English

Of kings, bishops and monks
The middle ages
Gothic architecture
The arrival of the Mendicants meant the definitive introduction of the Gothic,
a new architectural style that had taken its first steps in the Cistercian monasteries
and through the Way of Saint James. Although neither in Galicia nor in Portugal
did this style have a presence as generalized as the Romanesque, there are good
examples and ensembles of it.
Especially the convents and churches of the Mendicant orders stand out,
since they were the ones that helped to its spread in all its splendour. It is the
case of San Francisco de Ourense, with its cloister with an incredibly rich
decoration, with 63 arches with double columns and each of them with a
different capital; San Francisco de Lugo, whose rooms currently house part
of the Provincial Museum; San Domingos de Bonaval in Santiago de
Compostela, with a three-naves church, in opposition to the common structure
with just one; São Domingos de Vila Real, currently seat of the cathedral of the
city; or Santa Clara and San Francisco in Porto, very modified in the inside
by a rich Baroque remodelling.
Pontevedra is special for the relevance
of its ensemble, where convents of
the three families meet: Dominicans,
Franciscans and Poor Clares. The
wealth of this city came especially from
its port activities, linked to the trade of
wine and salting, and it was increased
since 1467 with the creation of a 30-
days long Feria Franca by king Enrique
IV. This explains the demographic
growth, which forced to successively
enlarge its walls, as well as the settling
of the three convents. From the one
of Santo Domingo, currently part
of the Archaeological Museum of
Pontevedra, only the interesting ruins of
the head of the church are maintained,
with the five apses saved from the
demolition process in the decade of
1870, when also the archbishopric
towers from the 13th century –a symbol
of the ecclesiastical power over the
city- were demolished. However, the
churches of the Franciscans and the
Poor Clares are maintained.
There is also a great number of
churches built following the new style,
especially in villages and cities of the
coastal stripe. It is the case of the
church of Santiago in A Coruña.
Near, barely 20 kilometres far from
there, the urban ensemble of Betanzos
stand out with good examples of this
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