ally that part of
them to the right and left of the choir; they are, with the _croisee_,
the best interior remains of the primitive Romanesque plans: short, even
stumpy, rather dark it is true, for the light that comes in by the
narrow windows is but poor at its best, they are, nevertheless, rich in
decorative designs. The wealth of sculptural ornaments of pure
Romanesque in these aisles is perhaps the cathedral's best claim to the
tourist's admiration, and puts it in a prominent place among the
Romanesque cathedrals of Spain.

Not the same favourable opinion can be emitted when it is a question of
the exterior. The towers are comparatively new; the apse--with the
peculiar and salient addition of an octagonal body revealing Renaissance
influence--is picturesque, it is true, but at the same time it has
spoilt the architectural value of the cathedral as a Romanesque edifice.

The northern facade, preceded by an ogival porch so common in Galicia,
contains a portal of greater beauty than the Puerta de la Plateria in
Santiago, and stands forth in greater prominence than the other named
example of twelfth-century art, by not being lost among or depressed by
flanking bodies of greater height and mass. As regards the sculptural
ornamentation of the door itself, it is felt and not only portrayed: the
Christ standing between the immense valves of the _vesica piscis_ which
crowns the portal is an example of twelfth-century sculpture. The
iron-studded panels of the doors have already been praised by Street,
who placed their execution likewise in the twelfth century.

Excepting this portal--a marvel in its class with its rounded tympanum
richly ornamented--the portion of the building doubtless more strongly
imbued than any other with the general spirit of the edifice is that
part of the apse independent of the octagonal addition previously
mentioned, and which is dedicated to "_La Virgen de los Ojos
Grandes_"--the Virgin of the Large Eyes. (She must have been
Andalusian!) Of the true apse, the lower part has ogival arched windows
of singular elegance; the upper body, also semicircular in form, but
slightly smaller, has round-headed windows. Both the ogival windows of
the first and the Romanesque windows of the second harmonize
wonderfully, thanks to the lesser height and width of the upper row. The
buttresses, simple, and yet alive with a gently curving line, are well
worth noticing. It is strange, nevertheless, that they should n