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Monastery of San Paio de Antealtares

Santiago de Compostela, Santiago, A Coruña

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Monastery of San Paio de Antealtares

Monument · Santiago de Compostela, Santiago, A Coruña

Monastery of San Paio de Antealtares

A convent of enclosed Benedictine nuns in the old town of Santiago de Compostela, facing the head of the cathedral and closing off the Quintana square. Founded around the year 830 by Alfonso II the Chaste so that monks would tend the cult of the apostle's relics, it was built to the east of the Roman mausoleum where the remains were found, facing its entrance door, whence the name Antealtares. In 1495 its premises, except the church, were handed over to found a college for poor students, the seed of the University of Santiago; in 1499 the enclosed community that remains there today moved in. The present church, in the shape of a Greek cross, was built between 1699 and 1707, with a high altarpiece of 1714 by Francisco Castro Canseco. It houses a museum of sacred art opened in 1873.

Photo: José Luis Filpo Cabana (CC BY 3.0)

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