Catalonia & the Balearic Islands: an historical and desciptive accountCalvert, Albert Frederick
History
Catalonia & the Balearic Islands: an historical and desciptive account
Calvert, Albert Frederick
Balearic Islands (Spain) -- Description and travel; Catalonia (Spain) -- Description and travel
The transept doors are also very fine, especially the southern one. The
cornice is beautifully sculptured and the wheel window above reveals in
its details the influence of the Italian Romanesque. These entrances
make us regret the effacement of the west porch, which is concealed by
the vast square cloister covering that side of the church. This
remarkable building, now occupied by troops, is the grandest, Street
declared, he had ever seen. In its present desecrated state, it must be
confessed it needs a highly trained eye to appreciate its beauty. The
arcades are walled up, and there is some ground for supposing that when
in ecclesiastical occupation the galleries were used as dormitory and
refectory. The details vary greatly. The bays vary in width, the
sculpture is of all sorts of design, and of all periods. Adjoining this
vast cloister on the north side is a long barrel-vaulted hall, lighted
only at one end. On the west side the cloister is entered through an
enormous western doorway with a pointed arch. South of this and almost
detached from the cloister stands that beautiful octagonal steeple which
served Pedro Balaguer as a model for the Micalet Tower at Valencia. It
is 170 feet high and divided into five stages, “the whole construction
being of the most dignified and solid description.”
Concerning the position of this tower, Street remarks: “Here, as often
happens with detached campaniles, the grouping of the steeple with the
church from various points of view is very diversified, and often very
striking. From its great height above the valley it is seen on all
sides, and generally at some distance. From the south, the grand size of
the cloister, which connects the steeple with the church, gives it
somewhat the effect of being in fact at the west end of an enormous
building, of which the cloister may be the nave; whilst the steeple
rears its whole height boldly to the right, and makes the whole scheme
of the work utterly unintelligible, until after a thorough
investigation.”
The interior of the church is now cut horizontally by a plank flooring,
and no features of interest can be distinguished, except in a single
apsidal chapel, which is still used as such, and where is buried a
natural son of King Pedro the Catholic, who died in 1254. Whitewash has
obscured all the details of capitals and columns.
Adjacent to the cathedral on the north side is the ruin of a once noble
hall, with traces of Moorish influence in its carving--possibly the
remains of a chapter-house or episcopal palace.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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