1. INTRODUCTION TO CATHEDRAL OF SANTIAGO DE COMPOSTELA
DESIGNED BY "BERNARD THE ELDER, A WONDERFUL MASTER", ‘THE
CATHEDRAL OF SANTIAGO DE COMPOSTELA’ HAD STOOD MORE THAN 10
CENTURIES IN GALICIA, A
STATE IN NORTH-WESTERN
SPAIN. BEING A BLEND OF
ROMANESQUE, GOTHIC &
BAROQUE ARCHITECTURE
STYLES, THE BUILDING
ITSELF WAS NAMED
ACCORDING TO THE NAME
OF THE FORMER BISHOP,
WHERE ‘SANTIAGO’
REPRESENTS HIS NAME, ST.
JAMES, WHILE
‘COMPOSTELA’ COMES
FROM A LATIN WORD
“CAMPUS STELLAE”;
MEANING ‘BURIAL GROUND’ AS A EUPHEMISM. THE BASILICA WAS ERECTED
APPROXIMATELY 818 A.D. DURING THE REIGN OF ALFONSO II, KING OF ASTURIAS
AFTER THE TOMB OF APOSTLE ST. JAMES WAS ACCIDENTALLY DISCOVERED BY
BISHOP TEODOMIRO AT A MIRACULOUS SPOT.
St. James The Greater, one of the apostle of
Jesus Christ. Being a religious man, he is the
most sincere person among the disciples of
Jesus Christ.

2. FORM & SHAPE OF CATHEDRAL
AS SAID BY UNKNOWN, (2010), THE CATHEDRAL OF SANTIAGO DE
COMPOSTELA WAS DESIGNED TO BE IN THE SHAPE OF A LATIN CROSS, WHICH IS
97M LONG WHERE THE MAIN PURPOSE OF ITS GREAT LENGTH IS MAINLY TO
ACCOMMODATE A LARGE NUMBER OF PILGRIMS AT THE SAME TIME AS IT IS THE
END OF THE PILGRIMAGE ROUTES IN THE WORLD.
MATERIALS & METHODS OF CONSTRUCTION
NUMEROUS PORTIONS OF THESE STRUCTURES WERE MADE OF STONE
AND CONCRETE PRODUCING IT TO BE HIGHLY PRESERVED. ASIAN ROMANS’
CONCRETE CONSIST OF LIME WATER, SAND AND POZZOLANA. POZZOLANA IS
MADE UP OF VOLCANIC ASH, WATER AND STONE. ROMANS USED TO PUT THESE
INGREDIENTS IN WOODEN FRAMES SO WHEN IT GET HARDEN IT WILL BE BONDED
TO A FACING OF STONE OR BRICK. THESE MATERIALS ARE VERY RESISTANT
SINCE THERE ARE STILL ROMAN STRUCTURES STANDING MORE THAN 2000
YEARS.
SIGNIFICANCE, FUNCTION & PURPOSE OF BUILDING
NOT ONLY FUNCTIONING AS A MONUMENT FOR ST. JAMES THE GREATER,
SANTIAGO DE COMPOSTELA ALSO ACTS AS A MAJOR PILGRIMAGE ROUTE SINCE

3. EARLY MIDDLE AGES. ACCORDING TO UNESCO (N.D.), THE EXISTENCE OF THIS
PARTICULAR CATHEDRAL IS RELATIVELY SIGNIFICANT AS THE EXEMPLARY
NATURE OF THIS CITY OF CHRISTIAN PILGRIMAGE WHICH IS ENRICHED BY THE
IDEOLOGICAL CONNOTATIONS OF THE RECONQUISTA IS ECHOED BY THE GREAT
SPIRITUAL SIGNIFICANCE OF ONE OF THE FEW PLACES THAT ARE SO DEEPLY
IMBUED WITH FAITH AS TO BECOME SACRED FOR THE TILE OF HUMANITY.
BESIDES, THE GALICIAN TOMB PLACED IN THE CATHEDRAL HAD ALSO BEEN
THE SYMBOL OF THE RESISTANCE OF SPANISH CHRISTIANS AGAINST ISLAM OVER
A MILLENNIUM SINCE IT WAS DESTROYED BY THE MUSLIMS AT THE END OF THE
10TH CENTURY. THUS, THE EXISTENCE OF CATHEDRAL DE COMPOSTELA NOT
ONLY INFLUENCED THE CULTURAL BELIEVES OF GALICIAN, BUT ALSO
CONTRIBUTE TO THE ALTERATION OF SPAIN’S HISTORY.
REFLECTION & INFLUENCE OF BUILDING STYLE TO SPIRIT TIME &
PLACE
THE CATHEDRAL ITSELF CONSISTS OF 3 ARCHITECTURAL STYLES, WHICH
ARE ROMANESQUE, GOTHIC & BAROQUE WHERE EACH OF THE STYLES REFLECTS
DIFFERENT SPIRIT OF TIME AND PLACE.
THE ROMANESQUE STYLE IS AN ARCHITECTURAL STYLE OF MEDIEVAL
EUROPE CHARACTERIZED BY SEMI-CIRCULAR ARCHES; FOR INSTANCE, ‘PORTICO
DE LA GLORIA’, FUNCTIONED AS THE MAIN ENTRANCE OF THE CATHEDRAL WAS
INTRODUCED DURING THE 12
TH
CENTURY WHEN ROMANESQUE WAS AMONG THE
MOST POPULAR ARCHITECTURE STYLE AMONG THE GALICIANS.

