ola, as well as by some
semi-Romanesque traceries which end in the wall of the Capilla Mayor,
and finally, by a continuous row of supports existing in the thickness
of the same wall below a gutter, separating the two orders of windows.
These features, as well as the general arrangement of the openings,
demonstrate that there was a triforium of Romanesque character,
occupying the whole width of the girola, which furthermore was covered
by a barrel vault. Above this came the great platform or projecting
balcony, corresponding to the second defensive circuit. Military
necessity explains this triforium; without it, there would be no need of
a system of continuous counterthrusts to that of the vaults of the
crossing. If we concede the existence of this triforium, various obscure
points become clear."

The Capilla Mayor has four bays prior to reaching the pentagonal
termination. The vaulting of the most easterly bay connects with that of
the pentagon, thus leaving three remaining bays to vault; two form a
sexpartite vault, and the third, nearest the transept, a quadripartite.
All the intersections are met by bosses formed by gilded and spreading
coats-of-arms. The ribs do not all carry properly down, two out of the
six being merely met by the keystones of the arches between Capilla
Mayor and ambulatory. The masonry of the vaulting is of a reddish stone,
while that of the transepts and nave is yellow, laid in broad, white
joints.

In various portions of the double ambulatory passage as well as some of
the chapels, the fine, deep green and gold and blue Romanesque coloring
may still be seen, giving a rich impression of the old barbaric splendor
and gem-like richness so befitting the clothing of the style. Other
portions, now bare, must surely all have been colored. The delicate,
slender shafts, subdividing unequally the ambulatory, have really no
carrying office, but were probably introduced to lessen the difficulty
of vaulting the irregular compartments of such unequal sides. Gothic art
was still in its infancy, and the splendid grasp of the vaulting
difficulties and masterly solution of its problems exemplified in so
many later ambulatories, had not as yet been reached. Here we have about
the first fumbling attempt. The maestro is still fighting in the dark
with unequal thrusts, sides and arches of different widths, and a desire
to meet them all with something higher and lighter than the old
continuous barrel vault. A step