The original church--Compared with St. Sernin of Toulouse--A great resemblance--Notable differences--The respective architects--The monks of Cluny--Two master builders--The cupola--The naves--Street’s description--Seven gates--The _Puerta de los Platerias_--Sculptured figures--Defects of the age--Street’s admiration--The windows--The horseshoe arch--Sculpture and statuary--The dramatic sentiment--The clock tower--The deep-toned bell--The _Puerta Santa_--The _Quintana_--The _Azabacheria_--The _Obradoiro_--The Italian staircase--The cloister
The central point both of archæological and of architectural interest in Galicia is, without a doubt, the beautiful cathedral of Santiago. Tradition tells us that this majestic edifice covers the spot where the body of St. James was discovered by the guiding light of a star, in the year 812.[126] The original church erected there having been destroyed, the first stone of the present one was thought until recently to have been laid by Alphonso VI., king of Castille and Leon, on July 11th, 1078, because, on a jamb of the _Puerta de los Platerias_ there is an inscription to the effect that the work was done in the year 1116 of the Spanish era.[127] There is nothing, however, to show whether that date refers to the commencement or to the conclusion of the façade.[128] The Codex of Calixtus II. (Bk. v.) gives this date as that of its commencement; but it also gives the length of time which elapsed between the beginning of the work and the death of Alfonso I. of Aragon as fifty-nine years, and between the beginning of the work and the death of our Henry I. as seventy-two years--and again, between that date and the death of Louis VI. of France as seventy-three years. The building must then have been begun in 1074 or 1075. Another indication of this is the fact that in the writings of St. Fagildo the work is spoken of on August 17th, 1077, as already begun. The exact date of the building of this cathedral is of considerable interest to students of architecture, because, when once it is proved that it was begun before the French cathedral of S. Sernin of Toulouse, the repeated assertion that the cathedral of Santiago is a copy of that of St. Sernin will no longer hold good.[129]