The Angel Door – Haiku 2025; Thursday Doors

Posted bySuzette BenjaminPosted inPoetryTags:
Santiago Cathedral, Bilbao Spain. Licensed image credit: © Rudolf Ernst | Dreamstime

The pilgrim finds rest—

a cloistered lemon-planted veil

through ‘The Angel door’

*

**This post contains a special feature.

Santiago Cathedral in Bilbao, Spain, is the oldest cathedral in the city. It is located along the Northern route of the Santiago de Compostela (The Way of St. James) pilgrimage. Originally a parish church during the medieval period, it was consecrated as a cathedral in 1950.

It took more than one hundred years to construct. Its Latin cross foundation was completed in 1404, and the rest of the cathedral was built around that foundation over the next one hundred plus years, with work on the featured doors and portal starting in the 15th century.

The Door of the Angel, Santiago Cathedral side entrance, Bilbao Spain. Licensed image credit: © Vampy1
| Dreamstime

The featured door (shown above) is not the main entrance to Santiago Cathedral, Bilbao Spain but the side door called The Door of the Angel.

It was the door used by pilgrims arriving at the Cathedral on their way to or returning from the ‘Northern route’ —Santiago de Compostela.

Wider Angle: The Door or Portico of the Angel, Santiago Cathedral, Bilbao Spain. Licensed Image credit:  © Giuseppe Anello | Dreamstime

The tympanum above the wooden doors of The Door of the Angel (The Pilgrim door) is adorned with thin floral pattern stone sculptures reflecting a transition from the early Gothic style towards a hint of the Renaissance style. The characteristic Gothic trefoil (cloverleaf) style was adapted into a delicate lace-like tracery above the door and also further up the stone wall.

The Door of the Angel leads into the Cloister, and from there, the pilgrims would enter Santiago Cathedral’s naves. The Cathedral has three naves.

An image of the Santiago Cathedral’s Cloister with its lemon trees is below.

The lemon trees and the Cloisters, Santiago Cathedral, Bilbao Spain. Image credit: Zarateman | Wikimedia CC 2.0

***Special Feature: Modern Architecture, Bilbao Spain:

Trivia #1 and 2:

Bilbao, Spain, is home to and famous for the modern architectural building, The Guggenheim Museum, designed by architect Frank Gehry (of California, USA). An image of one of The Guggenheim Museum’s entrances is below.

The 43 feet (13 meters) tall real flower topiary puppy in front of one of The Guggenheim Museum Entrances, Bilbao Spain. Licensed image credit: Aleksandra Lande | Dreamstime

The Puppy “guarding” the above-shown entrance to The Guggenheim Museum, Bilboa, Spain is the work of York, Pennsylvania, USA-born artist-sculptor, Jeff Koons.

🙠🙠🙠

And for more #Thursday Doors

Visit Dan Antion at No Facilities

Ritva at Ritva Sillanmäki Photography

Published by Suzette Benjamin

Positive thinker, inspirational, writer, faith

42 thoughts on “The Angel Door – Haiku 2025; Thursday Doors”

  1. Oh my “the door of the ange”l is stunning Suzette and that topiary 🤗
    How long I wonder did that take.
    Wonderful share my friend !
    BTW you made my my day 😉 with your review!
    Thank you from my heart dear friend.

    Liked by 1 person

  4. Your haiku was intriguing, Suzette. I was hooked! The post is wonderful. The angel door and the puppy door, both would be a thrill to enter through. It’s so hard to imagine a building rise from its foundation for over 100 years. I’ve seen a short documentary program on the building of the museum. I’ve read about the building of cathedrals, but we’re left to marvel at the results. Great post!

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Thanks Dan. It would be an amazing experience to pass through both of these entrances in Bilbao.
      I could totally spend all day admiring the details and the history of The Angel door.

      It is a marvel how the building of the cathedral took many years, and the result, as you mentioned, is quite cohesive in symmetry. I think it took inspired vision by a collection of great skilled artisans.

