Reblogged from London Traveller:

I had of course heard of the Cathedral in Santiago, but didn’t know about this astonishing building. The original Benedictine Monastery of San Martín Pinario dates from 6C and is named for the pines (pignario) in which the buildings stood. Today’s buildings mainly date from 16C, and the Monastery was closed in 19C during the desamortizacion.

Location of the Monastery

The buildings dominate the Square of Inmaculada, facing the North Door of the Cathedral, and now include student accommodation (and a hostel during the holidays), a seminary, and offices. By the end of 15C this was the largest and most powerful monastery in Galicia and the second largest in Spain after the Escorial. Like many other religious establishment it closed during the ‘ecclesiastical confiscations’ of PM Mendizabal in the 1830s. Today it houses a seminary.

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