be seen, been profoundly
modified.

The old structure is the kernel of the present church. It consists of a
central nave of six bays up to a strongly marked crossing and three
beyond, terminating in a pentagonal apse. The side aisles are decidedly
lower and continue across the transept round the apse. These again are
flanked on the west by the chapel churches of Santa Tecla, Santa Anna,
and the Presentacion, as well as by a number of other smaller, vaulted
compartments. Only two of the radial chapels outside the polygonal
ambulatory remain, the others having been altered or supplanted by the
great Chapels of the Constable, of Santiago, Santa Catarina, Corpus
Christi, and the Cloisters. The western front is entered by a triple
doorway corresponding to nave and side aisles; the southern transept, by
an incline 40 feet wide, broken by 28 steps. On reaching the door of the
northern transept, one finds the ground risen outside the church some 26
feet above the level of the inner pavement, and instead of descending by
the interior staircase, one wanders far to the northeast, there to
descend to a portal in the north of the eastern transept. The whole
church is about 300 feet long, and in general 83 feet wide, the
transepts, 194 feet.

The piers under the crossing, as well as those of the first bay inside
the western entrance, are much larger than the others, in order to
support the additional weight of crossing and towers, and the piers,
abutting aisle and transept walls, are also unusually strong. The
interior pillars are of massive cylindrical plan, of well-developed
French Gothic type, solid, but kept from any appearance of heaviness by
their form and by eight engaged columns. The ornamented bases are high
and of characteristic Gothic moldings. The finely carved capitals carry
square abaci in the side aisles and circular ones in the nave. Both
abaci and bases have been placed at right angles to the arches they
support. The three engaged pier columns facing the nave carry the
transverse and diagonal groining ribs, while the wall ribs are met by
shafts on each side of the clerestory windows.

The four main supports at the angles of the crossing are rather towers
than piers. In the original structure, they were probably counterparts
of those supporting the inner angles of the tower between nave and side
aisles, with a fully developed system of shafts for the support of the
various groining ribs. With the collapse of the ol