Lovely card showing Saint Michael's Chapel in Celanova sent to Hong Kong!

Postcard 40 shows one of the oldest and best preserved Pre-Romanesque buildings in the Iberian Peninsula.

We are referring to a gem of a church, A Capela de San Miguel (Saint Michael’s Chapel), located in the gardens of the Monastery of San Salvador in Celanova. Hope Antonia, our friend from Hong Kong, will like it!

Remember that Hong Kong, more than 10000km away, has already been described on a previous post. 

If you want to learn about the history and style of Saint Michael’s Chapel, visit DISCOVER OURENSE. Thank you, Andrea!

Discover Ourense XXXIV: Saint Michael Mozarabic Chapel in the Monastery of San Salvador, Celanova

Postcard 40 features a gem of a chapel dedicated to Saint Michael the Archangel and located in the garden of the Monastery of San Salvador in Celanova, a town of 6,000 inhabitants located 23 km from Ourense.

Location of Celanova in the province of Ourense. Wikipedia

The Monastery of San Salvador is Celanova’s most important building in a well-preserved historical center. It was founded by St. Rudesind (San Rosendo) in 936. The nave is considered the most perfect Galician Baroque church.

Monastery of San Salvador de Celanova. Main façade. Galicia en fotos.com

Cloister Monastery of San Salvador de Celanova. Residenciabarroso.com

Saint Michael’s Chapel happens to be one of the best preserved pre-Romanesque monuments in Spain.

Capilla de San Miguel. Celanova. Absoluteourense.com

Completed in the year 942 (10^th century), the chapel has a Mozarabic style and consists of a nave, from where it is accessed, with a barrel vault, the central body  crowned by an inner brick cross vault, and a prominent outer overhang, and an apse, square on the outside and round in the inside, topped by a dome.

Capela de San Miguel. Turismo.gal

Despite its small windows, the chapel’s interior is incredibly luminous. In fact, its orientation is such that it captures the light of the rising sun at the equinoxes of spring and autumn.

Espectacular equinoccio Capilla de San Miguel. LaRegion,es

Sources:

Wikipedia

360 Cities.net