In 1985, Pope John Paul II came to Cuenca, and when he saw the new Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, he said: «Cuenca is a small Rome because this cathedral looks so much like our Basilica of St. Peter!»

The Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, or Cuenca Cathedral, or Catedral de la Inmaculada Concepción, is a unique cathedral, which, when viewed from different sides, can resemble various famous churches. The thing is that several styles are mixed together here: Gothic, Baroque, Neo-Romanesque. It may seem that such a variety should have turned into chaos. Still, it didn’t, and the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception happened to be majestic and even a little dreamlike.

The construction of this wonder lasted almost a century. Its first architect who came up with this unusual mixture of styles was Juan Bautista Stiehle, a German monk who came to Cuenca from Alsace in 1873. As he was a good architect: he was offered to design a new cathedral, since the old one could no longer accommodate everyone who wanted to attend the services.

The construction began in 1885. It was interrupted many times because the church did not have the budget to continue building such a magnificent temple. But 50 years after the foundation was laid, services began to be held in the unfinished cathedral.

When it came to the construction of the domes, it turned out that the architect made a mistake in his calculations: the foundation of the temple could not hold the weight of the enormous domes that he designed. So they had to make them smaller. But these six round towers, three large and three small ones, eventually became the landmark of the city. The main orienting point in Cuenca and the locals’ pride – three huge domes covered with bright blue and white glazed tiles from Czechoslovakia.

The Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception was finally completed in 1975. Indeed, the temple can be called a work of art. Its interior decoration is no less impressive than that of the outside. Just how magnificent are the stained glass windows of the famous Spanish artist Guillermo Larrazábal! Interior details are made of marble, and some are gilded with gold leaf; many altars are striking with their jewelry work.