Monastery of San Miguel de Bóveda

In the mid-15th century, the Cistercian monastery of San Clodio de Ribeiro (located in Leiro, Ourense) attempted to annex San Miguel de Bóveda. In 1451, Pope Nicholas V even issued a ruling in support of the annexation. However, the Bishop of Ourense temporarily halted the process by approving the appointment of a new abbess in 1452. Eventually, after the abbess’s death and before a successor could be appointed, the Abbot of San Clodio forcibly took over the monastery in 1477, integrating it into his domain and putting an end to the female community. In 1482, Pope Sixtus IV resolved the dispute by definitively confirming the annexation of the monastery to San Clodio, which henceforth became a priory or grange of the Cistercian monastery. The church, now privately owned, has been heavily modified over the centuries. However, it retained its medieval apse until the 20th century.