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Key information
The Apse
History
This is the oldest part of the Cathedral, where its construction began in 1262. The Gothic work, which has eight apsidal chapels, is partly covered by neoclassical decoration from the 18th century. Originally it allowed to contemplate the main altar through the arches of the presbytery (as in the neighboring church of Saint Catherine), but they were blocked off in the Baroque remodelling of the apse in the 17th century.
The Neoclassical remodelling of the Cathedral.
When the Archbishop of Valencia was Mr. Francisco Fabian Fuero, a total renovation on the temple began on 1st September, 1774, in order to hide its original Gothic signs with a facing of a style inspired by the Grecian-Roman and Renaissance canons, as stated by the academic specifications of the 18th century.
Antonio Gilabert and Lorenzo Martinez
The renovation was managed by the architects Antonio Gilabert and Lorenzo Martínez.
The chapels of the lateral naves were built, the pointed arches were transformed into other semicircular ones, the Gothic pilasters were covered with Corinthian columns and the walls with stuccoes and gilding. Only the gothic nerves of the ribbed vaults remained visible.
As proof of this remodelling, we can find the ensemble of the ambulatory, restored in 1998. In 1961, under the direction of the architect Segura del Lago, the recovery of the original Gothic style of the Cathedral began, suppressing also the roofs returning to the former roof of terraces.
