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I hope so! When I was there in 2018 I took a tour of the upper galleries, as the rooftop tour was sold out. The galleries were fascinating, and the views below gave a whole new perspective. Plus, we got a first-hand view of how much restoration work needed to be done in the behind the scenes areas of the cathedral. Highly recommended if they start up again.I wonder if there are any plans to allow people to do something similar in Santiago, now that it is all so beautifully restored.
I do too! Stripped down of decorative accoutrements there's nothing to compete visually with the structural elements like the columns & vaults & they can more be appreciated for how elegant they are on their own.I just love the simplicity : the position of the chairs and the humble altar.
No pomp and circumstance at all.
I hope so! When I was there in 2018 I took a tour of the upper galleries,
When I when I did the rooftop tour in 2015, we also were taken through the galleries and the guide explained quite a lot about what we were seeing. It was fantastic.I thought I had taken every possible cathedral tour and visited every museum, but I never knew about an upper gallery tour. Now that you mention it, though, I think that maybe the rooftop tour included a brief glimpse of the galleries, but I am not at all sure.
Wouldn't it be grand if they didn't do that? During the tour of the Portico de Gloria, we were told that some of Maestro Mateo's work ended up as fill in one of the towers during a later renovation (I think it was when the new Baroque portico was built but I can't remember exacly). Maybe it's time for payback? Or at least a massive garage sale.I think that depends on how much of the kitsch will be put back
I didn't take many photos, but here are two. The mason's marks on those archstones made a big impression.When I when I did the rooftop tour in 2015, we also were taken through the galleries and the guide explained quite a lot about what we were seeing. It was fantastic.
I remember it from 2012 after my first Camino and pre renovations. It was a wonderful tour and we got caught in a downpour whilst on the roof. I was very popular, being the only one with an umbrella. I remember as we walked past the "Giants" that are trot out for festival processions and remember visiting the display of plans for the upcoming renovation of the Porto de Gloria. I am so happy I was able to experience all that, including walking into the cathedral from Plaza del Obradoiro.Oh, do tell more! I thought I had taken every possible cathedral tour and visited every museum, but I never knew about an upper gallery tour. Now that you mention it, though, I think that maybe the rooftop tour included a brief glimpse of the galleries, but I am not at all sure.
Tthe interior of the cathedral looks pristine and beautiful, but the chairs spaced far apart instead of pews is vey sad to me...it's a new day to be sure.
I just love the simplicity : the position of the chairs and the humble altar.
No pomp and circumstance at all.
It seems that they introduced a proper guided tour of the gallery in the summer of 2014. Because of the renovation works, these tours were not available when I was in Santiago and I definitely want to do this one day. The only other triforium I have walked through was in Westminster Abbey where they also opened this space to visitors in recent years.Oh, do tell more! I thought I had taken every possible cathedral tour and visited every museum, but I never knew about an upper gallery tour.
Yes, Laurie, it was the rooftop tour. Click on the link for my photos of it. I took this tour five years ago, so I don't know if it has been the same more recently with all the phases of renovation. I don't have a lot of gallery photos, but the tour was fascinating and the stories about it, more so.Oh, do tell more! I thought I had taken every possible cathedral tour and visited every museum, but I never knew about an upper gallery tour. Now that you mention it, though, I think that maybe the rooftop tour included a brief glimpse of the galleries, but I am not at all sure.
You have a great memory. Thank you!@peregrina2000 Regarding the gallery tour. I took it in October, 2018, as the rooftop tour was filled. We walked the entire circumference of the cathedral and the views were really something. For starters, a group of several hundred pilgrims had arranged for a private mass that day, which just happened to be finishing up as we reached the top of the stairs at the front of the cathedral. So we got an eye-level view of the swinging butofumero, even if we were a bit in the distance. Later, as we came to the transcept we got a close view of the ropes, pulleys, and cross-beams that operate the butofumero from above. Quite fascinating. I tried to take photos, but my little phone camera just couldn't capture the mechanisms as a whole, although you can see one of the ropes in my photos below.
