IGREXA DE SANTO ANDRÉ DE TEIXIDO

Religious
5945

Location

Parish: Teixido (Santo André)

15358  Cedeira - A Coruña

Coordinates:
43º 42' 33.0" N - 7º 59' 02.9" W

Description

This temple is one of Galicia's most important places of pilgrimage. According a to popular saying, "vai de morto o que non vai de vivo" (those who do not go in life, go after death). It is situated on a spectacular location next to the sea and surrounded by a magnificent succession of cliffs and the foothills of the Serra da Capelada.
The church was built between the 16th and 18th centuries, following the aesthetic guidelines of the Gothic and Baroque periods. Of the original construction, only the north door remains today. The bell tower, in three sections, is built on a square base and topped by a pinnacle on the uppermost part. Other elements of interest include the mural paintings and a reliquary-sculpture of Saint Andrew, which is of Italian Baroque style and contains a bone fragment of the saint.
The worship of this saint, one of the twelve Apostles, has its roots in an ancient legend. According to the story, upon reaching these steep cliffs in a boat, Saint Andrew was shipwrecked and, receiving no aid, his boat sunk, whereupon it was transformed into the rocks that are scattered along the coastline, known as "A barca de San Andrés" (Saint Andrew's boat). God promised the saint that he would have a shrine and a pilgrimage in his honour and that, contrary to what occurred when the boat that carried him was shipwrecked, all men would visit his shrine, either in life or after death.
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