4. DURING THE 13TH CENTURY, THE ALTAR OF THE SANTIAGO CATHEDRAL
WAS DESIGNED WHERE LARGE PIECES OF WINDOWS WERE SET INTO WALLS,
ADMITTING LIGHT THROUGH VAST EXPANSES OF STAINED GLASS. AS REFERRED
‘The Jambs’ - sculptures of famous musicians during that
era carved on the column of ‘Portico de la Gloria’
Main ‘altar’ designed in Gothic style - located in the nave, exactly
above the crypt; where the tomb of St. James was placed

5. TO THE COLUMBIA ELECTRONIC ENCYCLOPEDIA, 6TH ED (2012), GOTHIC
CONSTRUCTION IS CHARACTERIZED BY LIGHTNESS WHERE THE SPIRITUAL AND
MYSTERIOUS QUALITY OF LIGHT CONTRIBUTE AS AN IMPORTANT ELEMENT OF
THE RELIGIOUS SYMBOLISM OF GOTHIC CATHEDRALS IN THE MEDIEVAL AGES.
FINALLY IN THE 17TH AND 18TH CENTURY, THE ARCHITECTURE DESIGN
WAS RATHER UNIQUE COMPARED TO OTHER STYLES; FOR INSTANCE, HIGHLY
DECORATIVE DETAILS & ORNAMENTS CAN BE FOUND ON THE BAROQUE
Facade del Obradoiro- the main facade of
Santiago Cathedral that is still standing in
Galicia, Spain which was designed in the
17th
century.

6. EXTENSIONS SUCH AS ‘THE HOLY GATE’ ("PUERTA SANTA") AND THE MAIN FACADE
OF THE CATHEDRAL, ‘FAÇADE DEL OBRADOIRO’. FURTHERMORE, AN ABUNDANCY
OF TOWERS AS WELL AS DOMES CAN BE FOUND ON A BAROQUE BUILDING;
TAKING THE SANTIAGO CATHEDRAL AS EXAMPLE, THE BELL TOWERS & ‘TOWER
DE LA CARRACA’ WERE AMONG THE TOWERS THAT WERE ATTACHED TO THE
MAIN FACADE. FROM THE DESIGN OF THE BUILDING IN THIS ERA, WE CAN SEE
THAT THE PEOPLE WERE BECOMING MORE ATTENTIVE & THOUGHTFUL AFTER SO
MANY CENTURIES. THE VALUE OF PATIENCE CAN BE SEEN NOT ONLY IN THE
DESIGNERS, BUT ALSO IN THE SPIRIT OF THE GALICIANS.
AS CONCLUSION, SANTIAGO DE COMPOSTELA IS ONE OF THE CATHEDRAL
IN THE MEDIEVAL WHICH WENT THROUGH SEVERAL RECONSTRUCTION IN
DIFFERENT ERA; HENCE, IT IS A BLEND OF 3 DIFFERENT ARCHITECTURE STYLES.
THE EXISTENCE OF THIS BUILDING IS NOT ONLY MEANT TO BE THE PLACE OF
MEMORIAL OF ST. JAMES THE GREATER, AN APOSTLE OF JESUS CHRIST BUT
ALSO AS THE FINAL DESTINATION FOR CHRISTIANS TO COMPLETE THEIR PILGRIM.
AT PRESENT, THE CATHEDRAL IS STILL STANDING AS A FAMOUS CHURCH AND
TOURIST ATTRACTION THAT COMPOSE OF DIFFERENT CHARACTERISTICS.
(777 WORDS)

7. EXTENSIONS SUCH AS ‘THE HOLY GATE’ ("PUERTA SANTA") AND THE MAIN FACADE
OF THE CATHEDRAL, ‘FAÇADE DEL OBRADOIRO’. FURTHERMORE, AN ABUNDANCY
OF TOWERS AS WELL AS DOMES CAN BE FOUND ON A BAROQUE BUILDING;
TAKING THE SANTIAGO CATHEDRAL AS EXAMPLE, THE BELL TOWERS & ‘TOWER
DE LA CARRACA’ WERE AMONG THE TOWERS THAT WERE ATTACHED TO THE
MAIN FACADE. FROM THE DESIGN OF THE BUILDING IN THIS ERA, WE CAN SEE
THAT THE PEOPLE WERE BECOMING MORE ATTENTIVE & THOUGHTFUL AFTER SO
MANY CENTURIES. THE VALUE OF PATIENCE CAN BE SEEN NOT ONLY IN THE
DESIGNERS, BUT ALSO IN THE SPIRIT OF THE GALICIANS.
AS CONCLUSION, SANTIAGO DE COMPOSTELA IS ONE OF THE CATHEDRAL
IN THE MEDIEVAL WHICH WENT THROUGH SEVERAL RECONSTRUCTION IN
DIFFERENT ERA; HENCE, IT IS A BLEND OF 3 DIFFERENT ARCHITECTURE STYLES.
THE EXISTENCE OF THIS BUILDING IS NOT ONLY MEANT TO BE THE PLACE OF
MEMORIAL OF ST. JAMES THE GREATER, AN APOSTLE OF JESUS CHRIST BUT
ALSO AS THE FINAL DESTINATION FOR CHRISTIANS TO COMPLETE THEIR PILGRIM.
AT PRESENT, THE CATHEDRAL IS STILL STANDING AS A FAMOUS CHURCH AND
TOURIST ATTRACTION THAT COMPOSE OF DIFFERENT CHARACTERISTICS.
(777 WORDS)