Santiago de Compostela - Cathedral

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which is opened only during Holy Years; built in the 17th century, it is decorated with 12th century sculpture representing prophets, apostles and fathers of the church. Over the doorway are statues of St James and his disciples Athanasius and Theodore (1694). The oldest surviving doorway of the Cathedral is the Puerta de las Platerías on the south side, a double doorway richly decorated with 12th and 13th century Romanesque sculpture. In the tympana are the Nativity, the Adoration of the Kings and the Temptation. Above the arches of the doorways, in the center, is the figure of Christ in the act of blessing, flanked by St James and Moses, and below this are the Creation of Adam, the Expulsion from Paradize and Abraham emerging from the tomb.

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eight men. When not in use it is kept in the Library.

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the Apostle, richly decked with silver, gold and precious stones added about 1700. On either side of the altar are narrow staircases leading up behind the figure of St James, so that pilgrims go up and kiss the Apostle's cloak - the culminating act of the pilgrimage.

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chapel in the north aisle, with bishops' tombs; the Capilla del Espíritu Santo in the north transept, which also has fine tombs; the adjoining Capilla de la Concepción, with the tomb of Canon Rodríguez Agustín by Cornelis de Holanda; and the Capilla de Mondragón in the south ambulatory, with a finely wrought ceiling. In the Capilla de las Reliquias or Relicario, the first chapel in the south aisle, are the tombs of kings and queens of the 12th-15th centuries.

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beautiful hymnals, manuscripts and two examples of the Botafumeiro.

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architectural elements), the second to carving in wood (sculpture, fragments of retablos), the third to 17th and 18th century plans and drawings of the Cathedral and some very fine examples of book illumination.

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other artists, most of them on country themes and depicting scenes of aristocratic life. From the last room a passage leads to the outer gallery, from which there is a good general view of the Plaza del Obradoiro.

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y Novoa. The central gable, which is flanked by two richly articulated towers 76m/249ft high, is topped by a statue of St James. A handsome double staircase of 1606 leads up to the doorway.

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crypt built in the early 12th century to compensate for the fall in ground level.

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of sculpture (which was originally painted) is one of the largest and most magnificent collections of Romanesque sculpture that have come down to us, carved by one Master Mateo between 1166 and 1188. The sculpture in the arch of the central doorway (the only one with a tympanum) is of overwhelming power and abundance. In the center is Christ as the Savior of the world, surrounded by the four Evangelists, two angels with censers and eight angels holding the instruments of the Passion. In the archivolt are the twenty-four Elders of the Apocalypse. The central pier of the doorway is still the first objective of all pilgrims. The wearing away of the stone and the holes in the base of the column, which represents the Tree of Jesse, are evidence of the age-old practice of touching or kissing the column to mark the end of the pilgrimage. On the top of the Tree of Jesse is an impressive figure of St James; the capital of the column represents the Holy Trinity. The clustered columns to the left of the main doorway have figures of Moses, Isaiah, Daniel and Jeremiah; to the right are Peter, Paul, James and John. In the archivolt of the left-hand doorway is Christ with the Jews, in that of the right-hand doorway Christ with the Gentiles.