Logbook · 15 places

Chapel of San Xes de Francelos

Ribadavia, Ribeiro, Ourense

1 Villages · 6 Monuments · 3 Activities · 3 Curiosities · 1 Historical milestones · 1 Food and drink

Spain › Galicia › Ourense › Ribeiro › Ribadavia › Chapel of San Xes de Francelos

Chapel of San Xes de Francelos

Monument · Ribadavia, Ribeiro, Ourense

The chapel of San Xes de Francelos stands at the heart of the parish of Francelos, in the municipality of Ribadavia, on the remains of a medieval monastery, now vanished, which some authors date as far back as the 9th century; its value lies in the fact that the rebuildings reused pre-Romanesque decorative elements from earlier structures, traces of a style rarely preserved in Galicia. The first record of the site dates from 986, and in 993 a document in the Tombo de Celanova already mentions the monastery of Francellos; the first reference to the chapel appears in a foro (land charter) of 1424. Single-naved and rectangular in plan, it measures 8.6 by 5.75 metres, with a wooden gabled roof and masonry walls with carved ashlar blocks among the pre-Romanesque elements. The original dedication to Santa María Magdalena was later changed to San Xes. It was declared a national monument in 1951.

Photo: Jose Antonio Gil Martínez. FREECAT from Vigo (CC BY 2.0)

What to see and do in Ribadavia