Miniature Buildings

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Models of Churches : Santo Domingo

If you have spent any time browsing through Miniature Buildings you will be aware of my enthusiasm for models of churches and cathedrals. Mirroring my enthusiasm for visiting the real thing. There are two main articles in Miniature Buildings, one a general introduction and the second on models of UK churches.  Plus a special devoted to the Cathedraloscope museum at Dol de Bretagne in France.

This article is another special, focusing attention on just one fine example.  A cut-away 1/50 scale model of the cathedral at Santo Domingo de la Calzada in northern Spain - on display inside the cathedral itself.  Which I visited in September 2025.  Like so any models in public buidings it is displayed within a glass or pastic case which often makes my amateur photography rather difficult - so please excuse the quality of some of the images.   It was made in March 2023 but I coud not see a credit of the maker.

Like so many cathedrals it is a mixture of periods and styles. Parts, in a Romanesque style, date back to the 12th century.  The spectacular detached tower is the fourth tower the cathedral has had and was built in the 18th century in a flamboyant baroque style.  Detached because the ground adjoining the main building was unstable .

From the outside it is the tower that gets most of the attention, the exterior of the main building is not especially interesting - at least not to my eye.
On the left, the real thing. And on the right a detail of the model. Spectacular as the model undoubtedly is, I find it a bit of a caricature.  The stonework coud perhaps have been presented in a more subtle way. Like many cathedrals, it has a cloister attached.  From the outside you could barely tell it was ecclesiastical, it looks almost agricultural. Even the main door is quite plain

What makes this model rather different is that it is cutaway on both sides to show the inside of the church and of the cloister.

Approached from this side the exposure of the inside of the cloister does not reveal much. But the view inside the cathedral itself is much more interesting: The same is true of the building itself. Inside there are lots of interesting details - with the highlight being a spectacular gilded retable from 1538. Which the modeller has made a serious attempt at reproducing: Outside the world of dolls houses it is rare to see so much interior detail, and even rarer to find a modeller prepared to attack such a complex task. This is the original:

The whole thing, and just one panel - the adoration of the shepherds

In the shadow of the main model is a second, more subdued, one. A hypothetical reconstruction of the cathedral as it may have looked in the 12th century, also in 1/50:

Just as an afterthought I took a photo of the small scale resin model on sale in the gift shop.   I have to resist the temptation to buy these little souveniers; I simply do not have enough shelves at home.  But I thought it was quite a nice example of the genre.

As always, please e-mail Miniature Buildings if you have something to add. Comments, criticisms, extra thoughts, pictures, or even complete articles for inclusion in the Miniature Buildings site are all welcome. Or if you would like to be added to my mailing list to hear when a new article is published.

David, September 2025