The Portico of Glory: origins

The Portico of Glory is one of the masterpieces of Medieval Europe. It was constructed at the peak of popularity of the Pilgrim’s Way. It was designed by master Mateo who oversaw the work, and to whom the best carvings are also attributed. The work began at the orders of King Ferdinand II “the Chaste”, in the 12th century, and the result was ahead of its time, heralding as it did the arrival of the Gothic style.

There are chronicles from the time that refer to the cathedral building work and which mention the construction of the Portico of Glory, possibly still in its beginnings, because it is described only very vaguely. The most interesting stories are in the Codex Calixtinus, a compilation of texts by a number of authors and dating from around 1140, which describes the various stages of the Way of St. James and some of its main buildings. We will use the Codex as our reference as we tour the cathedral.



(c) (R) 2013, MUSMon com S.L.
Text (a) Diego Laforga Marcos

Picture: Pórtico de la Gloria
Source: Wiki Commons
Author: Opinador
Licence: This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license