The city was then nearing the zenith of its prosperity, and all over Western Europe there was a craving for the pompous, the magnificent, and the merely big. We can imagine that the Salamancans of the new era were impatient of the plainness and masculine vigour of the little cathedral of Jeronimo. The chapter spared no pains to raise an edifice which should be as splendid as any in Spain. Nothing, however, was done till 1510, when the matter was placed in the hands of the two most celebrated architects of the kingdom, Antonio Egas, architect of the cathedral of Toledo, and Alfonso Rodrigues, master of the works at Seville. These two masters could not agree as to certain details in the plans, and the bishop Francisco de Bobadilla, son of Queen Isabel’s favourite Beatriz, summoned the nine most eminent architects of Spain to a conference. These were--Antonio Egas, Juan Gil de Hontañon, Juan de Badajoz, Alfonso de Covarrubias, Juan Tornero, Juan de Alava, Rodrigo de Zaravia, Juan Campero, and Rodrigues, who had by this time gone to the island of Santo Domingo. At this conference, held on September 3, 1512, the plan and proportions of the proposed building were decided, Juan Gil de Hontañon was appointed architect, and Juan Campero clerk of the works. The project being so far advanced, liberal donations poured in from the municipality and the citizens, and at last the foundation-stone was laid, as the inscription at the right-hand corner of the main façade records, on Thursday, May 12, 1513. De Hontañon was engaged at Seville rebuilding the dome of the cathedral, but under his occasional supervision and that of his assistant, Juan de Alava, the work was actively carried on. De Hontañon died in 1531, and was succeeded in his office by his assistant; and in 1560, his son Rodrigo being then architect, the cathedral was opened for divine worship, the event being thus commemorated on a tablet: Pio IIII. papa, Philippo II. rege, Francisco Manrico de Lara episcopo, ex vetere ad hoc templum facta translatio XXV. mort. anno à Christo nato MDLX.
The cathedral exhibits the transition from late Gothic to Renaissance. It is certainly constructed on very ambitious lines, and is not wanting in majesty, though that fervent lover of the Gothic, Mr. Street, declared the planning to be infelicitous and the detail throughout of the very poorest kind. The favourable impression the interior produces is almost entirely due to its spaciousness. The ground plan forms a rectangle, 195 feet long by 198 feet wide. On the south side it is built against the old cathedral, with which it communicates by a flight of eighteen steps. The western or principal façade is the oldest part of the building, and, as might be expected, is in the Gothic style, with hardly any admixture of the plateresque. The three entrances are recessed within graceful arches, and separated by massive buttresses adorned with statuary. The main entrance has two doors, separated by a pillar on which is a beautiful figure of the Virgin. Immediately above the doorway are two very fine reliefs of the Nativity and the Adoration of the Magi. These are contained within semicircular arches, which are in turn contained within a bewildering series of arches, rounded, elliptical, and pointed, all elaborately moulded and ornamented with animals, putti, and heraldic achievements. The vertex of the outermost of these arches upholds a vigorous relief of the Crucifixion, flanked by the Apostles Peter and Paul. Hardly a square foot has been left free of decoration, and the whole is overwrought and florid, though the rich cream colour of the stone in itself produces a pleasing effect. The side doors are much less elaborate, though designed on the same plan, and appear to have been intended to receive more statuary and ornament. The tower above is one of the few creditable performances of Churriguera--a native of Salamanca. The noble steeple to the right was part of the old cathedral, but was recast in the sixteenth century. It forms a landmark for travellers in the dreary country round the city.