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Obradoiro Square Plaza del Obradoiro is the monumental centre of Santiago de Compostela. Its Galician name seems to be derived from the workshops of the stonemasons that built the Cathedral´s baroque façade, which dominates the square and welcomes the thousands of pilgrims arriving via the Way of St. James. The buildings enclosing the square –the Cathedral; Hostal de los Reyes Católicos, a former pilgrim hospital that is now a national `Parador´; Colegio de San Xerome, which houses the university vice-chancellor´s office; and Palacio de Raxio, which houses Santiago City Council- represent the Galician capital´s main centres of activity: religion, university education, accommodation for pilgrims and visitors, and the Administration. This square therefore has the quality of summarising the city´s uses and thousand-year history. A quick glance around the square reveals the presence of different architectural styles, which arose during more than 700 years of construction. Obradoiro Façade The present-day Romanesque Cathedral was built on the site of the Apostle´s tomb starting from 1075. Its most photographed view is its west façade (Obradoiro Façade), which was built in front of the Cathedral between the 17th and 18th centuries like a large ornamental curtain. Before then, the Pórtico de la Gloria, now housed inside the Cathedral, could be seen from the square through an archway. The towers attained their 74-metre height in the mid-18th century, when the architect Fernando Casas y Novoa, continuing with the remodelling project that Peña de Toro initiated in 1670, added the baroque tops to the medieval towers. In between them he placed a large stone altarpiece and large windows, which fill the inside with daylight while reflecting it onto the façade´s ornaments –coats of arms, volutes, columns, capitals, pinnacles- to create a play of light and shade. The façade is dominated by the figure of St. James dressed in pilgrim attire, with a hat, cape and staff.
Cathedral façade drawing by Esmoris García 1867
The double-section stairway was built at the beginning of the 17th century, in order to overcome the difference in ground level between the square and the Cathedral floor. This is the function of the crypt, whose doorway is located between the first steps. This Romanesque stairway also serves as the architectural and conceptual foundation of the Pórtico de la Gloria. Cathedral Cloister The verticality of the Cathedral´s main façades contrasts with the horizontal weight of the side buildings: on the left, the Archhisop´s Palace of Xelmírez; on the right, the Cathedral´s Gothic-Renaissance cloister. The latter is one the largest in Spain and was built between 1521 and 1590, by the best Castilian architects of the late Gothic and early Renaissance style (Gil de Hontañón and Juan de Ávila), to replace a Romanesque cloister. The bright space, dedicated to the Virgin Mary, is crowned by pinnacles and crenellations. The cloister forms part of the Cathedral Museum, which is a must for understanding the history of the Cathedral and the city. Archaeological pieces, tapestries, images, books and relics fill the cloister annexes, two of the basilica´s chapels, the crypt and the archbishop´s palace. Archbishop´s Palace of Xelmírez Santiago´s first archbishop, Diego Xelmírez, had this residence built starting from 1120, after his palace was destroyed by a popular uprising due to his opposition to the first civic assemblies. The result is an extraordinary example of civil Romanesque architecture. The present-day façade, which was added in the 18th century, protects a medieval palace featuring a kitchen, stable, a courtyard bordered by the Cathedral and rooms that were remodelled during the following centuries. One of its most outstanding rooms is the 12th-century synodal hall, whose immense vault depicts scenes from a medieval banquet.
Cathedral Elevation 1656, drawing by José Vega y Verdugo-
Hostal de los Reyes Católicos Construction on the Royal Hospital began in 1501 by order of the Catholic Monarchs, who had visited Santiago in 1486 and saw the need for better healthcare for residents and pilgrims. The architect Enrique de Egas erected the hospital in harmony with the late Gothic style and the beginning of the Renaissance. The altarpiece-like façade features plateresque ornamentation bordered by large royal and imperial coats of arms, a symbol of the monarchy´s power standing up against the church and the archbishop´s palace. On the inside, surrounding the Gothic chapel, there are four cloister-like courtyards: the two front ones date from the 16th century and the back ones from the 17th century. The original installations –several rooms for patients divided according to sex and social class, collective dormitories for healthy pilgrims and a wing for abandoned children- were gradually extended to meet the city´s healthcare needs until 1954, when it became a National `Parador´. In memory of centuries of hospitality, the Hostal still gives a free breakfast, lunch and dinner to the first pilgrims that arrive each day. If you go to the Hostal´s terrace, where it forms a corner with Palacio de Raxoi, you will discover the Church of San Fructuoso, decorated with the four cardinal virtues (although locals call them the four “jacks” of Spanish playing cards); the contrasting background is made up of the green colour of urban vegetable gardens, Alameda Park on the left and the nearby Monte Pedroso on the right.
