ess it was originally Romanesque, as is evidently shown by the
capitals of the pillars, and was most likely rebuilt after the terrible
fire which broke out early in the sixteenth century.

Santa Maria del Campo is the name of the suffragan church dedicated to
the Virgin. The church itself was erected to a suffragan of Santiago in
1441. The date of its erection is doubtful, some authors placing it in
the twelfth and others in the thirteenth century. Street, whom we can
take as an intelligent guide in these matters, calls it a
twelfth-century church, contemporaneous with and perhaps even built by
the same architect who built that of Santiago de Campostela. Moreover,
the mentioned critic affirms this in spite of a doubtful inscription
placed in the vault above the choir, which accuses the building of
having been completed in 1307.

[Illustration: CHURCH OF SANTIAGO, CORUNNA]

The primitive plan of the church was doubtless Romanesque, of one nave
and two aisles. As in Mondonedo and Lugo, the former is surmounted by
an ogival vault, and the aisles, lower in height, are somewhat depressed
by the use of Romanesque _plein-cintre_ vaultings. The form of the
building is that of a Roman cross with rather short arms; the apse
consists of but one chapel, the lady-chapel. As regards the light, it is
horrible, for the window in the west is insignificant and, what is more,
has recently been blinded, though only Heaven knows why. The towers
emerging from the western front are unmeaning, and not similar, which
detracts from the harmony of the whole. As regards the different
facades, the western has been spoilt quite recently; the northern and
southern are, however, Romanesque, though not pure, as ogival arches are
used in the decoration of the tympanum.

In other words, the Church of Santiago at Corunna is more important,
from an archaeological point of view, than the Colegiata. The fishing
folk do not think so, however; they care but little for such secondary
details, and their veneration is entirely centred in the suffragan
church--"one of the three Virgins," as they call her to whom it is
dedicated. To them this particular Mary is the _estrella del mar_ (sea
star), and she is the principal object of their devotion. It is
strange--be it said in parenthesis--how frequently in Galicia mention is
made of stars: they form a most important feature of the country's
superstitions. Blood will out--and Celtic mythology peeps through the
Chr