Church of Santa María de Nogueira de Miño

The church has a single nave, a triumphal arch and a quadrangular apse with a decorated semicircular window at the back, although the altarpiece inside does not allow us to see it.

The apse has a straight section with a barrel vault and a groin vault.  The four columns of the chancel have decorated capitals and bases, which were probably made by several hands as some of them are rougher than others. On the north side is an attached sacristy and the so-called Alba Chapel.

Outside, the corbels and the south door are covered with rich, varied decoration, in which the presence of local fauna is a constant theme: goats, bats, trout, eels, etc.

Inside are some impressive Renaissance paintings, which were restored in the second decade of the 21st century and have earned it the nickname of the Galician Sistine Chapel. They are frescoes on lime mortar and sand. They are attributed to the so-called Maestro of Nogueira and date from around 1560, according to Professor Garcia Iglesias. Their ornamental bands show great formal richness and Renaissance language. They show a final judgement with Christ surrounded by angels who are holding up the elements of the Passion and the celestial court presiding over the condemned and hell. They are attributed to the first half of the 16th century and have a rich range of colours that reflects the importance of the work at the time. They show some significant defects because of the subsequent building of a pulpit, which has now been removed, and the construction of the Alba Chapel. In the apse, the scene of the Kiss of Judas can be seen on the left panel, on the right a scene of the way of the cross, and on the ceiling a representation of the four winds with the sun and moon.

The north door has delicate ornamentation, with decorations on the archivolts and tympanum, and mouldings with animal figures.

Outside, the quadrangular apse also offers a delicate decorated window with a rounded arch.

There is a staircase on the outside to the belfry, where there is a bell whose ringing floods the Miño valley. According to the locals, it was the subject of a strange dispute between the parish priest of Nogeuira and another local priest over which of the two parishes would get the bigger bell. Nogueira won this odd dispute.

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