{"id":8582,"date":"2024-11-05T10:35:13","date_gmt":"2024-11-05T09:35:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/doloresherrero.com\/?p=8582"},"modified":"2026-03-13T18:28:09","modified_gmt":"2026-03-13T17:28:09","slug":"monsters-and-marvels-the-gargoyles-of-santiago-de-compostela","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/doloresherrero.com\/en\/monsters-and-marvels-the-gargoyles-of-santiago-de-compostela\/","title":{"rendered":"The Gargoyles of Compostela: Guardians and Monsters within its Architecture"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Today we are returning to Galicia to discover some amazing and imaginative gargoyles<\/strong><\/a>: the gargoyles of the Royal Hospital of Santiago de Compostela<\/strong> (Spain).<\/p>\n

When the Catholic Monarchs visited Santiago de Compostela in 1486, they realised that the city needed a hospital to care for the sick pilgrims arriving along the St. James\u2019 Way (Camino de Santiago<\/em>). Consequently, they commissioned Enrique Egas to construct a hospital, and work began in 1501. In 1931, this magnificent building was declared a historic and artistic monument, and since 1954, it has served as a parador<\/em> (luxury, state-owned hotel) called the \u201cHostal dos Reis Cat\u00f3licos\u201d.<\/p>\n

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The Gargoyles of the Royal Hospital and their Iconography<\/h2>\n

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Among this building\u2019s many attractions are the gargoyles that surround its entire perimeter. We photographed these gargoyles on the same day that we visited the gargoyles of the Monastery of San Mart\u00edn Pinario<\/strong><\/a>, and so, as we told you in the post about those gargoyles, we were caught out in a huge downpour, as is to be expected in Galicia. Interestingly, some of the gargoyles of the Royal Hospital resemble those of this latter monastery. It seems that the Benedictine monks commissioned the Portuguese architect Mateus Lopes \u2013who had previously worked in Santiago as master builder of the Royal Hospital\u2013 to design the monastery church, the first stone of which was laid in 1590. It is also striking that several gargoyles in the monastery are similar to those of the monastery of Batalha in Portugal.<\/p>\n

The gargoyles of the Royal Hospital mainly depict four types of figures: animals, winged quadrupeds, devils and humans. In general, the style is very similar, using diverse elements with sometimes fantastic connotations, as at San Mart\u00edn Pinario. They are practically nothing more than heads, as the limbs are minuscule. The faces are generally plump and often sagging, with a flabby appearance. In most of them, the water drains through a stone tube that fits neatly into and protrudes from the mouths. However, there are other figures in a totally different style, creating a formal diversity that enriches the whole.<\/p>\n

The animal heads are mostly dog<\/strong><\/a>-like in appearance (ears, fur, muzzles), but there are also figures with spiral horns, protruding eyebrows and leaf-shaped ears, with their hands in their mouths<\/strong><\/a>. Some are rampant, some have wrinkles \u2013or what we call triple lips\u2013 collars, fangs or hands on their necks, and still others incorporate small creatures<\/strong><\/a>. Some of these latter are naked human figures that seem to cling to the gargoyle\u2019s body, while another looks like a leaf or a small reptile that reaches up to the mouth; small beings with the generally negative, evil connotations that often accompany gargoyles.<\/p>\n

There is also a ram and a head with a pig<\/strong><\/a>\u2019s snout. As a curiosity, Mari\u00f1o Ferro notes that the pig symbolises laziness because it is useless for work and is only interested in eating or wallowing in mud. Meanwhile, the ram, like the lamb and the sheep, was frequently used for sacrifice; the Jews offered it to Yahweh and the Romans to their gods.<\/p>\n

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