ner stone of the present
edifice with great ceremony, assisted by the Archbishop, in the month of
August, 1227 (seven years prior to the commencement of Salisbury and
Amiens). The building was practically completed in 1493, during the
reign of Ferdinand and Isabella, the most illustrious epoch of Spanish
history. Additions and alterations injurious to the harmony and symmetry
of the building were made till the end of the seventeenth century, and
again continued during the eighteenth. It thus represents the
architectural inspiration and decadence of nearly six hundred years.

In style it belongs to the group of three great churches, Burgos, Toledo
and Leon, which were based upon the constructional principles and
decorative features termed Gothic. In some respects these churches
embodied to a highly developed extent the organic principles of the
style, in others, they fell far short of a clear comprehension of them.
None of them had the beauty or the purity of the greatest of their
French sisters. Burgos may be said to be most consistently Gothic in all
its details, but neither Toledo nor Leon was free from the influence of
Moorish art, which was indeed developing and flowering under Moslem rule
in the south of the Peninsula, at the time when Gothic churches were
lifting their spires into the blue of northern skies under the guidance
and inspiration of the French masters. In many respects the Gothic could
not express itself similarly in Spain and France,--climatic conditions
differed, and, consequently, the architecture which was to suit their
needs. In France, Gothic building tended towards a steadily increasing
elimination of all wall surfaces. The weight and thrusts, previously
carried by walls, were met by a more and more skillfully developed
framework of piers and flying buttresses. Such a development was not
practical for Spain nor was it understood. The widely developed fields
for glass would have admitted the heat of the sun too freely, whereas
the broad surfaces of wall-masonry gave coolness and shade. Nor were the
sharply sloping roofs for the easy shedding of snow necessary in Spain.
In French and English Gothic churches, the light, pointed spire is the
ornamental feature of the composition, whereas in the Spanish, with a
few exceptions, the towers become heavy and square.

None of the three Cathedrals in question impresses us as the outcome of
Spanish architectural growth, but seems rather a direct importation