Badajoz Cathedral of St John the Baptist

Anyone strolling through the heart of Badajoz will end up, almost without meaning to, in front of the Cathedral of St John the Baptist. It rises on Plaza de España, the city's central square, and is the natural starting point for any walk around the town centre. Its location makes it a meeting point and the best place to take the pulse of local life in Badajoz.

This is no ordinary church. Its official name, Santa Iglesia Catedral Metropolitana de Badajoz, already hints at its rank: it is a metropolitan cathedral and an archiepiscopal seat. The Archdiocese of Mérida-Badajoz is governed from here, as its see, which places the cathedral at the head of the Church's organisation in this part of Extremadura and symbolically unites two of the region's great cities.

Its importance reaches beyond the boundaries of the diocese. Together with the cathedrals of Coria and Plasencia, Badajoz Cathedral was a founding member of the Ciudades Catedralicias (Cathedral Cities) association, a network that fifteen other Spanish cathedrals have since joined. The fact that three Extremaduran churches lie at the origin of this initiative says a great deal about the weight the region carries in the country's cathedral heritage.

For travellers, this membership is also an invitation to go further. A visit to St John the Baptist can be the first step on a route around the cathedrals of Extremadura, linking Badajoz with Coria and Plasencia, or even the start of a wider itinerary through the other cities that belong to the association. But before moving on, it is well worth lingering on Plaza de España and letting the cathedral set the pace of the day.