Vaulted ceiling of the Cathedral of Santa Maria
There is an error in the Natural History manuals. They say that the stone is an inert being, that it does not breathe, that it does not feel the passing of the years. It is the bad weather that metamorphoses it without putting anything on its part. The Cathedral of Santa María is responsible for denying it. She is alive. After eight centuries of history , wear a premiere every day.
Vitorians and visitors attest to this when they come to see the restoration work that reveals all the 'expression lines' that have come out of it after so many centuries of life. But, in addition, they can learn from her in the conferences that are made inside, listen to the best music in a auditorium with medieval flavor or be dazzled by the colors of the Sound and light show who repaints his carvings as they were.
The cathedral was begun in the 13th century and completed in the 15th century . It was closed in 1994 for renovation but it was not until 2000 that visits began. under the motto of “open for works” , the Gothic cathedral of Santa María invites you to discover the ins and outs of its restoration, creating a tourist model that has already been copied by other sites copied by other archaeological sites. After seeing a introductory audiovisual or put on a safety helmet, the tour of the cathedral begins, which varies depending on the development of the works.
The writer Ken Follette, who visited the works of the cathedral in 2002, has always been one of the great admirers of the project, assuring that he found in it an enormous source of inspiration for his books. The relationship between the novelist and the church has not ceased since then to such an extent that the author presented in Vitoria the continuation of his bestseller 'The pillars of the earth, a world without end'. The city, for his part, dedicated a sculpture on the doors of Santa Maria.
Map: See map
Address: Cutlery nº, 97, 01001 Vitoria-Gasteiz See map
Telephone: 945 12 21 60
Price: Adult: €6; Students, retirees and large families, the unemployed and people with disabilities: €3; Children under 12 years: free.
Schedule: Cathedral: 11:00-13:00 and 17:00-19:00. Wall: 11:15-12:45 and 17:15-18:45.
Guy: churches and cathedrals
Official Web: Go to the web