Colegio de San Xerome Colegio de San Xerome now houses the office of the University of Santiago de Compostela´s vice-chancellor, on the south side of Plaza del Obradoiro. Erected in the 16th century by the bishop Fonseca for poor arts students, this Renaissance building features a late-Gothic portal that originally belonged to the Azabachería pilgrim hospital. Its jambs depict the figures of St. Dominic, St. John the Evangelist, St. James, St. Peter, St. Paul and St. Francis of Assisi and, on the tympanum, Our Lady with Baby Jesus. Palacio de Raxoi This neoclassical building, which is called after the archbishop who founded it, finally enclosed the square in the 18th century; thereafter, the square´s name was changed from `Plaza del Hospital´ to `Plaza Mayor´. It was erected by the French engineer Charles Lemaur between 1767 and 1787, to be used as a seminar of confessors and residence for the boys of the Cathedral choir, as well as a civil and ecclesiastical prison. However, the building became Santiago City Council´s third town hall. Today, it also houses the Xunta de Galicia President´s Office. Its tympanum is decorated with a relief of the Battle of Clavijo, which was, according to legend, the first conflict in which the figure of the Warrior Apostle appeared, to fight against the invasion of the Moors. St. James, represented as the patron saint of the Reconquest, crowns the construction. It is worth mentioning the modest granite slab in the centre of Plaza del Obradoiro. Pilgrims consider it `kilometre zero´, the point where all of the roads leading to the Apostle converge. The slab´s inscription informs us that, in 1987, the Council of Europe declared the Way of St. James the `First European Cultural Itinerary´.
Quintana Square `Quintana´ is the same as `praça´ and both words were used in the Middle Ages to define open spaces for public use. The Quintana was a square par excellence, delimited by the Cathedral sanctuary, the foundational monastery, the canons’ cemetery and the first town hall. The square is divided into two different levels. The lower one, called Quintana de Mortos(`Quintana´ of the Dead), was a burial ground until 1780, when, for public health reasons and lack of space, it was replaced by the cemetery of San Domingos de Bonaval and, later on, by the present-day cemetery of Boisaca. The upper level is, on the other hand, calledQuintana de Vivos (`Quintana´ of the Living). The impressive wall of the Monastery of San Paio de Antealtares delimits the square on the east. Alfonso II th founded it in the 9 century to take care of the recently discovered tomb of the Apostle; the Cathedral Chapter th subsequently assumed this function in the 11 century. The Benedictine monks were replaced in the th 15 century by the Benedictine cloistered nuns now inhabiting the building, which was remodelled in the 17th and 18th centuries. Its church features an interesting Museum of Sacred Art, which houses an altar found beside St. James´ tomb. And every day at 7.30 pm we can listen to the vespers service sung by the convent´s nuns. The square´s only vertical element, the Cathedral´s Clock Tower, can be seen throughout the city. It is called by the curious name of Berenguela, in honour of the archbishop (Berenguel de Landoira) who ordered its th construction in the 14 century. It was originally a sturdy defensive turret in which the battlements were not higher than the clock´s present-day position. The architect Domingo de Andrade added the top and the baroque ornamentation surrounding the largest of the Cathedral´s bells, also called Berenguela (with a weight of 14 tons), whose low C note can be heard striking every hour.
