On several occasions we have alluded to the perimeter passage. This is the element which we are going to visit now. It is not simply a matter of taking a walk around the building, but to continue visiting structures and elements which characterise and define it, in particular in its Gothic extension.

We have already mentioned that in order to extend the platform of the Romanesque church to the west, it was necessary to build enormous buttresses which descend almost 10 meters below the level of the small square in which we find ourselves. Well, integrating and piercing these buttresses, the perimeter passage widens the site and solves the communication of the main parts which make up the compound. It is also assumed that the need to build the perimeter passage must have responded to a certain processional or liturgical tradition. The idea was to establish the bypassing of the building in a beautiful and sumptuous manner. No expense was spared. From the functional perspective it operates like the cloister of a monastery or cathedral compound. We are going to walk through a Gothic space, which once again, is unique. The level of the decorative sculptures is extraordinary.

We are located in the first perforated buttress. Due to their careful workmanship and perfect preservation, the four corbels which underpin the vault stand out. We have to appreciate that these are at our height. And have been there for seven hundred years. And these have been admired as if they were in the interior of an armoured display case. Museum sculptures, respected by visitors and neighbours thanks to their emotional and spiritual content. This is what the preservation of cultural heritage is all about nowadays.

In the keystone we see a Maiestas Domini surrounded by the representations of the four evangelists on the corbels. Each one of those evangelists appears writing or showing the Gospel, next to their traditional attribute: on the wall, an angel for Matthew and a lion for Mark; and in front of them, the eagle for John and the bull for Luke. The representation of Mark is perhaps the better-balanced, with the evangelist seated on a stool with tracery, before a desk in which an inkwell, the quill and the scraper can be distinguished. Behind him, a monumental lion shows the sacred scriptures.

We continue towards the southwest corner of the gallery, which is resolved with a double cross-ribbed section with two keystones and six corbels. Apparently we find, again, another representation of the Evangelists, now with the images of the Tetramorph, Luke and Mark at the entrance; interspersed between them are an ape wearing a tunic and a warrior killing a lion as supports for the sash. On the side of the latter basket appears a beautiful green-woman or woman of nature, whose face is very similar to the types observed in the interior ornamentation of the choir loft.

The western lookout again offers us a magnificent panoramic view of the Moncayo and the Iberian system. The visit to this part of the monumental site is especially attractive late in the afternoon, when the orange lights illuminate stones and sculptures in a very peculiar manner. The lookout preserves an interesting likewise medieval wooden roof. It is underpinned by seven T-shaped pillars, which rise from an elegant parapet with tetra-lobes. Wooden beams are mounted on these, some with carved heads.

If we move towards the northern corner we will see that the corbels possess a lower quality of workmanship and show a worse state of conservation. The workmanship of this workshop can also be seen in the decorative elements of the western apostolate of Santa María de Olite. If we continue towards the north door, there are wrestlers, acrobats, several green-men, heads of kings and queens, hybrids, lustful queens, monks etc.

When we turn around at the northern buttress, press number 20.