peru *Jaén Province, Peru, a province in Cajamarca Region, Peru ** Jaén District, one of twelve districts of the province Jaén in Peru ***Jaén, Peru, a city in Peru, capital of the Jaén Province Philippines * Jaen ...

. Vicente Acero took over, reworking the plan extensively, before also having to move on. The city government approached Francisco de Hurtado Izquierdo; rather than take on the project himself, he recommended

Gaspar Cayón de la Vega Gaspar is a given name, given and/or surname of French, German, Portuguese language, Portuguese, and Spanish language, Spanish origin, cognate to Casper (given name) or Casper (surname). It is a name of christian origin, per Saint Gaspar, one of ...

. The strong imprint of Cayón de la Vega can be seen in the latter stages of construction of the building, in the vaulting, the dome, and in the ''portada de las Azucenas'', the front portion of the building, utilising a motif of lilies which Acero had begun. When Cayón de la Vega left for

Cádiz Cádiz ( , , ) is a city in Spain and the capital of the Province of Cádiz in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia. It is located in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula off the Atlantic Ocean separated fr ...

in 1731, the façade was under construction according to his plans, but others such as Vicente Acero, Pachote, and Thomas added pieces that were not in Cayón's plan.

Architecture

Exterior

The façade is a splendid example of the

Baroque architecture Baroque architecture is a highly decorative and theatrical style which appeared in Italy in the late 16th century and gradually spread across Europe. It was originally introduced by the Catholic Church, particularly by the Jesuits, as a means to ...

, with two massed bodies and a pinnacle, with alternating concave and convex lines; the large central span, flanked by two lintels composed of groups of broad-based columns. The upper part was realized by

Fernández Pachote Fernández () is a Spanish patronymic surname meaning "son of Fernando" of Germanic origin. The Germanic name Ferdinand that it derives from ( Gothic: ''Frið-nanð'') means "brave traveler." The Portuguese version of this surname is Fernandes. ...

and Domingo Thomas; Antonio Valeriano Moyano sculpted the marble Incarnation.

Interior

The chapel of Don Tadeo shows strong Italian structural influences in its solution to the problem of vaulting arches within a cylindrical structure. Another notable element is the front of the sacristy, with its

pediment, its entablature, and the arch between

Corinthian column The Corinthian order (, ''Korinthiakós rythmós''; ) is the last developed and most ornate of the three principal classical orders of Ancient Greek architecture and Roman architecture. The other two are the Doric order, which was the earliest, ...

s with the coats of arms of the bishops of the city.

Bell Tower and Sacred Heart statue

The construction of the bell tower began by 1559 and was completed in 1863. It is square shaped and at over , is the tallest structure in the city. The top can be accessed after 160 steps of a double helical stair. The top is also surrounded by a balcony that allows 360 degree panoramic views and is open to the public. It is topped by a tall statue of the

Sacred Heart of Jesus The Most Sacred Heart of Jesus () is one of the most widely practised and well-known Catholic devotions, wherein the heart of Jesus Christ is viewed as a symbol of "God's boundless and passionate love for mankind". This devotion to Christ is p ...

, made by Amadeo Ruiz Olmo and installed in 1945. The statue features a mechanism —restored in 2022 after decades broken down— that slowly rotates it in 12-hour cycles, and a red light on its chest that is turned on every night after sundown.

Gallery

3. Lado izquierdo de la Catedral de Guadix.jpg, Portal of Santiago 7. Puerta y torre del lado derecho de la Catedral de Guadix.jpg, Tower and Portal of Saint Torquatus Andalucía Guadix Catedral8 tango7174.jpg, Replica of

Michelangelo Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni (6March 147518February 1564), known mononymously as Michelangelo, was an Italian sculptor, painter, architect, and poet of the High Renaissance. Born in the Republic of Florence, his work was inspir ...

's ''Pieta'' Capilla principal de la Catedral de Guadix IMG 0996.jpg, Main altar Cupula de la Catedral de Guadix IMG 0997.jpg, Lantern

References

External links

{{Authority control, state=expanded

Province of Granada Baroque architecture in Andalusia Churches in Andalusia