Romanesque Churches near Monforte de Lemos

Monforte de Lemos l

Maps provided by the Tourist Office are ‘pretty’ rather than exact. This meant it was quite difficult to find the Romanesque churches we wanted to visit. The general road maps were also not as good as the ordnance survey maps in the UK or France. And secondly the roads around the river canyons are extremely windy and narrow, and some are quite dangerous for driving!

Monastery of San Salvador

The Monastery of San Salvador (Las Bernardas de Ferreira de Panton) was the first stop and easy to find.

This Convent was established back in the 10C and developed over the centuries. Only the Church is a Romanesque building with fascinating sculptures on the outside. Today the Convent is a closed order, a small community of nuns in the countryside outside Monforte de Lemos. It is apparently the only Cistercian Convent still active in Galicia, and the only convent which has functioned as such without cessation. The Convent is a closed order. Somehow some people have been allowed access and it looks austere, but beautiful in their photographs.

Monastery of San Miguel in Eire

Our next stop, The Monastery of San Miguel in Eire, was also a Convent and its beginning dates back to the 10C as well. At the end of the 1400s the establishment was suppressed and photographs from the 1800s? show a nearly derelict building. The Church looks well-preserved now.

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Church of San Martino de A Cova

Then we tried to find the Church of San Estevo de Atan but the map was hopeless and there were no signs on the road either. We ended up looking at this view over the River Minho from the Church of San Martino de A Cova.

Monastery of St Fiz de Cangas

The Monastery of St Fiz de Cangas appears in documents of the 12C as a community of Benedictine Nuns, but the Church may have been built on an earlier, Visigothic site. We found the Church was firmly locked, which was sad, but at least we found it!

The door into the Church has some curious carvings. There is a sun and moon on either side of a cross over the door, an animal on the left, and then further symbols which I don’t understand. The Monastery seems to have ceased as such at the end of the 1400s.

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Santa Maria at Proendos

And finally we visited the Church of Santa Maria at Proendos. This is another Romanesque church which has been modified over the centuries. Yet again this was another locked church which was a pity because there are 16C wall paintings inside.

We had had a thoroughly enjoyable day visiting Romanesque Churches near Monforte de Lemos, and the only sadness was that we couldn’t see inside the churches. Next time (!) I will do more research before I go and try and establish visits in advance.

However, I hadn’t seen quite enough Romanesque Churches – more to come from Monforte de Lemos!

Further information
The Cistercian Order
The Convent of San Salvador
The Monastery of San Fiz de Cangas – lots of information and photos of the interior