San Martiño de Xubia is an ancient monastery documented since the year 977, when it was a dual establishment and privately owned by the Traba family. However, its foundation dates back further, possibly around the year 846. Over time, the monastery established connections with the Cluniac order until, in 1113, Pedro Fróilaz de Traba and his sisters formalized the donation of this site to the monastery of Cluny, turning it into a priory of that Burgundian house.
At that time, the male and female communities were separated into two different monasteries: this one, designated for Benedictine monks, and an adjacent building reserved for nuns. The nuns remained there until the early 16th century, when the female houses of this order were reorganized and incorporated into the monastery of San Paio de Antealtares in Santiago de Compostela. During the 13th and 14th centuries, the monastery amassed a long history of non-compliance with religious observance, with various episodes that tested the visitors, acting as supervisors of monastic discipline who sought to rectify the situation. Additionally, the complex suffered significant neglect in the maintenance of its structures. In 1518, it was integrated into the Congregation of San Benito de Valladolid and came under the jurisdiction of the monastery of San Salvador de Lourenzá (Lugo).
The monastery was dissolved in 1836, following the confiscation of ecclesiastical properties, at a time when it was already in a state of decline. Today, the church, which now serves as a parish church, features a basilical floor plan without a transept, and three semicircular apses that mark the eastern end of the naves, which are divided into five bays. It is a Romanesque construction from the 12th century that has undergone various modifications due to new constructions and restorations. The main façade, facing west, has been significantly altered by the addition of a portico and a bell tower, completed in 1782.
Photo by FirkinCat, on Wikimedia
Photo by PepedoCouto, on Wikimedia
- FREIRE CAMANIEL, José (1998). El monacato gallego en la alta edad media, vol. II. La Corunya: Fund. Pedro Barrié de la Maza
- PÉREZ GONZÁLEZ, José María; dir. (2013). Enciclopedia del románico en Galicia. A Coruña. Aguilar de Campoo: Fundación Santa María la Real
- PÉREZ RODRÍGUEZ, Francisco Javier (2008). Mosteiros de Galicia na Idade Media. Ourense: Deputación Provincial de Ourense
- SOUTO, Arturo (1981). Sinopsis monográfica del monasterio benedictino de San Martín de Jubia o del Couto. Pontedeume: L. Torre
- YZQUIERDO PERRÍN, Ramón (2012). San Vicente de Pombeiro y San Martín de Xubia: dos monasterios benedictinos pertenecientes a Cluny. Anuario brigantino, núm. 35
The monastery belongs to the municipality of Narón, near Ferrol, and is located on the banks of the estuary that shares its name