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The founding of the monastery of San Salvador de Celanova

Celanova, Terra de Celanova, Ourense

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The founding of the monastery of San Salvador de Celanova

Historical milestone · Celanova, Terra de Celanova, Ourense

Saint Rosendo founded the cella nova that gave the town its name in 936, on land owned by his brother, Count Froila Gutiérrez; tradition tells that, after a revelation, he climbed a nearby hill and threw a stone, marking with its fall the spot where the monastery was to be built, consecrated on 25 September 942. Saint Rosendo, bishop of Mondoñedo and of Iria and a former viceroy of Galicia, retired here as second abbot until his death in 977. In the 11th century the monastery held lordship over much of the Alta Limia and the Ribeiro — its abbot came to appoint judges and mayors in more than fifty localities — and from it the present town centre was born. Declared a Monumento Nacional (a former Spanish heritage-protection category) in 1931, it received the Europa Nostra award in 1984.

936

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

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