Sigüenza Cathedral

The Cathedral of Sigüenza, officially Catedral de Santa María de Sigüenza, is the seat of the bishop of Sigüenza, in the town of Sigüenza, in Castile-La Mancha, Spain. It was declared Bien de Interés Cultural in 1931. It is dedicated to Santa María la Mayor (the Virgin Mary), the patron saint of the city of Sigüenza. It dates to January 1124 when the bishop Bernard of Agen (1080–1152) reconquered the city from the Muslims, during the reign of Urraca of León, daughter of Alfonso VI of León and Castile. He had already been appointed bishop in 1121 by the archbishop of Toledo, Bernard of Sédirac, of the Order of Cluny. Alfonso VII of León and Castile (1126–1157) granted privileges and donations to increase the population, unifying two towns: the upper around the castle and the lower one, the Mozarabic, around the channel of the Henares River. The Gothic central nave dates to the 15th century. In the 16th century the Romanesque lateral apses were destroyed to build the ambulatory.