The Main Cloister

The Main Cloister

The Main Cloister is Roman, Doric in style and it is 22 metres long. It is one of the most significant parts of the building, in which structural strength, elegance and sobriety are happily compiled.

Its pilasters, 1,5 metres thick, hold up a simple entablement with a frieze decorated with triglyphs and metopes.

Surrounding the courtyard, a 33-metre long, 4-metre wide and 6,5-metre high open cloister stands.

It is covered by groin vault ceiling and rosettes at the intersections of the ribs.

Having once been carefully sculptured, four stone-engraved coats of arms can be found in the middle of each side, as well as at the top of the cloister. One from Cardinal Rodrigo de Castro, one from the House of Lemos, another one from the House of Alba and the remaining one from the Order of the Pious Schools. Focusing on the last one, it can be found among the other 3 coats of arms, as the Piarist Fathers were the ones who completed the –unfinished- construction of the building between 1919 and 1926. (north-east and northwest corridors, where the new Stone materials are still visible)

An enclosed arcade makes up the upper floor of the cloister.