The Collegiate Basilica of Santa Maria of Gandia, also known as 'La Seu', is the principal church of the city of Gandia. The construction commenced in the 14th century.
The Collegiate Church of Santa María is a Valencian Gothic construction, located in the centre Gandia. Construction began in the 14th century and finalised two centuries later. Thanks to Pope Alexander VI, the temple was raised to the category of Collegiate.
The church consists of one central nave with lateral chapels adjacent to the walls. Its austere architectural style was once supplemented with rich interior decorations of altarpieces, paintings and sculptures, which disappeared during the Spanish Civil War.
The Seo of Gandia is in itself a small architectural jewel, where the Puerta Sur or the Puerta de Santa María and the Puerta de los Apóstoles are noteworthy, one of the first works of Damián Forment, precursor of the Spanish Renaissance.
References:The Château du Lude is one of the many great châteaux of the Loire Valley in France. Le Lude is the most northerly château of the Loire Valley and one of the last important historic castles in France, still inhabited by the same family for the last 260 years. The château is testimony to four centuries of French architecture, as a stronghold transformed into an elegant house during the Renaissance and the 18th century. The monument is located in the valley of Le Loir. Its gardens have evolved throughout the centuries.