The Cathedral of Guarda ( pt, Catedral da Guarda, Sé da Guarda) is a

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

church located in the northeastern city of Guarda,

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

. Its construction took from 1390 until the mid 16th century, combining Gothic and

Manueline The Manueline ( pt, estilo manuelino, ), occasionally known as Portuguese late Gothic, is the sumptuous, composite Portuguese architectural style originating in the 16th century, during the Portuguese Renaissance and Age of Discoveries. Manuel ...

architectural styles.

History

The History of Guarda Cathedral begins in 1199, when King Sancho I obtained permission from the Pope to transfer the seat of the bishopric from nearby ''Egitania'' (

Idanha-a-Velha Idanha-a-Velha (Idanha "the old") is a village in the civil parish (''freguesia'') of Monsanto e Idanha-a-Velha, in the municipality of Idanha-a-Nova (Idanha "the new"), central eastern Portugal, and the site of ancient Egitânia, a former bishop ...

) to Guarda. The first cathedral building, in Romanesque style, was soon substituted by another church built in the site occupied today by the Misericórdia Church in Guarda. This second cathedral, of modest proportions and built in the 13th century, was demolished in the second half of the 14th century when the city walls of Guarda were reinforced by

King Ferdinand I Ferdinand I ( es, Fernando I; 10 March 1503 – 25 July 1564) was Holy Roman Emperor from 1556, King of Bohemia, Hungary, and Croatia from 1526, and Archduke of Austria from 1521 until his death in 1564.Milan Kruhek: Cetin, grad izbornog sabo ...

during the wars with Castile. The third and definitive Guarda Cathedral started being built in 1390 under bishop Vasco de Lamego, during the reign of King John I. In the early 15th century the

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

was built and the

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

was begun in Gothic style. In this first stage the works were influenced by the

Monastery of Batalha The Monastery of Batalha ( pt, Mosteiro da Batalha) is a Dominican order, Dominican convent in the municipality of Batalha, Portugal, Batalha, in the district of Leiria (district), Leiria, in the Centro Region, Portugal, Centro Region of Portugal ...

, which was being built at the same time. Construction on the Cathedral proceeded slowly during the second half of the century. In the period from 1504 to 1517, under bishop Pedro Gavião, the pace of the works increased and the cathedral was almost completed. The architects of this phase were 'Pedro and Felipe Henriques. The

style - a Portuguese mix of Gothic and early

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (800 BC to AD ...

- was the dominant influence in this second building stage, as attested by the decoration of the windows of the

and

transept A transept (with two semitransepts) is a transverse part of any building, which lies across the main body of the building. In cruciform churches, a transept is an area set crosswise to the nave in a cruciform ("cross-shaped") building wi ...

, the decorated rib vaulting of the transept, some spiralling columns of the nave as well as the main portal, similar to the Manueline portal of Saint Michael's Chapel of Coimbra University. Most building activity in Guarda Cathedral was finished around 1540. Around this time, the Renaissance-style ''Pina Chapel'' was built as burial site for João de Pina, treasurer of the cathedral. It has a Renaissance portal and a tomb with the recumbent figure of the sponsor of the chapel. Another important addition was the altarpiece of the main chapel, installed in the 1550s. This important Renaissance work was carved in stone by French sculptor João de Ruão, one of the main sculptors from

Coimbra Coimbra (, also , , or ) is a city and a municipality in Portugal. The population of the municipality at the 2011 census was 143,397, in an area of . The fourth-largest urban area in Portugal after Lisbon, Porto, and Braga, it is the largest cit ...

. During the following centuries the cathedral was enriched with other elements. Despite the artistic value of some of these additions - like the Baroque organ - all were removed during a renovation carried out in 1898 by architect Rosendo Carvalheira, which aimed at restoring the cathedral to its primitive, Gothic/Manueline appearance.

Burials

*Pedro Vaz Gaviao, Archbishop (1496–1516) *Joao De Pina, Treasurer of the Cathedral

References

General Bureau for National Buildings and Monuments (Portugal)
{{coord, 40, 32, 18.01, N, 7, 16, 09.45, W, source:ptwiki_region:PT_type:landmark, display=title Buildings and structures in Guarda, Portugal Guarda Gothic architecture in Portugal National monuments in Guarda District Buildings and structures in Guarda District