Spain · UNESCO World Cultural Heritage series, 3rd issue, Burgos Cathedral

The Cathedral of Santa María stands in the center of Burgos, a city that was the political center of the Kingdom of Castile in the Middle Ages and an important station on the Way of Saint James. Pilgrims on their way to Santiago de Compostela shaped the city’s religious and economic life. The cathedral therefore not only served as a bishop’s church, but was also closely connected with the European pilgrimage tradition.

Construction began in 1221 at the initiative of King Ferdinand III of Castile and Bishop Mauricio. It replaced an older Romanesque church. Gothic cathedrals in France served as models; characteristic features include the cruciform ground plan, the high central nave and the large expanses of open windows. Although the church was already in use in the 13th century, its extension and furnishing continued for several centuries. The openwork spires of the west façade were built in the 15th century. The Chapel of the Constable of Castile also dates from this period. In the 16th century, additions included the Golden Staircase, designed by Diego de Siloé. The building thus combines different phases in the development of European Gothic with elements of the Renaissance.

The central nave contains the tombs of Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar, known as El Cid, and his wife Jimena Díaz. El Cid was an 11th-century Castilian knight and military commander whose life was later elaborated in chronicles and in the medieval heroic epic “Cantar de mio Cid”. His connection with Burgos forms part of the city’s historical memory.

The cathedral was added to the World Heritage List in 1984. The coin issue belongs to a Spanish series that has featured UNESCO World Heritage sites in the country since 2010. Burgos followed issues devoted to the old town of Córdoba and the Alhambra with the Generalife and the Albaicín in Granada. The selection was therefore part of a longer-term numismatic program and was not tied to a single anniversary of the cathedral.