Jan 30, 2026
La catedral de Burgos se construyó en la loma de una colina, ocupando su planta un corte en el desnivel entre el cerro del castillo y el curso del río.
El desnivel se salvó en un principio con una incómoda escalera románica, que con el paso del tiempo estaba bastante deteriorada por el gran tránsito de personas entre las zonas alta y baja de la ciudad, ya que la puerta de la Coronería se abría a la calle principal del Burgos medieval por la que discurría el Camino de Santiago y que en el extremo opuesto de la catedral estaba el Mercado Menor.
En 1516, por razones prácticas y estéticas, y contra la opinión del Cabildo, el obispo Rodríguez de Fonseca ordena derribar aquella vieja escalera y abrir en su muro oriental la puerta de la Pellejería, al nivel del suelo de la catedral.
Francisco de Colonia realiza la primera puerta de estilo renacentista de Castilla. Su parte baja está flanqueada por columnas entre las que aparecen imágenes de santos. En el segundo cuerpo hay dos relieves representando los martirios de san Juan Bautista y de san Juan Evangelista, y en el tímpano una imagen sedente de la Virgen, tres ángeles músicos y la figura orante del obispo Rodríguez de Fonseca.
En los extremos están las esculturas de san Pedro y san Pablo. El arco superior que protege la portada es posterior y lo mandó hacer el cardenal Iñigo López de Mendoza, entre 1529 y 1535. Una reja, diseñada por Vicente Lampérez a principios del siglo XX, cierra el acceso a la puerta.
Rodríguez de Fonseca, tras tres años de malestar y protestas de los vecinos por el derribo de la antigua escalera, manda realizar una nueva escalera.
El paño de muro lateral, donde se abre la Puerta de la Pellejería, tiene poco más de 2,00 m para la ejecución de la escalera y en 1519, recién venido de Italia, el artista burgalés Diego de Siloe comienza a realizarla, finalizándola en 1523.
La barandilla de hierro forjado del Maestro Hilario, al igual que la arquitectura y la decoración de grutescos, bichas, temas vegetales y zoomorfos está inspirada en el renacimiento italiano de Bramante y de Miguel Angel.
Tiene 39 peldaños, los cuatro primeros son curvos con pasamanos adornados con grifos y jarrones que conducen a una pequeña meseta con un arco central.
Desde allí, arrancan dos tramos rectos divergentes de escalera, ornamentados con flores y cabezas de ángeles, que llegan a dos rellanos, donde sus antepechos poseen los escudos del Cabildo a la izquierda y del obispo Rodríguez de Fonseca a la derecha. Desde cada rellano otros dos tramos ascienden para terminar uniéndose frente a la puerta en una plataforma agranda con una ménsula volada con antepecho, simulando un púlpito, adornado con dos medallones.
La escalera cumplió su función y a la vez creó dos espacios en los huecos del paramento para albergar esculturas o monumentos funerarios. Y el rellano superior de la puerta pudo ser utilizado como púlpito.
Con los años la espectacular escalera de la puerta de Coronería se convirtió en un elemento decorativo más que funcional, y recibió el nombre de Escalera Dorada por los brillos del metal sobredorado de la barandilla.
Guión y comentarios: Agustín Lázaro López
Adaptación del guión, filmación, montaje y materialización: Juan Carlos Llorente
Producción: PROYOU DIGITAL
Colabora: Cabildo de la catedral de Burgos.
The Cathedral of Burgos was built on the slope of a hill
occupying its site at a break in the slope between the Cerro del Castillo and the river's course
The cathedral is built as we know on the slope of a hill
They had to cut into the hill and naturally that left an eight-meter-high slope
Since there had to be a door on that side too—the main deck
of the cruise ship—there was no choice but to build a staircase
The height difference was initially overcome with an uncomfortable
Romanesque staircase which over time became quite deteriorated
due to the heavy flow of people between the upper and lower parts of the city
since the gate of the corregimiento opened onto the main
street of medieval Burgos along which the Camino de Santiago ra
And at the opposite end of the cathedral was the Lesser Market
Juan Rodríguez de Fonseca is the one who ordered the construction of
the large staircase stretching from Fernán González Street to Las Ganas
o enter the cathedral through the gate he ordered built the
leatherworkers' gate where he is there praying before the Virgin
In 1516 for practical and aesthetic reasons and against the council's opinion
Order the demolition of that old staircase and open at the level of
the cathedral's floor the door to the tanner's shop on its eastern wall
He was an exceptional figure the one who ruled
over everything pertaining to the new world
Francisco de Colonia creates the first Renaissance-style door in Castile
Its lower section is flanked by columns adorned with images of saints
In the second body there are two reliefs depicting the martyrdoms of Saint John the Baptist
and Saint John the Evangelist and on the tympanum a seated image of the Virgin
Three musical angels and the praying figure of Bishop Rodríguez de Fonseca
At the ends will be the sculptures of Saint Peter and Saint Paul
The upper arch which shelters the entrance is later in date
And he commissioned its construction between 1529 and 1535
A gate designed by Vicente Lampérez in the
early 20th century blocks access to the door
Rodríguez de Fonseca finally yields after three years of discomfort
and protests from neighbors over the demolition of the old staircase
And he is the one who orders the golden staircase to be built afterward
The staircase leading into the entrance through the gate of the final judgment
There must be a staircase
The wall panel next to the leatherworker's door where
the staircase is to be built is just over two meters wide
In 1519 shortly after arriving from Italy the Burgalian artist Diego de Siloe
He begins executing it completing it in 1523
And Diego de Siloe proceeds to introduce into Spain
e famous imperial stairs which were called
The wrought-iron railing crafted by master Hilario
just as architecture and decoration featuring grotesques
fantastical creatures vegetal and zoomorphic motifs
It draws inspiration from the Italian Renaissance architecture of Bramante and Michelangelo
Practically the only truly imperial staircase
With a stroke in the center and then spreading out this is it
Yet made in a very small space it powerfully draws attention
Thus it is striking that when Garnier was building
the Paris Opera and had to design a staircase
He comes to Burgos to copy the golden staircase
But of course that impossibly large staircase
It has 39 steps the first four of which are curved
with handrails decorated with griffins and vases
leading to a small plateau
with a central arch The entrance
features two large dragons guardians of the staircase
And at the center is a painting of the resurrection
From there two straight diverging staircases begin
ornamented with flowers and angel
heads reaching two landings where
their front panels feature the council's coats of arms on the lef
and Bishop Rodríguez de Fonseca to the right
From each landing two additional sections rise upward
o finish by joining in front of the door on an enlarged
platform with a cantilevered overhang and a railing
Simulating a pulpit decorated with two medallions
featuring Saint Peter and Saint Paul all crafted in iron
The staircase fulfilled its purpose while
simultaneously creating two recessed
spaces within the wall surface to house sculptures or commemorative monuments
And the upper step of the door could be used as a pulpit
Over the years the spectacular staircase
at the entrance to the coronería became more
of a decorative feature than a functional one earning it the name Golden Staircase
by the gleam of the over-gilded railing
