Cross of the Campo de Santo Antonio

The cross of Saint Anthony, which presides over Saint Antony's Field, dates back to the 16th century. There is documentary evidence of its existence in the second half of the 16th century, as in 1503 the construction of the Franciscan monastery was started by the second count of Lemos, Rodrigo Enríquez de Castro and Osorio. Various subsequent counts, including his daughter Beatriz de Castro Osorio, 3rd Countess of Lemos, continued the building work and a significant sum of money was donated by Cardinal Rodrigo de Castro Osorio, the son of Countess Beatriz.

In past centuries, until the disappearance of the Franciscan monastery, the cross stood on the street that leads from the medieval bridge to Saint Anthony's Field, a field that was known from the 16th century to 1937 as the Calle del Cruceiro de Santo Antonio.

In the second half of the 19th century, the cross was moved to various places, but always within the Campo de Santo Antonio. In the lovely town of Monforte de Lemos, visitors can see a building dating from the 1920s that was built as a school, which was remodelled and later inaugurated as the Town Hall in 2001. The cross continues to preside over this place.

Original text by Felipe Aira Pardo.