Leon Cathedral: Interior

The interior was even better than the exterior...

Nave view...there's the usual choir, seemingly obstructing any decent view of the
majesty of the building

But wait! They've left the portal to the choir open, and you can
see all the way through to the altar

The other great thing about Leon Cathedral is its glass; not 12th or 13th century,
but an overall aesthetic effect comparable to the great ones

Again, peering through the choir to the altarpiece

In the choir, one bank of organ pipes, bristling with anti-aircraft
guns (normal in Iberia)

Choir

Up closer

Misericord

More windows

Rose window

Chancel area

Altarpiece, appropriately International Gothic; the Baroque stuff was removed a
century ago (Leon is about the only church we have visited where the incongruity
between Gothic and Baroque was noticed; and dealt with)

Chancel ceiling

Another rose

Side aisle

13th century Madonna and Child

Stomping on the serpents of evil

Aisle vaulting

Polychrome Mary, with child

Glorious color; neat place

Leon Cathedral: Exterior

Our next stop, wending our way generally east and south toward Figueres and then Barcelona, and then California, was Leon, the capital of Castille y Leon. Historic country, and a city we really liked for the two days we were there. Despite the heat. Best, I thought, was the cathedral, a late but very respectable Gothic, saved from collapse in the 19th century and then renovated to emphasize its origins, getting rid of most of the interior Baroque crap. The presentation, signage, a good audio tour, even a glossy cathedral magazine (cathedral porn?), only added to a great visit.

West facade

Closer up; not huge, but good sized

Nice, appropriately lurid Judgement

Thus

Even in the archivolts

Not so many funny faces in the Gothic world

Conehead: were they Goths?

Another tympanum (the third was a Mary tympanum)

Important Nativity

The whole was set apart in a large city square, large enough
to appreciate the majesty, the immensity, the centrality, etc.

The structure

And the flamboyant bits; it was even better on the inside

Astorga: Camino Museum

Tying still more things together: within the Gaudi Palacio was a museum of the Camino Santiago as well as a museum of the many Roman bits in the area. We were enthralled.

Camino triptych bit

"According to the guidebook, the Pilgrim Special at the
Trinity Club is only 7 dineros"

"Yeah, but they only serve lamb"

Roman bit

Pre-Roman bits

Unhelpful model

Somebody molested it

Roman roads

Tell me this is not Celtic and we are not talking about a North
Atlantic culture

Very old capital

Arab coins: "the South shall rise again"

One of the most interesting capitals yet...wow...triple dog wow!

Medieval sarcophogus

More

"I'm sorry, you only had one stamp for day 37, so you'll have
to start over again"

All roads in Spain converge on Santiago

Working on hand-enlargement therapy course
from Trump University

St. James Matamoros, killing Moors thousands at a time

Thus

Really tied everything together...