Novelúa: Romanesque Architecture, Castro and Manor Houses

Route 37 (Monterroso–Antas de Ulla) includes a visit to the Church of San Cristovo de Novelúa. San Cristovo de Novelúa stands on the site of an ancient castro. Within the walls of the castro, the grounds feature dense vegetation of oak trees.

The combination of the church complex, castro and oak grove already makes the site distinctive, without the individual elements losing their own history. The ancient fortified site is part of Novelúa’s local history, while the church preserves its own history of construction and alterations. Different historical traces thus stand side by side in the same place: the castro with its walls and the church fortress built later.

Culture

San Cristovo de Novelúa is a church fortress from the 12th and 13th centuries that was altered in the 17th and 18th centuries. Its Romanesque fabric has been completely preserved. Its chronology therefore extends from its medieval origins to the later alterations, while the Romanesque core of the building has remained intact. It is precisely this combination of an early architectural form and later alterations that defines the cultural character of the site.

Architecture

The main portal has a splayed round arch with three archivolts, columns in three orders, capitals with different designs and decorated mochetas that close the framed tympanum. The portal’s design brings together several carefully crafted architectural elements at a single entrance. The three archivolts and the columns in three orders, in particular, give the round arch its stepped effect; the various capitals add their own accents. At the portal’s upper end, the decorated mochetas connect the framing with the tympanum.

Manor Houses

Casa Grande de Novelúa is one of the three inhabited manor houses in Novelúa. The group also includes A de Batán and the Pazo de Mourente. The Pazo de Fontearcada is one of Monterroso’s representative pazo estates and is located in Novelúa. A coat of arms is mounted in the chapel of Casa Grande de Novelúa. It forms the keystone of the wooden coffered ceiling. The coat of arms is carved from walnut wood. Casa Grande de Novelúa is privately owned.

The estates represent different forms of historic residential and representative architecture in the locality. In the case of Casa Grande, the private character of the house is combined with a particularly detailed decorative feature in the chapel: the carved coat of arms is not placed on just any architectural element, but serves as the keystone of the wooden coffered ceiling. The three inhabited manor houses are clearly distinguished by their names, while the Pazo de Fontearcada, a representative estate of Monterroso, is located in Novelúa.

Crafts

José Vázquez Méndez comes from Tarrío de Novelúa in Monterroso. In the post-war period, he learned from his father how to make cabeceiras for hórreos. Cabeceiras were considered the most affordable way for a family to have a hórreo.

This story also preserves a craft tradition from Novelúa. At its heart is the passing on of skills within the family: José Vázquez Méndez learned the work from his father and made cabeceiras for hórreos. At the same time, the description of this as the most affordable option points to the economic importance this work had at the time for families who wanted to have a hórreo.

Other Places

You can continue exploring other places at the same higher-level category via Saa, Valverde, Bóveda, Ribas de Sil, Baleira, Piñeira, Bolmente and Vilalba.

To the higher-level travel overview: Lugo.