Casa do Cabido
building in Santiago de Compostela
Casa do Cabido is a historic house in Santiago de Compostela, Province of A Coruña, Galicia, Spain, facing the Praza de Praterías. It was designed for urban beautification in order to decorate and match the surroundings and completed in 1758 in the baroque style.
History and characteristics
The medieval silversmith guilds gave name to the Praza das Praterías and to the south façade of the cathedral: across the square, the Baroque-style Casa do Cabido was built, about three meters deep with an only scenographic function, closing one of the sides around the fountain. Designed by the architect of the Galician baroque Clemente Fernández Sarela, it dates from the year 1758. Initially it was the seat of the Cathedral Council, but it became private property in the mid-nineteenth century.
This way Casa do Cabido, in front of the cathedral, had a new fake façade strictly following the local architectural order of the early 18th century, the style of plates typical of the Baroque in Compostela.
It inspired Valle-Inclán the story of My Sister Antonia, just like the fountain (Fonte dos Cabalos) inspired Federico García Lorca for the Dance of the Moon poem in Santiago. In the year 2005, the film The Carpenter's Pencil was shot on it.
“Casa do Cabido” enters the record as building in Santiago de Compostela. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Casa, Cabido and building can confirm, complicate or overturn.
Why this record matters
“Casa do Cabido” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Casa, Cabido and building provides the most credible route into that argument.
Maps, plans, fabric surveys and administrative records can establish how the site’s name, extent and function changed over time. The source revision retrieved here is dated Mar 25, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q2511415. VIAF identifies the subject as 245414032. Authority coordinates are 42.880, -8.544. 1 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1758 and 2005.
Modern boundaries and familiar names can conceal earlier jurisdictions or structures that do not align with the present site. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Casa do Cabido”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Casa do Cabido primary sources, Casa do Cabido archive and Casa research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Casa do Cabido”?
- Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
- Which earlier names or jurisdictions may reveal additional records?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Casa do Cabido” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.