Our Lady of the Ancient

Colegio-Sanctuary of Monforte de Lemos · "el Scorial Galician" (Lugo)

In the monumental College of Our Lady of the Old - the "Escorial Galician" that Cardinal Rodrigo de Castro raised - the advocation to which the Cardinal consecrated his great educational work by Monforte de Lemos is venerated.

Origin and history

The College of Our Lady of the Old, called "the Galician Scorial" or "College of the Cardinal," was ordered to be built by Cardinal Rodrigo de Castro Osorio (1523-1600), who put it under the title of Our Lady of the Old, of which it was especially devoted. It was raised between the end of the 16th and the beginning of the 17th century in a herriian Renaissance style, and was a great center of teaching run by the Society of Jesus and, following the expulsion of the Jesuits, by the Escolapian Fathers. Its church houses a remarkable major altarpiece of walnut in Francisco de Moure.

Our Lady of the Old is intimately linked to the school's educational mission since its foundation. (The civilian patron of the village of Monforte is instead the Virgin of Montserrat.) The sources do not collect a foundational account of the image.

Patronade of the villa (is of Montserrat), own feast and canonical coronation: do not record.