To the right is the `Pórtico Real´, through which the liturgical processions exit the Cathedral. The long baroque wall protecting the Cathedral´s Romanesque sanctuary continues towards the Holy Door, the final destination of the pilgrims coming to Santiago for the Jubilee granted to those who go through the new bronze Holy Door, which was created in 2004 by the Compostela artist Suso León. Its anteroom is bordered by stone Romanesque th figures from the Cathedral´s former stone choir, carved in the 12 century by Maestro Mateo –its reconstruction is on display in the Cathedral Museum. The upper part is dominated by the baroque figures of St. James and his disciples Atanasio and Teodoro. Starting in 2004, the door beside it, called `Puerta de los Abades´, is occasionally opened –it connects the sanctuary´s interior spaces and leads to the Chapel of La Corticela. The south and north sides are occupied by two baroque houses. In Quintana de Mortos,Casa de la Conga or Casa de los Canónigos, a complex made up of four houses built in 1709 by Domingo de Andrade and completed by Casas y Nóvoa. Opposite, Casa de la Parra (House of the Vine) is called after the baroque stone fruits –vines and bunches of grapes- adorning its main entrance. Built by Andrade for the Cathedral Chapter in 1683, it occupies the site of Santiago´s first notary and first town hall, demolished in 1588. It is now an active exhibition hall.
View of the cathedral from Quintana 1656, José deVega y Verdugo
The Quintana is a symbolic square of Santiago de Compostela, formed by the confluence of the south facade of the cathedral of Santiago, Parra House, the Convent of San Palo Antealtares and the Conga House. It is divided by a few steps that separate the call Quintana of the Alive -at a top- level of Quintana of the Dead. It was built in the sixteenth century after the decision of the council of Compostela convert the medieval cemetery of Quintana of the Dead in the public square, towards 1611, by the master Francisco Fernandez de Araujo and commissioned by the canon of the Cathedral JosĂŠ Vega y Verdugo. In the same project was closed the eastern facade of the cathedral with a continuous wall, as a screen that covered the apses chapels
Praterías Square The Cathedral's south square, which is called after the silversmiths workshops occupying the arches underneath the cloister since the Middle Ages, is dominated by the Cathedral's only remaining Romanesque façade. It dates from the year 1078 or 1103 and was severely damaged during the popular uprisings against th
Archbishop Gelmírez, in the second decade of the 12 century, being reconstructed a few years later. During the following centuries, more Romanesque figures were added from the so-called `Puerta del Paraíso´, on the Cathedral's north side, in order to create a work of rich iconography. The frieze combines apostles, angels and signs of the zodiac. The centre is occupied by a stylised Christ, accompanied by St. James. In the portals, the left-hand tympanum seems to represent Christ's temptation; the right-hand one depicts clearly recognisable scenes of the Passion: Pilate's judgement, the scourging and Judas betrayal. Other figures, such as King David and Adam's creation, decorate the sidewalls. The Platerías portal is bordered by the bottom of the Clock Tower and the cloister wall. This depicts Renaissance medallions with scenes inspired by Jacobean tradition, such as St. James' relics being moved or his transfiguration into a warrior. At the top, the medallions correspond to Christ's genealogy, crowned, in the right-hand corner, by the figure of Mary and Baby Jesus, since the cloister is dedicated to Our Lady. In the centre of the square, the Fuente de los Caballos (Fountain of the Horses) rises up against the background of the Casa del Cabildo, decorated with geometrical motifs typical of Compostela's baroque style. It is truly a stone backdrop that is barely three metres deep; the architect Fernández Sarela erected it in 1758 in order to close the square in this almost theatre-like way. th
On the left, Casa del Deán is located at the beginning of the street called Rúa do Vilar. This 18 -century palacehouse, designed by Fernández Sarela, was used to lodge bishops visiting the city. It now houses the Pilgrim Office, which issues the Compostela, a document certifying the Christian nature of those making the pilgrimage.
