Exterior facade stone choir

The two external facades of the choir that gave to the lateral naves of the cathedral of Santiago were composed in two parts. The lower one, which covered two thirds of the total height of the façade and contained a quadruple archery, with rosettes sculpted in the spandrels, on capitals decorated with vegetal leaves. None of the complete columns (nor those of the ashlar) have reached us, so their heights have had to be determined in relation to the measures of the other elements. A smooth fascia placed on the arcades serves as a settlement for the alternation of figures of prophets or apostles and reliefs of towers. The facades were topped with a cornice with ringed palmettes.

The succession of figures of seated biblical figures and the towers allude to the walls of the heavenly Jerusalem, which according to the vision of Saint John, "had a very high wall" and "it rested on twelve foundations, on which were inscribed the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb".