Cathedral of San Martín

Near the Plaza Mayor stands the Cathedral of San Martín, the finest cathedral in Galicia after that of Santiago de Compostela. It was built in the 12th and 13th Centuries and rebuilt in the 16th and 17th Centuries after severe damage by earthquakes and war. Both the side doorways have rich sculptural decoration, and even finer is the rich Romanesque sculpture of the Pórtico del Paraíso ("Porch of Paradise") on the west front (accessible only from inside the cathedral), which is modeled on the Pórtico de la Gloria in Santiago. On the central arch can be seen figures of the 24 Elders of the Apocalypse, and on the central pier of the doorway are the Virgin and the Apostle St James (Santiago), with the four Evangelists to the right and four prophets to the left.