Intangible cultural heritage: The sound of the Romanesque cathedral of Santiago de Compostela

Since the end of the twentieth century the increasing importance of cultural heritage has been complemented with the recognition and protection of intangible heritage. This new approach to cultural heritage requires scientific knowledge supported by new technologies. This context is used as the starting point for furthering knowledge of the relationship between architecture, liturgy and music in Romanesque church architecture – the first artistic style to become widespread in the West – by including a new intangible dimension: sound. This case study of the emblematic cathedral of Santiago de Compostela uses computer simulation to expose the acoustic behaviour of the original Romanesque space – now covered by Baroque elements – and its effect on the functional and spatial structure.