Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela
in Spain, built from 1078 to 1122, is an important early Romanesque structure that exhibits these features. Built to accommodate the larger crowds that visited such pilgrimage churches, Santiago also has additional chapels running around its eastern side to house an increase in liturgical objects, works of art, and relics. After entering through the elaborately carved portal at Santiago, the viewer faces a tall two-story nave with compounded piers running down the nave arcade. The compounded pier, a Romanesque invention, consists of a cluster of half-columns joined together to create a stronger structure than an individual column. This greater strength allowed Romanesque builders to construct taller ceilings. At Santiago, the ceiling consists of a barrel vault separated into bay units by rounded masonry ribs. One set of engaged columns within the compounded pier then rises through the nave wall to meet the ribs, thereby dividing the wall very visibly into its bay units. Each of these bay units has a two-part arched window in the upper gallery from which light is filtered into the nave. More light enters via windows at the high altar and in the octagonal lantern that rises up over the crossing. The more sculptural effect achieved by the piers also provides a greater structural clarity to the church interior, a hallmark of Romanesque architecture. The lower side aisles are covered with groin vaults, which also help to disperse the weight of the nave roof into the outer walls. (Palmer, 2008)