Burgos Cathedral

UNESCO World Heritage Site (Burgos Cathedral, Inscribed 1984), Begun 1221, The Only Spanish Cathedral Inscribed In Its Own Right Rather Than As Part Of A Historic Town · Burgos, Castile and Leon

The only cathedral in Spain inscribed by UNESCO in its own right rather than as part of a historic town, which is the short way of saying it is the purest Gothic building in the country. Work began in 1221 under a bishop who had studied in France, and the plan and the early elevations are French Gothic imported almost directly; the openwork spires and the octagonal lantern over the crossing came later, in the fifteenth century, and are German and Spanish work. The result reads as a lesson in three centuries of building rather than one design. Inside, the Constable's Chapel behind the high altar is the single finest thing, a star-vaulted octagon with its own retable. El Cid and his wife lie under the crossing, moved here in 1921. There is also a clock with a figure that opens its mouth on the hour, which delights children and is called the Papamoscas. It sits on the Camino Frances, so pilgrims walk past the west front every morning of the year on their way west.

Plaza de Santa Maria, Burgos, Castile and Leon, 09003, Spain

NO OPENING TIME HERE WAS CHECKED. The structure: open daily for sightseeing with SHORTER WINTER HOURS and last admission an hour before closing, and a SHORTER SUNDAY because of services. A FREE WINDOW runs on certain afternoons and PILGRIMS WITH A CREDENTIAL enter reduced or free. Sections close for Mass and the whole visitor route closes on major feasts. Las Huelgas and Atapuerca keep entirely separate schedules, and Atapuerca is GUIDED ONLY and must be booked.

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