Equally impressive were the up close and personal views of the organ pipes and the statues that decorate and surround it. From floor level we have no idea of the elaborate carvings and workmanship that went into this artwork. I was reminded of an article I once read about the completion of the gothic-style National Cathedral in Washington, D.C. The reporter asked one of the workmen why bother with such detail on the back of the head of a cherub, placed high above the ground, that no one would ever see. "Well, God sees it," was his reply. My favorite photo below is of the priest in the confessional. It seemed to me to be a scene right out of the Middle Ages.
We got out on exterior balconies twice. One was over the Mercy Door, which was under scaffolding at the time for the desperately needed cleaning and restoration. Plants and small bushes were growing out of the cornices and other outcroppings. The other was on a larger balcony overlooking the square just before you go through the tunnel where the bagpipers play. If anything, the exterior there was in even worse shape, with stonework deteriorating, fairly sizable trees growing out the sides, rot, moss, and mold everywhere. It gave me a real appreciation of the enormous extent of the restoration work being done.
I believe there was quite a bit of history and architectural explanation given on the tour, but it was in Spanish. The guide did, rather grudgingly, translate a few bits into English now and then, since 6 of the 9 of us spoke no Spanish, so I think I missed a lot, lol. But it was still worth it. After all, as the old saying goes, a tourist complains, a pilgrim is grateful. I hope I have the opportunity to take it again and see it, and all the cathedral, in its restored glory. It looks spectacular.
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It was a fun walk down memory lane! I hadn't really thought about this tour all that much since returning so it was fun to revisit it.You have a great memory. Thank you!
Being from the USA I was lucky as I had an English speaking guide for my tours...even then I do not remember everyhing I learned.I also had the privilege of doing the cathedral tour and we visited the galleries. Our guide spoke Spanish in a slower manner so I was able to understand everything.
Can I share these photos on Facebook? Many thanks.
Sure, as long as you tell people that I took themCan I share these photos on Facebook? Many thanks.
Thank you for this splendid description! That's how I had understood it: that the guided tour of the rooftops (cubiertas) is a different tour than the guided tour of the gallery, and that the gallery tour (tribuna) is fairly recent and covers areas that had not been accessible to the public before. It used to be:Regarding the gallery tour. I took it in October, 2018, as the rooftop tour was filled
@peregrina2000 Regarding the gallery tour. I took it in October, 2018, as the rooftop tour was filled. We walked the entire circumference of the cathedral and the views were really something. For starters, a group of several hundred pilgrims had arranged for a private mass that day, which just happened to be finishing up as we reached the top of the stairs at the front of the cathedral. So we got an eye-level view of the swinging butofumero, even if we were a bit in the distance. Later, as we came to the transcept we got a close view of the ropes, pulleys, and cross-beams that operate the butofumero from above. Quite fascinating. I tried to take photos, but my little phone camera just couldn't capture the mechanisms as a whole, although you can see one of the ropes in my photos below.
Equally impressive were the up close and personal views of the organ pipes and the statues that decorate and surround it. From floor level we have no idea of the elaborate carvings and workmanship that went into this artwork. I was reminded of an article I once read about the completion of the gothic-style National Cathedral in Washington, D.C. The reporter asked one of the workmen why bother with such detail on the back of the head of a cherub, placed high above the ground, that no one would ever see. "Well, God sees it," was his reply. My favorite photo below is of the priest in the confessional. It seemed to me to be a scene right out of the Middle Ages.
We got out on exterior balconies twice. One was over the Mercy Door, which was under scaffolding at the time for the desperately needed cleaning and restoration. Plants and small bushes were growing out of the cornices and other outcroppings. The other was on a larger balcony overlooking the square just before you go through the tunnel where the bagpipers play. If anything, the exterior there was in even worse shape, with stonework deteriorating, fairly sizable trees growing out the sides, rot, moss, and mold everywhere. It gave me a real appreciation of the enormous extent of the restoration work being done.
