Monastery of Santa María de Monfero

This old mediaeval monastery of Monfero was magnificently renovated between the 16th and 18th centuries and transformed into a treasure of the Galician rural Baroque style.

It was one of the most prosperous monasteries in the whole of Galicia. Founded in the high mediaeval age, it underwent a preliminary reconstruction in the 12th century, although practically nothing has survived from the Romanesque church of the time. It was practically rebuilt in the 17th century. In has a single nave with a coffered vault and a cupola in the transept supported on eight pilasters. Its most surprising feature is its magnificent Baroque façade, with four colossal columns with a quartz and slate chequerboard decoration between them. Highlights of the interior include the decoration of the chapel of the Virgin of La Cela, and several 15th-century tombs. Of particular interest among the cloisters in the monastic site (16th-18th centuries) is the one designed by Juan de Herrera.