The Colegio de Santiago Alfeo o de Fonseca, considered to be the origin of Compostela University, started out in 1544. Construction was ordered by Archbishop Alonso de Fonseca III, it was designed by the architect Juan de Álava and built by Alonso de Covarruvias The patio is the work of Gil de Hontañón. Made from granite masonry, the facade is Plateresque in style with some Ogival elements. It is in two sections with Gothic statues between the columns and in the niches of the frieze. Those on the lower section show St. James and the Virgin Mary. In the centre, a coat of arms with the five stars of the Fonseca family. Through the doorway, there is the Gothic chapel and the Coffered Hall, old college refectory, where Galicia´s first autonomous government was provisionally installed.