Cathedral de Leon

The cathedral of Léon is a complex, layered gem. Originally, it was the site of Roman baths upon which a Romanesque church was built. Over time, it was rebuilt. An earthquake destroyed one of the towers, necessitating a repair in a different type of stone. The city council of Léon built an enormous marble altar that completely unbalanced the underlying structure. The building started to come apart and churchgoers reported popping and cracking sounds over the course of years. When serious cracking and separations became too apparent, a master architect was engaged. He determined the cause was the massive altar, which was dismantled. Then, he had to recalculate all of the arch systems in the roof and devise repairs. The windows had to be dismantled and placed into boxes for almost 50 years and, once the structure was repaired, cleaned and replaced. It was one of the greatest conservations ever undertaken.Read more