Argozón: Romanesque architecture and Capela de Gordón

Argozón brings together Romanesque architecture, other sacred details, and a municipal Romanesque circular route. When planning your trip, it is worth distinguishing the churches by their construction period and design, and matching each distance to its specific destination. This makes it possible to consider the architectural highlights and the different directions separately.

San Vicente: Romanesque architecture and cultural heritage

San Vicente de Argozón is a Romanesque church dating from the second half of the 12th century. Its rectangular nave and rectangular apse define the ground plan. At the front of the apse is a round-arched window with zoomorphic capitals and billet decoration. Zoomorphic means animal-shaped; billet decoration is an ornament made up of small, repeated block-like forms. The description therefore ranges from the basic structure to the window ornament: the nave and apse name the architectural elements, while the window, capitals, and ornament are the distinctive details on the apse.

In the annex to the 2018 decree concerning the Ribeira Sacra cultural landscape, San Vicenzo de Argozón is listed as immovable sacred cultural heritage. San Vicenzo is the Galician name used there. The construction period and architecture describe the building; the listing records its formal classification as sacred cultural heritage.

Capela de Gordón: later construction and Baroque retables

Capela de Gordón dates from the late 17th and early 18th centuries, providing a chronological comparison with the Romanesque San Vicente. Its ground plan is rectangular; the presbytery is square, and the sacristy is attached to the side. The presbytery is the architectural area of the choir. Three retables survive inside: one in the main chapel and two at the sides; all three are Baroque. A retable is the decorative structure behind an altar.

At the chapel, the architectural form and furnishings can be considered separately: the ground plan, presbytery, and sacristy describe the layout of the building, while the three retables are its surviving furnishings. By comparison, at San Vicente the Romanesque structure and window ornament take centre stage, while at Capela de Gordón the focus is on the later construction period and Baroque altar structures. In this way, the two buildings offer different chronological and architectural highlights.

Routes and road directions

San Vicente as a stop on the Ruta de Montaña

San Vicente de Argozón is the eleventh stop on the official Ruta de Montaña, a Romanesque route. The stop number helps you locate the church in the route’s sequence.

The municipal circular route

The municipal Romanesque route is a 46.6-kilometre circular route from Chantada via O Monte, Argozón, Mouricios, Requeixo, and Bermún, returning to Chantada. The distance applies to the entire circular route, not just the section through Argozón. Check the current route conditions before setting out.

From Chantada, you can reach San Vicente de Argozón via the LU-213 towards Rodeiro; the distance is approximately 11 kilometres. To reach Capela de Gordón, the directions also follow the LU-213, but towards Lalín-Santiago; it is around 12 kilometres from Chantada. Both distances are approximate and refer to different destinations. The distances are similar, but the directions differ. If you plan to visit both buildings, treat the directions as two separate routes.

Geographical setting

Argozón borders the Sierra de O Monte Faro to the west. This geographical relationship adds another point of reference to help you plan, alongside the churches and routes.

Discover more destinations

Meira, Hortás, Lugo, Antas De Ulla, Xove, Burela, A Veiga de Logares, Novelúa

For the overview of the wider area: Lugo.