Monastery of Santa María de Ferreira de Pallares
Mosteiro de Ferreira de Pallares / Ferreira de Guntín / Ferraria
(Guntín, Lugo)
The monastery of Santa María de Ferreira de Pallares was founded before the year 898 by Count Ero Fernández and his second wife, Elvira. At that time, the countess made an important donation of goods to the monastery, when it was already active. It was a monastery under the private patronage of the counts. At the end of the 11th century, it was uninhabited, and the counts who owned it gave part of the monastery to the Church of Lugo.
From 1100 onwards, Count Rodrigo Muñiz intervened to give it a new impetus, introducing the Rule of Saint Benedict and helping to consolidate its assets. In 1129, Alfonso VII (c. 1105-1157) donated the monastery lands to the community. During the 13th and 14th centuries, the monastery developed normally, increasing its patrimony and becoming a house of regular dimensions, although in the 15th century it fell into decline once again. At the end of that century it was reformed, and in 1517 a bull of Leo X made it subject to the monastery of San Xulián de Samos, integrated into the Benedictine Congregation of Valladolid.
From then on, the monastery became a priory, and lost the figure of the abbot within the community. In the 16th century, it experienced a new peak thanks to the devotion generated by the image of Santa María la Antigua. It remained active until the exclaustration of 1835. The medieval church remains, basically Romanesque, which has undergone various modifications over the years, including the addition of the bell tower in the 19th century. Inside there is a Baroque altarpiece and the tombs of the Counts of Taboada, dating from the 15th century. The cloister is Renaissance.
Main portal
Major altarpiece
Chapel of the Counts of Taboada
Tombs of the counts of Taboada
Tomb of the counts of Taboada
Sepulchre
Portal of the cloister
Cloister
Cloister
- 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. (2018). Enciclopedia del Románico en Galicia. Lugo. Aguilar de Campoo: Fundación Santa María la Real
- PÉREZ RODRÍGUEZ, Francisco Javier (2008). Mosteiros de Galicia na Idade Media. Ourense: Deputación Provincial de Ourense
- REY CAIÑA, José Ángel (1985). Colección diplomática de Ferreira de Pallares. Tesi. Universidad de Granada
- REY CAIÑA, José Ángel (1992). Abadologio del Monasterio de Santa María de Ferreira de Pallares. Boletín do Museo Provincial de Lugo, núm. 5
- SÁ BRAVO, Hipólito de (1972). El monacato en Galicia. Vol. 1. La Corunya: Librigal
- YEPES, Antonio de (reed. 1960). Crónica General de la Orden de San Benito. Vol. II. Madrid: Atlas
The monastery is located in Ferreira de Pallares, in the municipality of Guntín, southwest of Lugo