nd Spain not little of her future history.

The twelfth and thirteenth centuries were thus the period of Santiago's
greatest fame and renown. Little by little the central power of the
monarchs went southwards to Castile and Andalusia, and little by little
Santiago declined and dwindled in importance, until to-day it is one
city more of those that have been and are no longer.

For the city's history is that of its cathedral, of its shrine. With the
birth of Protestantism and the death of feudal power, both city and
cathedral lost their previous importance: they had sprung into life
together, and the existence of the one was intricately interwoven with
that of the other.

* * * * *

The stranger who visits Santiago to-day does not approach it fervently
by the Mount of Joys as did the footsore pilgrims in the middle ages. On
the contrary, he steps out of the train and hurries to the cathedral
church, which sadly seems to repeat the thoughts of the city itself, or
the words of Senor Muguira:

"To-day, what am I? An echo of the joys and pains of hundreds of
generations; a distant rumour both confused and undefinable, a last
sunbeam fading at evening and dying on the glassy surface of sleeping
waters. Never will man learn my secrets, never will he be able to open
my granite lips and oblige them to reveal the mysterious past."

As is generally known, the cathedral is a Romanesque building of the
eleventh and twelfth centuries mutilated by posterior additions and
recent ameliorations (_sic_). It was begun in 1078, and, though finished
about 150 years later, no ogival elements drifted into the construction
until long after its completion. As will be seen later on, it served as
the model for most of Galicia's cathedrals. On the other hand, it is
generally believed to be an imitation--as regards the general
disposition--of St. Saturnin in Toulouse: a combatable theory, however,
as the churches were contemporaneous.

Seen from the outside, the Cathedral of Santiago lacks harmony; few
remains of the primitive structure are to be discovered among the many
later-date additions and reforms. The base of the towers and some fine
blinded windows, with naive low reliefs in the semicircular tympanum,
will have to be excepted.

The Holy Door--a peculiarly placed apsidal portal on the eastern
front--is built up of decorative elements saved from the northern and
western facades when they were torn down.