Issue date: 15 Jul, 2011
The Cathedrals series devotes a souvenir sheet to the Cathedral of Salvador de Albarracín. The stamp depicts the bell tower whilst the souvenir sheet features a panoramic view of the cathedral and the surroundings.
The town of Albarracín is located in the province of Teruel by the river Guadalaviar at an altitude of 1,171 meters. It belongs to the diocese of Teruel – Albarracín and was declared National Monument in June 1961.
Although the Cathedral of Albarracín is built on the ruins of an ancient Roman temple, construction of the Renaissance building as we know it today was started around 1530 by Bishop Gaspar Jofre de Borja and was completed around 1595 under Bishop Martin Terrer Valenzuela who commissioned the construction of the bell tower. In the building of the cathedral were involved masters such as Quinto Pierres Vedel, who was responsible for the construction of the roof and several chapels, and Martín de Castañeda who participated in the building of the choir and the apse of the temple. The cathedral has a single nave and the head is formed by a polygonal apse. It has a cloister connected to the Episcopal Palace and both the Cathedral as the cloister underwent a major restoration in the 18th century which gave it its current baroque appearance. The building has two entrance doors and in the inside stand out the main altar and the altarpiece devoted to the Saviour (El Salvador) after which the Cathedral is named. There are a number of chapels: Magdalena, San Antonio Abad, San Sebastian, Almas, Santa Ana, Pilar, this latter with a Baroque altarpiece and an image of the Virgin, and the Chapel of San Juan Bautista, also with an Baroque altar. The highlights of the complex are the Gothic- Mannerist choir stalls, the façade of the cloister by Ezpeleta and Juan López and the chapel of the Immaculate Conception.
The Cathedral Museum is located in the old Episcopal Palace and exhibits tapestries, paintings, chalices, processional crosses, books, clothes and other sacred objects of worship and religious acts.
Rate A - €0.75. For a “standard” letter or postcard within Spain, up to 20 g.
Rate A2 - €0.85. For a “standard” letter or postcard within Spain, between 20 g and 50 g.
Rate B - €1.65. For a “standard” Ordinary International letter or postcard addressed to Europe (including Greenland), up to 20 g.
Rate C - €1.75. For a “standard” Ordinary International letter or postcard addressed to the rest of the world (except USA, Canada, Japan, Australia and New Zealand), up to 20 g.
Rate D - €2.10. For a “standard” Ordinary International letter or postcard addressed to the USA, Canada, Japan, Australia and New Zealand, up to 20 g.