Vilanova de Lourenza

Vilanova de Lourenzá is a town in the municipality of Lourenzá, in the province of Lugo, Galicia, situated in the valley of the Lourenzá river on the inland Camino del Norte route. The town is dominated by the Monasterio de San Salvador de Lourenzá, a Benedictine monastery founded in the tenth century by the Conde Santo, whose church retains a remarkable Baroque facade of elaborate carved stonework added in the eighteenth century.

The monastery church is the principal monument of the town, with the Baroque west front one of the more ornate examples of this style in Galicia, featuring a complex programme of columns, niches, and decorative carving. The tomb of the Conde Santo, the founding patron, is preserved inside.

For pilgrims on the Camino del Norte, Vilanova de Lourenzá is one of the historically most significant stops on the inland variant between Ribadeo and Mondoñedo.