Broad Praza da Quintana opens up outside the cathedral's eastern end. The cathedral's Puerta Santa here is opened only in holy years: it's flanked by 24 Romanesque sculptures of biblical figures from the cathedral's original stone choir, created by Maestro Mateo and his team in the late 12th century.

　　The plaza's east side is lined by the long, stark wall of the Mosteiro de San Paio de Antealtares, founded in the 9th century for the monks who looked after Santiago's relics (now a convent). Its Museo de Arte Sacra, accessed through the convent church at the top of the plaza steps, contains the Ara (Altar) de Antealtares, a recycled Roman funerary plaque that was used as the original altar raised over those relics.