1000 Places in Galicia NW Spain: Monastery of Poio in Pontevedra. Part 1 The Outside.

Welcome to the Monastery of Poio.

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The visit to the Monastery starts.

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We walk to the Monastery. The building on the left is the Town Hall of Poio.

A few words about the Municipality of Poio:

The Municipality of Poio is located on the north coast of The Ria de Pontevedra in southern Galicia. It is next to the capital of the province, Pontevedra and it has a population of about 16700.

The division into parishes remains in Galicia. They are civil parishes and are of ecclesiastical origin. Poio is divided into the following parishes: San Salvador, San Xoan, Combarro, Samieira and Raxó.

Economic activity focuses on tourism, fishing, shellfising and canning industry. There are 3 fishing ports: Campelo, Combarro and Raxó. There is also a marina in Combarro.

Town Hall of Poio

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Town Hall of Poio decorated for the feast day of San Xoán, June 24^th

A short walk.

The church and the Monastery on the left.

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About The Monastery

According to tradition the Monastery of Poio was founded by San Fructuoso or by his disciples in the seventh century. Its existence is documented in writing in 942. The Monastery belonged to the Benedictine Order until 1835. The Order had to leave it because of the Ecclesiastical Confiscations of Mendizábal. The building was in a state of neglect until 1890. In that year it was occupied by the friars of the Order of Mercy. They rebuilt it. They also began construction of a new building intended to be a major seminary, it was converted into guest quarters en 1972. It can be said that there are two monasteries, the Benedictine (medieval) and the Mercedarian (modern).

The facade of the Monastery

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There is a vaulted niche with the statue of Saint Benedict over the doorway. There is the coat of arms of the Monastery on the left of the picture and the other is of Congregation of Valladolid.

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The facade of the church was built between the end of the 16^th century and the middle of the 18th century. It has two bodies and the two bell towers. The first body is Doric style with the statues of St. John the Baptist in the centre and Apostles Santiago and St. Andrew on both sides.

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The ´Hórreo´: The ´hórreos´ are traditional architectural elements and are typical of Galicia (also of Asturias and León). They were built in stone and wood and were used and are used to store grain. They are isolated from ground to prevent rodent´s visits. This ´hórreo´ is one of the largest which are known in Galicia.