Wednesday, April 26, 2017

Tarragona Cathedral, 1

Tarragona has a beautiful cathedral, begun in the 12th, partly Romanesque, mostly Gothic, built on top of a Roman temple, a Visigothic curch, a mosque...the usual Iberian pedigree. Originally a monastery, it has a cloister that is one of the most beautiful we have seen.
The cathedral complex is hemmed in by so many buildings it's hard to get a decent
exterior view

Room for four more apostles...the facade was never finished
































Built-in sarcophagus

The archivolts have been left to the birds

For me, hope arises for funny faces within

"I can't believe I'm sharing top billing with a dog!"

Inside: here's one Spanish cathedral that got the memo from the Council of Trent
about taking down the screen; stem to stern view; big church

A bit of the elevation, choir, organ

The nave is fairly plain; it's in the numerous side chapels that one sees the Baroque
extravagance

Here and there, bits of the old paint job

St. Centaur on one of the capitals

In the chapel of St. Helen (Constantine's mom)

Restoring a huge but unidentified painting

More old paint job

Dome

Dusting, polishing the choir
























































































































































































Have these all been sanctified? we wondered















Altar

Now in the gorgeous cloister

Holy cow

Beautiful old floor throughout

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