León Cathedral, a fine example of Gothic architecture in Spain

Spanish Gothic architecture is the style of architecture prevalent in Spain in the Late Medieval period.

The Gothic style started in Spain as a result of Central European influence in the twelfth century when late Romanesque alternated with few expressions of pure Gothic architecture. The High Gothic arrives with all its strength via the pilgrimage route, the Way of St. James, in the thirteenth century. Some of the most pure Gothic cathedrals in Spain, closest related to the German and French Gothic, were built at this time.

In some cases the Gothic style was built and decorated with Mudéjar elements by Mudéjar craftsmen and Christian craftsmen influenced by them, creating a highly distinctive Gothic style unique to Spain and Portugal. The most important post−thirteenth-century Gothic styles in Spain are the Levantine Gothic, characterized by its structural achievements and the unification of space, and the Isabelline Gothic, under the Catholic Monarchs, that predicated a slow transition to Renaissance architecture.

Sequence of Gothic styles in Spain

Ages of the main Gothic elements in many Spanish cathedrals.

The designations of styles in Spanish Gothic architecture are as follows. Dates are approximate.

• Early Gothic (12th century)
• High Gothic (13th century)
• Mudéjar Gothic (from the 13th to the 15th centuries)
• Levantino Gothic (14th century)
• Valencian Gothic (14th and 15th century)
• Catalan Gothic
• Flamboyant/Late Gothic (15th century)
• Isabelline Gothic (15th century)
• Plateresque Gothic (15th century)

Examples

Gallery

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  Monastery of San Juan de Duero
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  Church of St John the Baptist, Ágreda in Ágreda, nave
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  Church of St Felix, Torralba de Ribota in Torralba de Ribota, altar
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  Church of St Felix, Torralba de Ribota in Torralba de Ribota, portal
• 
  Church of San Miguel (Jerez de la Frontera), nave
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  Church of San Miguel (Jerez de la Frontera), crossing vault
• 
  Iglesia de San Pedro, Teruel, nave and apse
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  Santa María de la Oliva, nave
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  Santa María de la Oliva, apse
• 
  Church of San Pedro de los Francos nave
• 
  Crossing vault of Seville Cathedral by Juan Gil de Hontañón
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  Monastery of Santa María de Huerta, cloister
• 
  Monastery of Santa María de Huerta, refectory
• 
  Monastery of Santa María de Huerta, refectory pulpit

See also

• Gothic architecture
• Romanesque architecture
• Cathedral architecture of Western Europe
• gothicmed