From street level it’s difficult to appreciate the immensity of Granada’s cavernous, boxed-in cathedral. But it’s nonetheless a monumental work of architecture, and one of Spain's largest cathedrals. Built atop Granada’s former mosque, it was originally intended to be Gothic, but over the two centuries of its construction (1523–1704) it underwent major modifications. Most notably, architect Diego de Siloé changed its layout to a Renaissance style, and Alonso Cano added a magnificent 17th-century baroque facade.
Cano was also responsible for two wooden busts of Adam and Eve in the Capilla Mayor (main chapel), which sit above small praying statues of the Reyes Católicos, who rest in the adjacent Capilla Real. The cathedral’s interior is vast with 20 huge white piers rising from a black-and-white tiled floor to a ceiling capped by a 30m-high dome.
