Cathedral of Sigüenza

The Cathedral of Sigüenza is part church, part fortress, and it sets the tone for the whole town. Begun in the 12th century after the Christian reconquest, it keeps the heavy Romanesque massing of its earliest phase, then opens inside into Gothic chapels, Renaissance additions, and a treasury of carved stone.

Do not hurry the visit. The tomb of the Doncel is the obvious highlight, but the cloister, choir, and side chapels are just as revealing. From the square outside, the twin towers make the building look almost military, a useful reminder that this was once a frontier town.

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A story
The cathedral's most famous tomb is that of Martín Vázquez de Arce, the Doncel de Sigüenza, shown not as a dead knight lying stiffly in armour but half-reclining with a book in his hands. The image is so unusually thoughtful that it has become one of the icons of late-medieval Castilian sculpture.