Cathedral of the Good Shepherd (San Sebastian)
The Cathedral of the Good Shepherd is a neo-Gothic temple with marked verticality built at the end of the 19th century. With an area of almost 2,000 square meters, it is considered the most important temple in San Sebastian.
Its construction was carried out by the famous architect Echave, who was inspired by the Cologne Cathedral to provide the cathedral with great spectacularity. This translated into impressive dimensions that include a 75-meter-high tower, a 25-meter-high nave, a height of 64 meters and a width of more than 35 meters, allowing for a capacity of 4,000 people.
The cathedral's design has a Latin cross plan with a central nave and three longitudinal naves, a pentagonal transept, two enormous rose windows in the gables of the transept, and five sections with long bar vaults in their naves.
Echave's design took advantage of other resources that made the cathedral more beautiful. Among them are the terceletes between the main ribs in the cross of the transept, the naves that extend in long sections, and the lateral naves that widen to equal the width of the transept, thereby creating a wide and harmonious space that rests on the pillars of the temple to generate separations.
Another aspect that immediately stands out is the beautiful and slender bell tower, located in the portico of the entrance. This is the most obvious reference to the Cologne Cathedral that the architect used in the design.
To increase the feeling of verticality, buttresses topped by pinnacles and a series of pilasters were added, as were gables crowned with buds, offering a splendid vision of great beauty to the architectural ensemble.
Its construction was carried out by the famous architect Echave, who was inspired by the Cologne Cathedral to provide the cathedral with great spectacularity. This translated into impressive dimensions that include a 75-meter-high tower, a 25-meter-high nave, a height of 64 meters and a width of more than 35 meters, allowing for a capacity of 4,000 people.
The cathedral's design has a Latin cross plan with a central nave and three longitudinal naves, a pentagonal transept, two enormous rose windows in the gables of the transept, and five sections with long bar vaults in their naves.
Echave's design took advantage of other resources that made the cathedral more beautiful. Among them are the terceletes between the main ribs in the cross of the transept, the naves that extend in long sections, and the lateral naves that widen to equal the width of the transept, thereby creating a wide and harmonious space that rests on the pillars of the temple to generate separations.
Another aspect that immediately stands out is the beautiful and slender bell tower, located in the portico of the entrance. This is the most obvious reference to the Cologne Cathedral that the architect used in the design.
To increase the feeling of verticality, buttresses topped by pinnacles and a series of pilasters were added, as were gables crowned with buds, offering a splendid vision of great beauty to the architectural ensemble.
Location
What to see in San Sebastian
