During the Middle Ages, Spain filled up with castles and cathedrals. If you have ever strolled through the north, you will have noticed how many fortresses decorate the landscape. Each kingdom built its castle, not so much for strategic reasons—although those mattered too—as because there seemed to be an unofficial “let’s see who has the biggest castle” competition. The nobles were not to be outdone either, and everyone wanted a fortress they could show off at medieval gatherings.
One of the era’s greatest achievements was cathedral construction. Burgos Cathedral, for example, took more than two centuries to complete. Imagine being the worker laying the first bricks and realizing that neither you nor your children nor probably your grandchildren would see the project finished. Of course, schedules were a little more relaxed in the Middle Ages, and the concept of a “deadline” had not yet been invented.
However, we have to give them one thing: although the work took forever, the result was worth it. Many of those medieval buildings still stand, with a solidity we would love to see in some of our current projects. Perhaps we should have paid more attention to their building methods, because if medieval people knew how to do anything, it was build things to last… or at least until an enemy arrived to raze everything, but that is another story.