Orense Cathedral Museum

Late Romanesque temple with Gothic elements and fortress-like appearance.

It is dedicated to Saint Martin and is the main monument of the city, being one of the most important Romanesque buildings in Galicia.

It was declared a National Monument on 3 June 1931 and has had the status of Basilica since 1887.

It was built between the mid-12th century and the late 13th century. In 1188 the high altar was consecrated.

Its style belongs to a late Romanesque with Cistercian influence in some aspects of the structure, being sculpturally influenced by the school of Maestre Mateo from Compostela (doorways).

Originally it had three naves with a transept and a triple apse. The naves are covered with simple rib vaults and pointed arches that rest on cruciform pillars with attached semi-columns.

Its Gothic dome was erected between 1499 and 1505. The southern and northern doorways are similar with a polylobed inner archivolt and rich sculpture.

The great western entrance called the Paradise Portal from the 13th century simplistically reproduces the structure of the Glory Portal of the Compostela cathedral. The polychromy is preserved.

Inside, the highlights include:

• Main Chapel with the altarpiece, the work of Cornielis of Holland (1520) and the Renaissance choir stalls. Dome and grilles, both from the 16th century, complete the ensemble.
• Chapel of the Holy Christ: it is of Gothic pointed style, from the second half of the 16th century and restored a century later. The famous Ourense Gothic Christ is said to have been brought in the 14th century by Bishop Vasco Pérez Mariño, from Fisterra where it had appeared floating in the sea. Natural hair and beard seem to sprout from human skin, and legend has it that they grow, given the naturalness achieved by the unknown artist who created it.
• Claustra Nova: unfinished Gothic cloister, from the late 13th and early 14th centuries, houses the Cathedral Museum.
• Romanesque Christ located in the ambulatory.