66 GRANADA 



present sacristia (sacristy). As a cathedral, it 

 had been superseded by the adjoining and existing 

 edifice, dedicated on August 17, 1561. 



Older by about a quarter of a century than the 

 foundations of the cathedral is the Royal Chapel 

 (Capilla Real), which is the most striking and 

 interesting memorial of the Conquest of Granada. 

 It was begun in 1505 as a mausoleum for the 

 Catholic sovereigns, Ferdinand and Isabella, under 

 the direction of the famous Enrique Egas, and 

 completed in the year 1517 a year after the 

 king's death and thirteen years after the queen's. 

 The chapel is shaped like a Latin cross, and is 

 one of the latest specimens of the Spanish Gothic 

 style. It is a comparatively modest and simple 

 building, contrasting strongly with the ornate 

 and elaborate structures of the succeeding age. 

 The decoration of the interior consists almost 

 entirely in a frieze bearing a long inscription in 

 gilt letters which reads : " This chapel was 

 ordered to be built by the most Catholic Don 

 Ferdinand and Dona Isabella," &c. &c. There 

 is a suggestion of Gothic influence in the magni- 

 ficent railing or grille, partly of iron, partly gilt, 

 which divides the nave from the transept, and was 

 made in 1522 by Maestre Bartolome. The 

 kneeling figures of the Catholic sovereigns are 

 seen on either side of the high altar. These, 

 says Ford, " are very remarkable, being exact 



