A reassessment of the western parts of the Romanesque Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela

In the last two decades, it has generally become accepted that the Romanesque Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela was left unfinished after the death of Archbishop Gelmirez in 1140. Not until Master Mateo was given his contract in 1168 was the building finally completed. It is said that the whole of the west end was designed by Mateo as a homogeneous entity. This overturns Kenneth Conant's hypothesis that the cathedral was raised in one building program, from the mid-1070s to 1140. The aim of this paper is to propose a reassessment of the western parts of the cathedral. By a detailed study of the standing fabric, the author has discovered that major portions of the Romanesque church existed at the west end before the advent of Mateo