erection of a new temple.

Those were stormy times for the city: between the rise and stand of
ambitious noblemen, who, pretending to fight for Galicia's freedom,
fought for their own interests, and the continual encroachments of the
proud prelates on the rights and privileges of the people, barely a year
passed without Lugo being the scene of street fights or sieges. As in
Santiago, one prince of the Church lost his life, murdered by the
faithful (_sic_) flocks, and many, upon coming to take possession of
their see, found the city gates locked in their faces, and were obliged
to conquer the cathedral before entering their palace.

The new basilica suffered in consequence, and had to be entirely rebuilt
in the twelfth century. The new edifice is the one standing to-day, but
how changed from the primitive building! Thanks to graceless additions
in all possible styles and combinations of styles, the Romanesque origin
is hardly recognizable. Consequently, the cathedral church of Lugo,
which otherwise might have been an architectural jewel, does not inspire
the visitor with any of those sentiments that ought to be the very
essence of time-worn religious edifices of all kinds.

The general disposition of the church is Roman cruciform; the arms of
the cross are exceedingly short, however, in comparison to their height;
the _croisee_ is surmounted by a semicircular vaulting (Spanish
Romanesque).

The nave shows decided affinity to early Gothic, as shown by the ogival
arches and vaulting. The presence of the ogival arches (as well as those
of the handsome triforium, perhaps the most elegant in Galicia) shows
this church to be the first in Galicia to have submitted to the
infiltration of Gothic elements. This peculiarity is explained by the
fact that, in 1129, the erection of the cathedral was entrusted to one
Maestro Raimundo, who stipulated that, in the case of his death before
the completion of the church, his son should be commissioned to carry on
the work. He died, and his son, a generation younger and imbued with the
newer architectural theories, even went so far as to alter his father's
plans; he built the nave higher than was customary in Romanesque
churches, and gave elegance to the whole structure by employing the
pointed arch even in the triforium, otherwise a copy of that of
Santiago.

The most curious and impressive part of the building is that constructed
by Maestro Raimundo, father, namely the aisles, especi