Guarda Cathedral is a Catholic church in the northeast of Portugal, and it combines Gothic and Manueline architecture. In 1199 King Sancho I received papal permission to move the bishopric here from Idanha-a-Velha. Work on the present, third cathedral began in 1390 under Bishop Vasco de Lamego, during the reign of King John I. The apse was built in the early fifteenth century, and the nave was started in the Gothic style under the influence of the Monastery of Batalha.
Work accelerated from 1504 to 1517 under Bishop Pedro Gavião, with the architects Pedro and Felipe Henriques. Most building was finished around 1540.
Manueline elements include window decoration, decorated rib vaulting in the transept and spiral nave columns. The Pina Chapel of about 1540 is Renaissance and holds the tomb of João de Pina. João de Ruão carved the main altarpiece.
Comments