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
This document is posted to help you gain knowledge. Please leave a comment to let me know what you think about it! Share it to your friends and learn new things together.
Transcript
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.
FORM & SHAPE OF CATHEDRAL
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.
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
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 12TH CENTURY WHEN ROMANESQUE WAS AMONG THE
MOST POPULAR ARCHITECTURE STYLE AMONG THE GALICIANS.‘The Jambs’ - sculptures of famous musicians during that era carved on the column of ‘Portico de la Gloria’