      Liked by 1 person

  5. I find the lace-patterned design of the Santiago Cathedral’s side door in Bilbao, Spain—also known as the Angel Door—absolutely fascinating. The transition from the Gothic cloverleaf style to a delicate, French lace-like tapering is particularly intriguing. Lace, both in literature and religious life, carries rich symbolism, often representing fragility, elegance, and devotion.

    The Angel Door, in my mind, evokes the image of angel wings, leading to the cloisters where I imagine nuns living among fragrant lemon trees. The scent of lemons is exquisite, yet their taste stings, their juice often linked to healing and medicine—an interesting duality of beauty and remedy.

    Equally enigmatic is the flower-covered Puppy, standing guard over the Guggenheim Museum. It makes me wonder—why a floral dog where real flowers bloom. Perhaps it symbolizes the flourishing of knowledge at the Frank Gehry-designed Guggenheim, one of the world’s most spectacular buildings. Though often associated with Deconstructivism (a label Gehry himself does not embrace), it remains a true masterpiece of 20th-century architecture.

    A fragrant haiku capturing the vision of pilgrims finding rest, passing through the Angel Door.

    Beautiful Thursday Offering

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Your insight and thoughts on the lightness of the stonework above the door are spot on!!

      You also noted the “French lace-like” theme, which I did not mention in the post, but that is precisely how some architectural experts describe this tympanum. Well spotted!

      I like your idea that the lemons were a bittersweet accompaniment to the cloister’s secluded nuns. What a great symbolism… lemon trees inside a cathedral where pilgrims pass through their fruiting branches…

      I should have mentioned more detail about the Puppy topiary at the Guggenheim, Bilbao.. The sculpture of the huge West Highland terrier is covered in real potted flowering plants carefully tended to and changed out twice a year to appropriate flowering plants for the season.

      I am glad that the “fragrant” vibe came through.
      Happy Thursday.

      Thank you for your always kind and soft-hearted insights. Much appreciated.

      Liked by 1 person

      1. Oh I so love the fact that there are lemon trees standing in the path leading to the cloister.
        The sharp, sour taste of lemons often represents life’s difficulties, hardships, or sour experiences. They also speak of cleansing and healing. In some cultures lemons are tied to love, passion and even temptation. I’m pretty sure it took lots of consideration and thought to plant lemon trees in front of the cloister.
        Oh the puppy is a West Highland terrier a note I over looked. They are so damn cute. I would love to have one for a pet. What a wonderful way to grow plants for the season.

        Love the fragrant offering. I use lemons all the time

        You are most welcome Poet.

        Liked by 1 person

      2. Yes, lemons are indeed a great resource in everyday cuisine, refreshment and scent…I love the scent of lemon trees and their leaves.
        I did not mention the details on the puppy in my original post, so you did not miss those details.
        Regarding what a wonderful way to grown plants…
        Yes, I am guessing that it is a tall order to look after the plants in the puppy’s “coat”.
        but what a way to grow plants, you are right!

        Liked by 1 person

  6. Fabulous post, and that door is simply wonderful. I liked the description of the stonework over the door. I am familiar with the work of artist Jeff Koons, his balloon dogs are very famous, this is a nice variation.

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  8. Pingback: The Angel Door – Haiku 2025; Thursday Doors – Suzette B’s Blog | Ned Hamson's Second Line View of the News

  13. The ridiculous and the sublime. Why people like Jeff Koons is a mystery to me. But the beauty of the cathedral is no mystery at all.

    The contrast of texture and patterning in that doorway is appealing, and I like the colors–very earthy. The Cloister looks like a peaceful place to rest after a long journey. (K)

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Thank you Kerfe the cathedral seems to me a testimony to blending parts into a cohesive whole. Having taken over a hundred years to build yet producing a seamless vision of constructed oneness

      Have a wonderful day. Peace

      Liked by 1 person

  17. This haiku is a beauty: “A cloistered lemon-planted veil” is at once inviting and forbidden. Nicely done! The whole concept of pilgrimage and rest is huge, isn’t it, and evoked in the angel door. I wonder if the Guggenheim will speak to pilgrims centuries from now. Thanks for the lovely images, Suzette!

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