The history of the Quintana façade is that of a cover-up, and I mean that literally, not metaphorically — after all, the historical links between the square and fascism are still openly on display, and that is an issue that many places on the Camino have sought to remove from memory. Instead, this cover-up is a physical one.
Owing to a variety of additions over the centuries, the east end (‘back’) of the cathedral had a acquired a fairly irregular shape and in the seventeenth century it was decided to tidy it up and give it a uniform appearance. Thankfully, rather than engage in massive architectural alterations to the various chapels, Canon José Vega y Verdugo commissioned a baroque-style stone curtain wall to stand in front of them. That wall contains four doorways with connecting passageways to the Cathedral, which can best be appreciated from the excellent rooftop tour of the cathedral. Now let’s see behind Door Number 1!
Actually, no, we won’t, because we’re not allowed in there. At least not this year. The Holy Door is only opened on Jubilee Years i.e. those years in which the feast of Santiago falls on a Sunday; the next one is 2027 (although I’d swear I took the above photo in 2019, which wasn’t a Jubilee year). It’s recognisable by the iron gate across it, and like the Obradoiro entrance at the polar opposite side of the cathedral, the Holy Door is designed to look like a Roman triumphal arch — a militaristic celebration of the cult of Santiago.[1] It’s crowned by a statue of Santiago dressed as a pilgrim and he’s flanked by smaller statues of two of his disciples, Athanasius and Theodore by the sculptor Pedro del Campo (1694). Below them, on either side of the door are two sets of twelve stone figures (representing apostles and Old Testament personages), which derive from the now-demolished stone choir that Master Mateo had constructed within the cathedral.
For many the Quintana is a chill-out square, with cafes at both ends and a place to catch up with people now that the walking is finished (and, as I found in 2022, the perfect place to listen to the All Ireland final online). But the Quintana itself is unfinished. If you look at the highest point over the Royal Door you’ll see an inscription D. O. M. TOTIVS HISPANIAE PATRONO ET PROCECTORI SACRVM 1700 (‘To God, most good, most great; Holy Patron and Protector of all Spain 1700’). Above it stands an empty pedestal, perhaps a reminder that like the Quintana façade, your Camino is not yet done.
[1] Daniel Caruncho (trans. Cerys Giordano Jones), Santiago Cathedral (Dosde Publishing, Barcelona, 2017), 56–9.
Denis Casey 
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