First building stages of the Cathedral of Avila

Our starting point is the hypothesis of the existence of a "previous" cathedral. In the next phase we find Fruchel as a master builder. Fruchel's traces are compared with the construction actually built. We study the resolution of the vaults of the presbytery, in particular we find the sexpartite vault as an original solution in the first stage of the Cathedral. A slow progress in the construction of the cathedral can be observed throughout the thirteenth century. The walls of the apse and the transept, the vaulting of the head, and the first part of the naves with its portico and the initial of the towers belong to the Romanesque style. References to these elements are found in the Cathedral's antique archives and in documents about rigorously dated graves which are located in these places.