Santiago de Compostela Cathedral: Architectural and Historical Overview

Santiago

Plant:

• Type of Work: Construction of architecture.
• Title: St. James Cathedral.
• Location: Santiago de Compostela, La Coruña, Spain.
• Author: Unknown.
• Date: 1075 to 1128.
• Style: Romanesque.

Technical Analysis:

• Shape: Romanesque cathedral, typical pilgrimage church model with a Latin cross plan and a head featuring an ambulatory and apses.
• Overview: One of the largest Romanesque buildings, it features a narthex at its feet, housing the Portico de la Gloria. The interior is divided into three naves. The central nave has a barrel vault, while the lower side aisles have cross vaults. Arches connect the aisles to the nave, with external openings illuminating the upper nave.

The vaults rest on compound pillars with adjacent columns, the central nave columns extending the full height to the transverse ribs. The transept, also with three aisles, has open ends and four apses on one side, two on each side of the head. A dome stands over the crossing, and the transept has side aisles. The cathedral's head is large, with an ambulatory and five radial chapels in the apses.

The interior space is designed for pilgrims to move freely without disrupting religious ceremonies.

Santiago

A masterpiece of Romanesque pilgrimage art, built between 1075 and 1128, its design influenced by French churches like St. Martin of Tours. The tomb of St. James lies in the crypt beneath the apse chapel. The Codex Calixtinus names the builders: Bernard the Elder, Robert, and Stephen. The basilica has three aisles, the central one wider, an ambulatory with apse chapels, and a transept with an octagonal dome. Monumental entrances include the west door (Portico of Glory), the North Gate (Azabachería), and the South Gate (Platerías). Cruciform pillars with large circular columns and adorned capitals support the structure. Columns extend along the nave sides. The arches are semicircular, with barrel vaults in the nave and side aisles, reinforced by arches for support and ornamentation. The three main facades are the Obradoiro (covering the Portico de la Gloria), the northern Azabachería, and the southern Platerías.