The
Monastery of San Paio
of Antealtares
is known, above all, for the wall that closes the Praza da Quintana, in front of the Holy Door. King Alfonso II founded this temple in 830 with twelve Benedictine monks to care for and worship the tomb of the Apostle St. James, a few years after its discovery.
The institution functioned as a male monastery until 1499. From that moment on, it was occupied by cloistered Benedictine nuns, a characteristic it maintains today.
However, the building was completely demolished and rebuilt in the 17th and 18th centuries. At that time, the temple lived times of great splendor as the most important female Benedictine monastery in Galicia.
As in other cases in the city, the project involved several architects and artists. Fernández Lechuga designed the enclosure of the Quintana and Velasco Agüero built the other three cloister walls and the façade of the porter’s lodge, with a doorway framed by four Doric columns.
Fernando de Casas y Novoa extended the building to the ‘Puerta de los Carros’, which was completed by Lucas Ferro Caaveiro and is also known as the ‘Puerta de la Borriquita’. This fact is due to its decoration with a relief by Francisco de Lens of the ‘Flight into Egypt’ of the Holy Family.
The church, designed by Fray Gabriel de Casa, has granite masonry and tile gable roofs, with a Greek cross plan that extends to house the choir. The facade, of simple cut, is presided over by the beheaded figure of San Pelayo the martyr. In its interior, the altarpiece of the main altar, attributed to Castro Canseco, stands out.
It also stands out for the altarpiece of the main altar that is located inside. Through it, you can access the Museum of Sacred Art, which preserves the primitive altar that accompanied the apostolic sarcophagus and that was given by Xelmirez to this convent.
The exhibition site is open to visitors from Monday to Saturday, from 10:30 am to 1:30 pm and from 4:00 pm to 7:00 pm, and on Sunday from 4:00 pm to 7:00 pm. The temple is a regular place of worship, while the opening hours are from 9:00 am to 2:00 pm and from 3:00 pm to 6:30 pm.
