Our first stop in Galician lands takes us to a privileged and unique place in the world: Santiago de Compostela.
Like its monuments, the beauty and singularity of its gargoyles leave no passer-by indifferent as they walk through this exceptional city.
In this first entry, we examine the gargoyles of one of the largest monasteries in Spain and, at the same time, one of the most significant monuments of Galician Baroque art.
A few metres from the Azabachería façade of the cathedral and facing the Plaza de la Inmaculada rises the Monastery of San Martín Pinario. Although originally a 10th-century Benedictine cenobium, the building was reconstructed at the end of the 16th century and completed in the 18th century. By the end of the 19th century, it had ceased to function as a monastery and is currently the seat of the Major Seminary of the Archdiocese of Santiago, the Instituto Teológico Compostelano, and the Diocesan Archive. Its premises are also used for other purposes, including the University School of Social Work and Theology, a guesthouse, and a venue for cultural activities.
Typologies of the Gargoyles of the Monastery of San Martín Pinario
Although the term “gargoyles” is used throughout this study as a general designation, it should be noted that some of the figures may in fact correspond to chimeras or grotesques, as their position does not allow the presence of a water spout to be verified.
The large number of gargoyles throughout the complex requires them to be presented in two separate entries, so that none of these remarkable figures is omitted.
The typology is particularly rich and fascinating. We encounter highly original gargoyles of a fantastic nature, with bodies decorated with vegetal and geometric motifs, spirals, and double spirals. The spiral is a motif widely disseminated since Antiquity and symbolises extension and evolution. The double spiral with opposing curvature, or S-shaped double spiral, symbolises lunar changes and thunder. The heads are varied: green man, ram, monster, and others.
There are also several quadrupeds with peculiar features of a fantastic nature: vegetal motifs or spirals resembling fur or wings. One of them pulls at its mouth, a gesture common in gargoyles and open to various interpretations, including gluttony, torment, or comic connotation.
Many of these gargoyles, through their combination of vegetal and fantastic elements, recall Renaissance grotesques, displaying magnificent and highly detailed carving.
There are also two demons with characteristic attributes such as bat-like wings, protruding tongue, serpent tail, frontal crest, or goatee; figures notable for their expressiveness, one of them in a rampant posture, conveying a sense of imminent attack.
Within the wide thematic repertoire of the monastery gargoyles, we also find a remarkable variety of animals: dogs in rampant posture, birds, lambs, donkeys, rams, and boars. We have already discussed the symbolism of these animals in previous entries. Nevertheless, it is worth recalling some of them, such as the dog, emblem of vigilance and fidelity; the ram, which symbolises procreative force because of its frequent mating; or the boar, symbol of lust and an animal chosen by the demon for incarnation.
Finally, we encounter several exceptional gargoyles. The first is a woman with long hair flowing backwards and animal legs, a figure that could well be related to the Galician lumia, a creature from Galician mythology that may possess a dragon’s body or the legs of a goose or goat, or even to the long-haired moura.
The sirens or tritons are astonishing and display highly expressive gestures. The symbolism of the siren indicates that it is an emblem of deceptive and deadly voluptuousness, as well as a demon leading towards evil.
There is also a remarkable harpy of great sculptural beauty. The harpy is likewise a malignant, diabolical, and lustful being.
All of them are surprising gargoyles of remarkable imaginative richness.
The huge quantity of gargoyles all around the building means we have to show them to you in two posts; we don't want you to miss any of them, as they're worth looking at. Among them, there are also figures of grotesques.
Gargoyles and Grotesques of the Monastery of San Martín Pinario
Gargoyles of Fantastic Nature and Rich Decoration
Gargoyles Representing Demons
Gargoyles Representing Real Animals
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- Dog
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- Dog
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- Bird
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- Bird
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- Lamb
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- Donkey
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- Ram
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- Boar
Gargoyles Representing Fantastic or Mythological Animals
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- Lumia or moura
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- Mermaid or triton
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- Mermaid or triton
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- Mermaid
Harpy
Land of trasnos, meigas, tardos, mouras, and lumias… Santiago de Compostela leaves no visitor unmoved. In all our journeys, we discover magnificent gargoyles, although, with only a few exceptions in which we encounter peculiar and unique figures, they are generally similar in terms of their thematic repertoire. What we could never have imagined was what the gargoyles of Santiago were going to reveal to us. Its history, traditions, and folklore, which permeate the city, together with its architecture, its Camino, its art, and, of course, its gargoyles, evoke a universe reminiscent of childhood tales populated by goblins and fairies, by mystery, magic, fantasy, and wonder; an imaginative world that we, like so many others, still preserve.
Bibliography
BIEDERMANN, H., Diccionario de símbolos, Barcelona, Ediciones Paidós Ibérica, S. A., 1993.
CALLEJO CABO, J., Hadas. Guía de los seres mágicos de España, Madrid, Editorial EDAF, S. A., 1995.
CHEVALIER, J. y GHEERBRANT, A., Diccionario de los símbolos, Barcelona, Editorial Herder, S. A., 1991.
MARIÑO FERRO, X. R., El simbolismo animal. Creencias y significados en la cultura occidental, Madrid, Ediciones Encuentro, 1996.
This entry was originally published in June 2019 and updated in May 2026.
Doctor of Art History and researcher specializing in the study of gargoyles.
I am Dolores Herrero Ferrio, and my thesis, “An Approach to the Study of Gargoyles of Gothic Cathedrals in Castilla and León”, is dedicated to the study of these fascinating figures.
If you like gargoyles and art history, you will also enjoy my book, “The Gargoyle and Its Iconography,” a book I have written with great care for those interested in the world of gargoyles.
I have created my own Encyclopedia of Gargoyles, a Gargopedia to share with you, where you will discover all the secrets and wonders of these enigmatic sculptures.
I hope you enjoy this Gargopedia as much as I have enjoyed creating it, and remember that each gargoyle has a story to tell, and here you will discover them all.
