College of San Jerónimo

In the XVI Century the Catholic Kings built the Foundation of the Royal Hospital and for it they built the building that nowadays occupies the Hostal de los Reyes Católicos (Catholic kings´ hospital), which became a great luxury hotel (Tourist Hotel).

This building has been built in Plateresque style to which Renaissance elements have subsequently been added. It has a very original floor in which the central part is occupied by the chapel with Latin cross plan flanked by two interior courtyards where the rooms typical of the hospital were located.

Inside it is also grandiose: with four cloisters of great beauty, where we can find a beautiful chapel of Latin Cross plan as well as elegant halls, rooms and a luxurious dinning room.

The dome is decorated in Plateresque style as well as the rib vault of the chapel that was built with lithographic stone from Coimbra.

Outside, there is a huge stone mural, with a Triumphal arch so typical of the Renaissance art decorated with figures that present the place as a hospital where body and soul´ s pain could be cured. The figures of the Catholic Kings also appear in this façade as the promoters of its construction.

This building was built in order to embellish the town, so its function is decorative and its aim is to close one of the sides of the beautiful Plaza de las Platerías, with its typical Galician Baroque style.

It is located in front of the Cathedral. Its façade is in Compostela style from the XVIII Century. This building inspired Valle- Inclán to write the story “Mi hermana Antonia”.

This Collegiate Church was founded in the XII Century, and is located outside the town, next to the river Sar.

It has a basilical structure and three naves divided by pillars decorated with natural motives. Outside, the solid flying buttresses that protect the Northern walls attract the attention of the visitor.

The interior columns are visibly inclined, what grants a peculiar attractive to the place and obliged to rebuild the barrel vault in the XVI.

Inside, we can see that it is a temple of great dimensions that impresses because of its columns lean, given a feeling of instability.

The Master Mateo left his mark in the decoration of the capitals of the cloister.

A collection of archaeological and liturgical pieces is exhibited inside. We should highlight the baptismal font from the XII Century, located on the right of the main entrance.

The Galician People's Museum offers a broad vision of Galician cultural and ethnographic heritage, both through its location, the Santo Domingo de Bonaval convent, and its contents.
 

The Galician People's Museum (or Museo do Pobo Galego) is located outside the historical city of Santiago de Compostela, as the building that has housed it since 1976 is the former convent of Santo Domingo de Bonaval. This convent is situated alongside the route that pilgrims took to reach Santiago.
 

This museum is dedicated to the preservation and dissemination of Galician traditions and customs that constitute the essence and identity of this land.

Its permanent collection is divided into nine rooms:

• "The sea".
• "The countryside".
• "The trades".
• "Music".
• "Clothing".
• "Habitat and architecture".
• "Visual arts".
• "Society".
• "Memory and tradition".

Additionally, the Galician People's Museum hosts temporary exhibitions, has an auditorium, museum services of a library, graphic and sound archive, and video library.
 

It also has an Education and Cultural Action Department, which is responsible for organising activities and creating educational materials for school groups.

In May 2005, another department dedicated to the Institute of Identity Studies was opened. This department works on the socio-cultural function of the museum, researching and studying Galician identity from an interdisciplinary perspective, comparing it with other identities. Moreover, this department promotes training in cultural management.
 

As previously mentioned, the building housing this museum is the Bonaval convent, which was founded in the 13th century by Saint Dominic of Guzmán and was reconstructed during the Baroque period (17th and 18th centuries). The most notable rehabilitation was by the architect Domingo de Andrade, who created a spectacular triple helicoidal staircase inside.
 

The church of this convent dates back to its foundation and is Gothic in style, but it also had additions and renovations until the 16th century. Inside it is the Pantheon of Galicia, where illustrious Galicians such as poetess Rosalía de Castro, sculptor Francisco Asorey, poet Ramón Cabanillas, and regionalist politician Alfredo Brañas rest in peace.