Cabildo´s House It was built between 1747 and 1753 by Clemente Fernández Sarela. The building was designed as urban response from the Cathedral Council to form the space Praterías Square. It is, along with the facade of the Obradoiro, the most important and well-known baroque urban scenery few were made in the city of Santiago de Compostela. Construction was carried out between 1754 and 1758 by one of the main architects of Compostela Baroque masters, Sarela Clemente Fernandez, disciple of Fernando de Casas Novoa, the architect of the facade of the Cathedral to the Plaza del Obradoiro. Fernando de Casas Novoa was also appointed to be the architect of the Casa del Cabildo but he died in 1750 and is Sarela, responsible also for multiple works of the Cathedral, who became director of the work. Sarela Clemente Fernández had previously occupied the building and restoration of several homes that the council had in Santiago, and the Pazo de Bendaña (1750) and Casa del Dean (1752) Pilgrimage and Santiago Museum The Pilgrimage and Santiago Museum occupies the former Banco de España building, designed in 1939 by the architect Romualdo Madariaga Céspedes and built on the plot of the Espinosa houses. It is located in Plaza de Platerías, only a few metres from the Cathedral’s south façade. Its ground floor features 5 arches on columns that form an arcade. The Banco de España building was built in 1948, although the organism’s activity in Compostela began a lot earlier, in 1886. The office closed its doors in December 2004. The profound remodelling undergone by the building to house the Pilgrimage and Santiago Museum is the work of Manuel Gallego Jorreto. Spanish Gold Medal for Architecture in 2010
Inmaculada Square Plaza de la Inmaculada is bordered by the Monastery of San Martiño Pinario and the Cathedral´s Azabachería façade, whose name refers to the traditional presence of jet-stone (`azabache´) workshops. It marks the end of the last urban stage of the French, English and North Ways of St. James, which enter the old town via `Puerta del Camino´. th
The Cathedral´s original North façade is described in the 12 -century Codex Calixtinus as the `Door of Paradise´, not only because of its beauty but also because it represented the story of Adam and Eve, original sin and redemption. In front of it there used to be the Fons Mirabilis, a fountain that was moved to the cloister, in which pilgrims used to wash themselves before entering the Cathedral. The medieval atmosphere was completed with the moneychangers´ tables, in amongst sellers of footwear, leather and spices, and innkeepers offering accommodation. Today, the Cathedral´s North façade features baroque and neoclassical elements since it was completely th remodelled in the 18 century. Monastery of San Martiño Pinario th It was founded in the 10 century to house a group of monks entrusted with looking after the worship of the Apostle´s relics. Its 20,000 square metres make it the second largest in Spain, after El Escorial. In 1494 it was handed over to the Benedictine Congregation of Valladolid and, one year later, it participated in the founding of the `Estudio Viejo´ (Old Study), which gave rise to the University. By then it was already the most important th monastery in the territory and its income, from all over Galicia, enabled it, in the 18 century, to give alms to hundreds of paupers (to men on one day and to women and children on the next), alternating with the archbishop. Until its secularisation in 1837, it had the largest library in Galicia and one of the largest hostels in the country. The present-day building features a Baroque façade that was finished in 1738 with a central baroque doorway. Above the large coat of arms of Carlos V there is an equestrian image of its patron saint, St. Martin of Tours, who is sharing his cape with a pauper. On the inside, which is part of the `Seminario Mayor´ (Major Seminary) and only opens as a hostel in the summer, there are three impressive cloisters from the 17th and 18th centuries.
Cervantes Square In the 12th century, Plaza de Cervantes was known as the `Forum´, since it was a popular meeting place where the town crier read municipal agreements and the archbishop´s regulations. Due to this informative vocation, one of its streets (a busy shopping area) is called `Preguntoiro´ -derived from the Spanish verb `preguntar´ (to ask). Forming a corner with the square is a building that was erected in 1682 as the old Town Hall, which occupied the site during 200 years, from 1583 until it was moved to Palacio de Raxoi in 1787. Today, it is the only baroque municipal building in Galicia that is still intact. An interior restoration has revealed old writing desks, the oratory, the archive and the dungeons. We know that autos-da-fé were carried out in the square during the Inquisition. It was also the site, until 1570, of the `rollo´ or column where justice was meted out and the gallows was situated. The column had previously presided over executions on Monte de la Almáciga and was subsequently moved to the Santa Susana oak grove, from where it disappeared in the 19th century. Later on, when it specialised in selling foodstuffs and goods, the place acquired the name `Plaza del Campo´ and the category of main market. This also explains the name of the Church of San Bieito do Campo, whose present-day neoclassical style hides the fact that its foundation goes back to the 10th century.
When the market was moved to Plaza de Abastos in the 19th century, the square acquired its final name of Plaza de Cervantes. A bust of the writer crowns the square´s fountain and reminds us that the author of `Don Quijote´ had two Galician surnames: Cervantes and Saavedra.