I believe there was quite a bit of history and architectural explanation given on the tour, but it was in Spanish. The guide did, rather grudgingly, translate a few bits into English now and then, since 6 of the 9 of us spoke no Spanish, so I think I missed a lot, lol. But it was still worth it. After all, as the old saying goes, a tourist complains, a pilgrim is grateful. I hope I have the opportunity to take it again and see it, and all the cathedral, in its restored glory. It looks spectacular.
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Great description... and pictures. Thank you for postingYes, Laurie, it was the rooftop tour. Click on the link for my photos of it. I took this tour five years ago, so I don't know if it has been the same more recently with all the phases of renovation. I don't have a lot of gallery photos, but the tour was fascinating and the stories about it, more so.
I saw a quite different and more prosaic explanation for this when I was last in Trondheim around St Olav's Day two years ago, and visited one of the museums near the cathedral. The early depictions of Christ's body on the crucifix were symbolic, and presented the figure both as alive and crowned - in some way representing his priestly function in Christian thought. Later depictions became more realistic, emphasising the suffering of Christ on the cross as his body slumps under his outstretched arms.I wonder why they selected that particular image of the Christ on crucifix in the temporary altar. I learned from visiting one of the museums in Spain, (I forgot which one) that there is a theological significance in the depiction of the crucifix where Christ had his arms stretched to the sides versus a depiction of Christ with arms raised above, the former expressing a theological outlook of a wide open, welcoming and accepting church, while the latter expressed a more exclusive theological outlook. I take it that the people involved in the selection process must be aware of this theological distinction. So it bothers me to see that this particular form symbolizing exclusivity is selected.
The Cathedral published some information about the figure of Christ used for the provisional altar, see here in Spanish or Google Translated into English. This figure was part of a Gothic crucifix that was moved to other places in the cathedral when the choir was dismantled and removed from the central nave in 1946. The text says that the figure shows great expressiveness, typical of its time, showing the suffering that Christ, as a human, suffered in his martyrdom on the cross, marking his wounds and muscle tension until the body of the crucified is broken; a typology that would become very common, from the middle years of the fourteenth century onwards. I guess that is what a contemporary viewer sees, too: the suffering (followed by salvation) and not some interpretation about (or contrast to) a wide open, welcoming and accepting church - something that would have made no sense at all in any case when the figure was created.The early depictions of Christ's body on the crucifix were symbolic, and presented the figure both as alive and crowned - in some way representing his priestly function in Christian thought. Later depictions became more realistic, emphasising the suffering of Christ on the cross as his body slumps under his outstretched arms.
I don't know what you mean by S crosses but I got curious. There's a short description of the development of crucifixes in art history here. A beautiful crucifix from Lucca in Italy, 8th century, is shown and described as outstretched arms do not bend with the weight of the body. Straight and firm as they are, the arms can suggest welcome or acclaim by a victorious leader. Then later, in Romanesque art, the arms are slightly bent but Jesus is still shown as alive while even later, in Gothic art, the imagery changes to the torments and death that Jesus suffered. Thanks for bringing this up, I wasn't particularly aware of these differences. Obviously, nowadays, the earlier such a crucifix was created, the rarer they are today.The difference in the arms' positions does not involve the Byzantine cross. It is a difference within the S crosses.
I hope you are now less bothered about the selection of this figure for the temporary altar, and please let us know when you remember to what period in history these different theological outlooks belong. If it's a long time ago then I cannot imagine that what a wide open, welcoming and accepting church meant then is similar to what it means now to most people.I learned from visiting one of the museums in Spain, (I forgot which one) that there is a theological significance in the depiction of the crucifix where Christ had his arms stretched to the sides versus a depiction of Christ with arms raised above, the former expressing a theological outlook of a wide open, welcoming and accepting church, while the latter expressed a more exclusive theological outlook. I take it that the people involved in the selection process must be aware of this theological distinction. So it bothers me to see that this particular form symbolizing exclusivity is selected.
Trying very hard to talk my wife into that move. so far she won't budge.... We're moving to Portugal as soon as we can get our visas, so it will be an easy (and frequent!) trip.
Compromise. Tell her that after moving there you will accept her desire not to budge.Trying very hard to talk my wife into that move. so far she won't budge