Sculpture

Route 16 – The lions’ gate

Porta dos Leóns in the Paseo da Ferradura

A structure composed of two bodies, each open, finished by a fallen lion. The project is by the municipal architect Julián Pastos (1835), executed by the master stonemasons J. Portela and José Benito Marrazo. Initially, it was part of the ornamental enclosure that delimited the enclosure of the Alameda, in front of the Porta Faxeira. In 1885 the furnaces were moved to their current position, at the beginning of the Paseo da Ferradura.

Route 16 – The Marías

Bronze sculpture by César Lombera (1994) located at the entrance to Alameda Park. Coralia and Maruja Fandiño were real people, a pair of popular sisters from Santiago in the second half of the XX century, frequent walkers through Alameda Park at two in the afternoon, who stood out because of their fashion style, odd for the time period. The nickname of “The [Three] Marías” comes from the three initial sisters, a counterpoint to the three biblical Marys (Mother of Jesus, Mary Salome and Mary Magdalene), of which the two in the monument remained.
They’re also known as the “Two o’clock”.

Route 12 – The Marías

Route 12 – Espellos of Bosque de Galicia

In the Bosque de Galicia we can find the artistic intervention Espellos (Mirrors), created by artist Manolo Paz with the aim of strengthening the link between this architectural complex and the Jacobean Route as well as the city of Santiago de Compostela.
The artistic intervention is formed by big stone cylinders that work as a great stone window from which to look upon the Galician capital from a unique perspective. These two sculptures intend to pique walkers’ interest so they make a stop to view – before the desired goal that is the Cathedral – the unique perspective of which is offered from this summit, integrated in the natural environment of the Galician capital.
Besides offering a different perspective of the capital, these pieces 3,5m tall by 3,8m wide and weighing 12 tons will also be useful in strengthening further the link between the Cidade da Cultura and St. James’ Way, as the Silver Way goes parallel to Mount Gaiás, through the neighborhood of Sar.

Route 12 – Cervantes Square

Cervantes Square was known in the XII century as the “Forum”, as it was a popular reunion spot and the place where the town crier read the municipal agreements and the Archbishop’s ordinances. Because of this informative vocation, one of its streets, of important commercial activity, was called “del Preguntoiro” (derived from the verb preguntar, which means “to ask”). In a corner the building erected in 1682 for the old City Hall is located, which occupied the solar for 200 years, from 1583 until its move in 1787 to Raxoi Palace. Today, it’s the only Baroque municipal building left intact in Galicia. An inside restoration allowed for the discovery of the old public scribe offices, the chapel, the archive and the dungeons: it’s known that in the square autos-da-fé were performed during Inquisition rule, and that the column around which justice was imparted and at whose feet the scaffold was located was there until 1570. The column had previously been presiding executions in Almáciga Mount and was taken to the Santa Susana Oak Grove, from where it disappeared in the XIX century.
Afterward, as it specialized in the selling of food and wares, the area received the name of Plaza
del Campo (“Countryside Square”) and the category of main market. This also explains the name of
the San Bieito do Campo church, whose contemporary neoclassical lines don’t invite thinking the
foundation goes back to the X century.
As the market was relocated to Abastos Square by the end of the XIX century, the square took the definitive name of Cervantes. A bust of the writer crowns the fountain and reminds us that the “Don Quixote” author carried two surnames of Galician origin: Cervantes and Saavedra.

Route 1 – Espellos of Bosque de Galicia

Route 1 – Zapatos no Camiño sculpture

The sculpture, whose name means Shoes on the Way, signed by Francisco Ledo, a tribute to the pilgrims, consists of three pieces of different materials (granite, concrete and cast iron), which symbolize the effort and the will of the road. Visitors can interact with them, use them to rest on... They run parallel to the complex.

Route 5 – The Urco

It is a kind of black dog, with large horns, which comes out of the sea dragging chains. Its presence brings a bad omen. Such as a death about to happen. It also abhors souls, especially of envious people who pretend to be good friends.

Route 5 – The Tardo

Is a malevolent demon that enters homes at night and enjoys sitting on people's chests while they sleep, causing oppression, pain and nightmares.

Route 5 – The Mouros

Men from the Mouro people. Inhabitants of the underworld. They live in a parallel world (caves and tunnels underground), where it is said that they hid the gold they found. It is also said that they were anthropophagous. In any case, humans never benefit from their encounters with them.