Plaza de Toural In this square lead the Rua Nova and the Rua do Vilar. In the center of the square, a fountain that was built around the year 1820, after 300 years since its first request from the village to the municipal authorities. The delay in construction was motivated by the simple reason that there was no conducted water to the area, as the Holy Inquisition who owned land nearby moved in 1716 to the Casa Grande do Hórreo or Calo, (located in Historic Porta da Mámoa) Until the disappearance of the Inquisitors and its properties could not channel water to the Plaza do Toural, and give water to its fountain. The most prominent building in the Plaza is the Pazo de Bendaña, previously owned by the Marquis of the same name. This building, built in the eighteenth century is attributed to Clement Sarela and today houses the headquarters of the Foundation - Museo Eugenio Granell. Bendaña facade is crowned by a statue of Atlas supporting a heavy globe on his shoulders.
Plaza de Mazarelos Mazarelos Square, known in past centuries as the Mazarelas Square or the University Square, is a square in the city of Santiago de Compostela
On one side of the square it is the door or arch of Mazarelos, formerly allowed in Santiago de Compostela to travelers coming from Orense and is the only the doors of the wall of Santiago de Compostela that has survived to this day, because the rest of it was demolished in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. In the Middle Ages, pilgrims arriving in Santiago de Compostela from the city of Merida and the Via de la Plata entered Santiago through the door of Mazarelos, who was also the place where the Ribeiro wines arrived from the city of Orense, as set out in Chapter IX of the famous Codex Calixtinus, quoted by Miguel Etayo Gordejuela: “The city of Compostela is located between the two rivers Sar and Sarela. The Sar is the east between Monte del Gozo and the city, and Sarela in the west. There are seven gates to enter the city. The first entry is called French Door; the second, Puerta de la Peña; the third, Sofrades door; the fourth, Puerta del Santo Peregrino; the fifth, Puerta Falguera, leading to Padron; the sixth, Susannis door; and the seventh, Mazarelos Gate, the one by the precious liquor of Bacchus reaches to the city”.
Plaza de San Martiño Plaza de San Martiño Pinario is dominated by the façade of this impressive church of San Martín Pinario. Church of San Martiño Pinario Built starting from the end of the 16th century, its façade was designed in 1652 and conceived as a stone altar. It is dominated by the Virgin, St. Benito and St. Bernard, while St. Martin is sharing his cape with a pauper on the upper pediment. The belfry and baroque stairway are two characteristic images of the building, whose towers do not surpass the height of the façade due to the Cathedral Chapter´s opposition –they were afraid that they would compete with those of the Cathedral. A small fee is charged in order to enter the church, where you can contemplate its magnificent main altarpiece, designed by Fernando de Casas y Novoa and made by Romay; it is considered one of the Spanish baroque style´s best. The choir stalls, situated behind the high altar, was made in walnut by Mateo de Prado, between 1639 and 1646, being considered the most important in Galicia.
Rua das Casas Reais The street is dominated by the As Animas Chapel –The Souls Church- This very simple church was designed by Miguel Ferro Caaveiro, modified by Ventura Rodríguez and completed in 1784. The construction work was financed by the alms of the devotees of the souls in Purgatory. The most outstanding feature of the neoclassical façade is the immense Ionic columns supporting the large pediment. In the centre there is a bas-relief depicting the souls burning in the fire of Purgatory and, above, two angels worshiping the cross. The nave has a hall ground plan with chapels at the side. The altarpieces by Prado Marino stand out inside. The facade was built at the turn of the century, when the guild was able to buy and demolish a block of houses that prevented the development and vision of the facade. For the construction of the building, the Brotherhood of Animas sent several projects to the Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando, to be subject to the criteria by the architect Ventura Rodriguez. The final plan chosen was the proposal by Ferro Caaveiro
Rua Nova –New streetOn the XI th century district outside the town is growing firm, a kind of suburb which will include the Ruas del Villar, Rua Nova, Rua Franco (which is raised on the old Roman Road from Iria to Brigantium ( Caldereria, Fontesequelo and Toral). The mentioned Villa Burguensis which receives an incipient bourgeois class, is perhaps the first town in AsturLeones kingdom to live on commerce with pilgrim people
Mercado de Abastos –food marketThe current building was designed by architect Joaquin Vaquero Palacios, in 1941, readapting the building of the former City Market, 1870. It is divided into four buildings occupying 5,600 square meters. He performed in granite masonry with barrel-vaulted roofs and roof exterior; it is lit by large semicircular windows.
