Monasterio de San Salvador (Lourenzá)

Monasterio de San Salvador en Lourenzá

Lugo is the capital of the Primitive Way in Galicia and one of the cities with the greatest cultural heritage along the Camino de Santiago. It is not every day that you can walk over a Roman wall like the one that surrounds the historic center, nor witness some interesting destinations around it, such as the ancient monastery of San Salvador de Villanueva in the town of Lorenzana.

A few kilometers from Mondoñedo and in the valley of the river Masma, there is an architectural complex that has been adapted to the different constructive fashions between Medieval Spain and the seventeenth century. Declared a historic-artistic monument in 1974, the Monastery of San Salvador is undoubtedly one of the most important buildings and a benchmark of the baroque style in Galicia.

Inside you can discover the Pozo do Santo, whose waters are "miraculous and curative".

Popularly known as the holy count, the main founder and patron of the monastery was Count Osorio Gutiérrez. This important medieval nobleman was responsible for expanding and protecting the monastery, endowing it with land and other possessions thanks to the inheritance received from his father Gutierre Osóriz and his uncle Nuño Osóriz. As an old man, he traveled as a pilgrim to Santiago de Compostela, where, according to legend, he brought with him his own sarcophagus. Shortly after returning from the Camino, the count died and was buried in this emblematic place in Lugo. 

Since it is a monument with a great number of centuries behind it, the Monastery of San Salvador in Lourenzá has gone through different artistic stages. However, due to the most recent modification, no traces of the previous styles, either Romanesque or Gothic, have been left. Being the baroque the character that stands out the most, inside the church is the Pozo Do Santo, a fountain whose waters would be "miraculous and healing" for pilgrims.