The church of Chantada is 200 years old - Chantada, Lugo, Galicia, España
Posted by: Ariberna
N 42° 36.480 W 007° 46.191
29T E 600903 N 4718018
Construction of this neoclassical building began in 1793, in part with material from the demolition of Santa Ana Chapel
Waymark Code: WM14K8C
Location: Galicia, Spain
Date Posted: 07/19/2021
Views: 0
The building of the old church of Chantada will celebrate in 2018 its first two centuries of existence. The Latin inscription that can be read in the granite blocks of the tympanum of the cover makes it clear: terribilis est locus iste hic domus dei es portra celi anno MDCCCXVIII (Magnificent this place that is the house of God and the door of heaven. Year 1818).
Nestled on one side of the Plaza del Mercado and on the corner of the Canton, a place now almost hidden and once the area of ??most social and commercial activity in the town, is the old church of the parish of Santa Mariña de Chantada. It is a neoclassical style building that has a bell tower of sophisticated stonework in the center of the old town.
In the years before the beginning of the construction of the church there were three pastoral visits of the Bishop of Lugo, Friar Francisco de Armañá, back in 1769, 1777 and 1779. In all of them he commissioned the renovation of the temple and the sacristy, because the priests who officiated in Chantada they had difficulty dressing in the space they had for this purpose. The Bishop of Lugo also made it clear that a religious building with the appropriate strength was needed to protect the jewels of great value donated to the parish of Chantada by the Marquis of Astorga.
Thus began the works in 1793 and it was on July 13, 1801 when Bishop Felipe Peláez Canedo ordered the demolition of the hermitage of Santa Ana, in the square that today bears that name. The materials obtained in this demolition were used in the construction of the new sacristy.
Magariños imagery
Inside the old church of Chantada, the chapels on the sides are worth mentioning, one dedicated to San Antonio and the other to San Xoán Bautista. It is also worth remembering the quality of the imagery that houses this church, in particular the works of the renowned Santiago sculptor Magariños.
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