Monastery and Church of San Martiño Pinario This monastery is situated in Plaza de la Inmaculada and was founded by a group of Benedictines who, shortly after the discovery of the Apostle's remains, settled in the place called Pignario, near the Chapel of Corticela (now part of the Cathedral), where they held their services. The main developments took place after 1494, when it came under the Benedictine Congregation of Valladolid. Thereafter the wealth they accumulated enabled them to undertake the impressive construction of the church, which, along with the Cathedral, is the most valuable building of Galicia's baroque style. During 1991, after the monastic rooms were equipped and the valuable altarpieces were cleaned and restored, it housed the anthological exhibition of Galician art Galicia no tempo. In the year 2000, when Santiago was a European City of Culture, it housed the exhibition 'As Faces de Deus'. CHURCH The architects that worked on the church were the Portuguese Mateo López, who did the first designs; Bartolomé Fernández Lechuga from Granada, who built the magnificent ribbed dome and organized the interior, producing a space of great majesty; Peña y Toro from Salamanca, who did the containment work since the walls gave way and, finally, Fray Tomás Alonso and Fray Gabriel Casas, who made different contributions to the monastery façade, cloisters, belfry and monastic rooms. An attractive plateresque façade is displayed above the door. The central part, between the door and the oculus, is dominated by the Virgin, St. Benedict and St. Bernard, while the pediment crowning the front depicts St. Martin sharing his cape with a pauper. The towers only rise to the height of the façade, due to the opposition of the Cathedral's chapter, which was afraid that the view of the basilica would be blocked. In order to overcome the difference in ground level, the Benedictine Plácido Camiña built the beautiful stairway leading up to the door, which is undoubtedly inspired by the one leading to the Cathedral's Obradoiro façade. The church has a Latin-cross ground plan with three naves in its main arm and one transept nave, with a continuous balcony all around. Barrel vaults are employed in which the ribs are disguised as false coffers. There are several chapels, linked to each other, on each side of the longitudinal arm. An outstanding feature inside is the magnificent baroque high altarpiece designed by F. de Casas y Novoa and made by Romai. Closing the façades of the transept, there is the Altarpiece of St. Benedict in the north and the Altarpiece of the English Virgin in the south. In addition to the aforementioned ones, we can also contemplate the altarpiece in the Chapel of Socorro, the Altarpiece of St. Scholastica, the Altarpiece of the Christ of Patience and the Altarpiece of St. Gertrude. It is also worth highlighting the choir stalls, made in walnut by Mateo de Prado and considered the most important made in Galicia and among the most important the berian Peninsula. The plan of the church has a single nave covered with a barrel vault with lacunar false. Six side-chapels open onto the nave and communicate with each other and have the same kind of dome as the nave. The crossing is illuminated by a dome in half. The choir stalls, Baroque, is the work of Matthew de Prado and the three largest altar pieces, along with the Relief Chapel of the same temple, are the work of Fernando de Casas Novoa, creating here one of the most exquisite Baroque works.
MONASTERY
The monastery reflects a very simple design, with the only exception of the faรงade, which is reached by means of a large stairway. The faรงade is divided into three parts with a central section bordered by two four-storey walls. The five-section tower helps to break the monotony of the faรงade. The doorway, framed by several Doric columns, houses an image of St. Benedict and is crowned by the structure added by Fernando de Casas, which includes the Spanish coat of arms among scallops and the figure of St. Martin of Tours. Within the monastery there is the cloister of offices, which is the oldest, and the processional cloister. It was a monastery (second biggest in Spain after El Escorial) until the mid-19th century and now has different uses. Apart from the "Seminario Mayor" (seminary), it houses the Social Work School, Theology studies, a university residence during the academic year and a guesthouse in summer. It also features the Diocesan Archive. Church with worship only on special occasions and private ceremonies.
Carballeira de Santa Susana Saint Susana´s oak woods
1. Obradoiro Square 2. Quintana Square 3. Praterías Square 4. Inmaculada Square 5. Cervantes Square 6. Toural Square 7. Mazarelos Square 8. San Martiño Square 9. Casas Reais Street 10. Rua Nova Street 11. Mercado de Abastos. -Food Market12. San Martín Monastery & Church Praterías Square, 1919, Locksmith workshop