Church of San Facundo de Ribas de Miño

About this heritage

Medieval church with a pioneering vault of Iberian Gothic and Hispano-Flemish mural paintings.

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The Church of San Facundo de Ribas de Miño is a prominent example of medieval Galician religious architecture, with origins dating back to the year 1120.

Founded by Benedictine monks, its initial purpose was to offer refuge and assistance to pilgrims on the Camino de Santiago, following the destruction of the Portomarín bridge in 1116 by order of Queen Doña Urraca.

The church features a single nave plan with a semicircular apse, covered by a barrel vault considered one of the earliest manifestations of the Gothic style on the Iberian Peninsula.

This vault is formed by six robust stone arches converging at a single keystone placed only 5.30 meters high.

Inside, valuable Hispano-Flemish style mural paintings dating around 1474 are preserved. These paintings depict religious scenes, including figures of saints such as Saint Christopher and Saint Sebastian, and scenes of the Virgin with Child.

The monastery became a priory of the Cistercian monastery of Santa María de Montederramo in 1620; however, it was closed in 1820 and definitively secularized in 1835.

In 1982, the complex was declared a Monument of National Interest and, in 1997, a comprehensive restoration was carried out that received the First Prize from the College of Architects of Galicia in 1998, recognizing the quality and fidelity of the intervention.