Diego de Siloé was commissioned in 1549 to design Guadix Cathedral, also called the Cathedral of the Incarnation. Plans for a Gothic cathedral were dropped because the style was seen as outdated, and Siloé designed the apse, part of the crossing and the chapel of Don Tadeo in Renaissance style. Work stopped in 1574 for lack of money and resumed in 1594.
Royal funding revived the project in the late 17th and early 18th centuries, and the Baroque facade has alternating concave and convex lines. The cathedral is 220 feet (67 m) long and 121 feet (37 m) wide. The square bell tower was begun by 1559 and completed in 1863.
The top of the bell tower is open to the public by 160 steps of a double helical stair. The cathedral was classified as a Spanish Cultural Heritage monument in 1931.
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