Catedral de Ourense

"The history of the Cathedral of San Martiño is a journey of constructions and alterations, more than eight centuries of transformations that have shaped its current structure and appearance. The cathedral, whose first date of construction is usually placed between the 12th and 13th centuries, occupies a Latin cross temple with influences from Santiago de Compostela and Cistercian art, built in a late Romanesque style, already with hints of Gothic. It is one of the main monuments of the city and the central element around which the streets of the historic centre are articulated. A tour of its exterior is a true journey through time for the attentive eye. The chevet, initially with three apses of which only one remains, transports us to the 12th century. The south façade, with access to the Plaza del Trigo, recalls with its castle battlements the power that the bishop historically had in Ourense. The west façade, where King David plays his harp, did not have an access staircase until the 20th century. And the north façade, on Calle Lepanto, evokes the changes that the city underwent during the turbulent 15th century. At the top, the beautiful late-Gothic dome, built in the 16th century, stands out for its spectacular height. On the west façade, from Plaza de San Martiño, you can see the Bell Tower, more than 40 metres high. A visit to the tower is included in the entrance to the temple: crowned by the eight bells of the Cathedral, from its highest point you can see magnificent views of Ourense. The majesty of the tower breaks the symmetry of this façade, since in its right corner remains the never-built Tower of San Martín. Inside, austere and with elegant lines, the atmosphere of serenity and contemplation invites you to walk through the ambulatory and its various chapels, stopping at its Romanesque Christ and the treasures of the Cathedral Museum. We will also stop to admire the chromaticism of its Portico of Paradise, the majesty of the Main Chapel and the ornamentation of the Chapel of the Holy Christ."