The Cathedral of the Assumption of Our Lady of Segorbe ( es, Catedral de la Asunción de la Virgen) is a

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * C ...

Segorbe Segorbe is a municipality in the mountainous coastal province of Castelló, autonomous community of Valencia, Spain. The former Palace of the Dukes of Medinaceli now houses the city's mayor. Segorbe's bull-running week (''semana de Toros'') in ...

province of Castellón Castellón (officially in ca-valencia, Castelló) is a province in the northern part of the Valencian Community. It is bordered by the provinces of Valencia to the south, Teruel to the west, Tarragona to the north, and by the Mediterranean Sea ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

. It is the see of the Diocese of Segorbe-Castellon. It was elevated to the rank of

minor basilica In the Catholic Church, a basilica is a designation given by the Pope to a church building. Basilicas are distinguished for ceremonial purposes from other churches. The building need not be a basilica in the architectural sense (a rectangular ...

in 1985.

History

Located against the city's walls, the church, once a mosque, has been completely rebuilt in 1246 in

Valencian Gothic Valencian Gothic is an architectural style. It occurred under the Kingdom of Valencia between the 13th and 15th centuries, which places it at the end of the European Gothic period and at the beginning of the Renaissance. The term "Valencian G ...

style in such a manner that it preserves no trace of Arab architecture. Of this 13th-century edifice, only parts of the western façade, the vaults of several chapels, the

load-bearing wall A load-bearing wall or bearing wall is a wall that is an active structural element of a building, which holds the weight of the elements above it, by conducting its weight to a foundation structure below it. Load-bearing walls are one of the ea ...

s, the tower of Santa Barbara, the bell tower and the cloister remain. It was consecrated on 7 May 1534, and has a single,

cross-vault A groin vault or groined vault (also sometimes known as a double barrel vault or cross vault) is produced by the intersection at right angles of two barrel vaults. Honour, H. and J. Fleming, (2009) ''A World History of Art''. 7th edn. London: Lau ...

ed nave, without transept and dome, with chapels located between the

buttress A buttress is an architectural structure built against or projecting from a wall which serves to support or reinforce the wall. Buttresses are fairly common on more ancient buildings, as a means of providing support to act against the lateral ( ...

es. It is connected by a bridge with the old episcopal palace. The bell tower, with a massive appearance and a square plan, is typically Romanesque in his simplicity. It stands at a height of . The Gothic cloister has a trapezoidal plan and two floors: the lower one dates to the 14th-15th centuries, while the other was added in the late 15th and early 16th centuries. The main façade dates to 1665. The presbytery was renewed in Renaissance style during the 16th century; the high altar was also added in 1530, under design by Vicente Juan Masip. The church is decorated by frescoes of Luis Planes. The church was renovated in 1791-1795 in

Neo-classic style Neoclassical architecture is an architectural style produced by the Neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century in Italy and France. It became one of the most prominent architectural styles in the Western world. The prevailing style ...

, resulting in the nearly total hiding of the Gothic structure. The nave was lengthened, and new altars were added.

Museum

The Cathedral museum houses several artworks by local and foreign artists, belonging to the

International Gothic International Gothic is a period of Gothic art which began in Burgundy, France, and northern Italy in the late 14th and early 15th century. It then spread very widely across Western Europe, hence the name for the period, which was introduced by th ...

, the 15th-century

Flemish painting Flemish painting flourished from the early 15th century until the 17th century, gradually becoming distinct from the painting of the rest of the Low Countries, especially the modern Netherlands. In the early period, up to about 1520, the painting ...

, the 16th-century Valencian school and more recent ones. Artists represented include Jaume Mateu (''St. Jerome Altarpiece'', c. 1450), Vicente Juan Masip and his son Juan (two 16th-century altarpieces), as well as the Italian

Donatello Donato di Niccolò di Betto Bardi ( – 13 December 1466), better known as Donatello ( ), was a Florentine sculptor of the Renaissance period. Born in Florence, he studied classical sculpture and used this to develop a complete Renaissance s ...

, with an attributed work.

Notes

References

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External links

Official website
{{Authority control Buildings and structures in the Province of Castellón 13th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Spain

Gothic architecture in the Valencian Community Churches in the Valencian Community Bien de Interés Cultural landmarks in the Province of Castellón Churches completed in 1246 Segorbe