Mudejar architecture in Calatayud
Without doubt, though, one of the city's greatest attractions is the fact that it, in its historic centre it houses one of the best Mudejar architectural sites in Aragon. Within this, the Collegiate Church of Santa María, declared a National Monument, is outstanding. Built in the 14th century, in it you can appreciate the diversity of styles, which run from Gothic-Mudejar to Baroque, passing through the Renaissance. The oldest parts of the building correspond to the cloister - Mudejar with a rectangular plan - and the apse, with pointed arches at the bottom and semicircular ones at the top. The octagonal tower was built during the 15th and 16th centuries, basing its structure on an Arab minaret. On the outside, it is decorated with bricks tracing geometric motifs and it is topped with an 18th-century Baroque spire.
In the Plaza de San Andrés is the parish church with the same name (15th-16th centuries), presided over by a stylised Mudejar tower, which stands out on the city skyline. The church, declared a National Monument, consists of three naves covered with groined vaults. As for the tower, it has an octagonal plan and has a richly decorated exterior.
The Church of San Pedro de los Francos, built in the first half of the 14th century, belongs to the Gothic-Mudejar style. The building, with three naves, has a belltower on its southern side. It has a minaret structure and had its top taken off in 1840. Inside, the base of the organ, in Gothic-Mudejar style, deserves a mention.
One of the oldest Mudejar monuments in the city is the Sanctuary of Nuestra Señora de la Peña. The church, built between 1343 and 1350, was restored in the 19th and 20th centuries. Some details, like the plasterwork with geometrical motifs decorating its walls, reveal its early Mudejar origins.
It is also worth going to the Collegiate Church of the Santo Sepulcro (14th C.), in Gothic style with Mudejar elements. Inside, it houses a cloister with a square plan and various buildings, like the collegiate church itself, the stables and the library.
This rich artistic heritage is completed with visits to the Church of San Juan, which inside houses pictures by Francisco de Goya, and the Museum of Calatayud, which dedicates a large part of its exhibition to finds from the old city of Bilbilis, one of the most important Roman sites in Aragon.
Source: Web server of Instituto de Turismo de España, TURESPAÑA.
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