Valle-Inclán Routes

Despite the various modifications undergone, this church still retains one of its most unique elements. Attached to the main body of the building and dating from the 16^th century is the Chapel of Cristo de los Crespo, which is part of a rural landscape that Valle-Inclán described when he went to Vilaxoán to receive Latin and Grammar classes, and that he mentions in his play The Wonderful Lamp.

You will find it in the place called San Roque do Monte (parish of San Miguel de Deiro). Erected at the end of the 16^th century on the initiative of the Cores brothers, it stands out due to its beautiful surroundings. It is home to the Casa de Pomares, a rectangular mansion with a hipped roof and a Mahía-type granary,  surrounded by a crenelated wall.

References in Valle-Inclán’s works to this spot are made in the place names that appear in Autumn Sonata. It is a single-storey construction in the shape of a Latin cross, featuring a bell tower with four openings, covered by an octagonal dome.

The pazo (Galician ancestral home), dating from the 16^th century, stands out due to its chapel, from the 18^th century, dedicated to San Miguel. The property is closely linked to the life and work of Valle-Inclán, since his paternal family lived in this pazo. In addition, this manor house and its surroundings marked part of the author’s memories of youth and helped to shape his aesthetic world in Romance de Lobos. Valle-Inclán used this chapel to describe the one that appears in his play.

Dating from the 16^th century, it stands out due to its irregular Latin cross plan. Its bells are housed in a belfry, featuring two striking sections and two openings of different sizes.

Moving on to the place called Baión, in Pontearnelas, you will find this rectangular chapel, with a large entrance door in a semicircular arch. In the surroundings, you will see the Bridge of Los Padrinos. This crossing over the Umia River was an important local communication route and was also considered as a place to perform fertility rites. Arnelas appears as the name of a character in the works Comedias Bárbaras, Autumn Sonata and El Marqués de Bradomín.

Dating from the end of the 16^th century, this chapel with a rectangular floor plan and arched belfry with a cross, stands out due to the devotion it arouses. In fact, Ramón María del Valle-Inclán had a special devotion to San Simón due to its festival. Whenever he attended it, he took the opportunity to talk to the blind, who told him stories that he then used in his works. Not in vain, one night after one of those festivals, he started writing El embrujado.

• Its origin dates back to the year 1088, when King Alfonso VI donated the Church of San Juan de Boine to the Monastery of San Martiño Pinario; it also forms part of the history of Compostela.

All that remains from its Romanesque period is its rectangular chevet, since the nave underwent several modifications, with the annexation of several chapels and the tower (integrated in the 18^th century). The surroundings stand out due to the magnificent view of Pazo Fontán and its estate, as well as the Rectory House, a 16^th-century building featuring interesting construction details and walled grounds.

The itinerary ends in this rectangular building, with a belfry in the centre of the frontispiece, probably dating from the 16^th century. The toponym András appears in some of Valle-Inclán’s works, such as Romance de Lobos, Los cruzados de la causa, El embrujado and Divine Words. Very close to this church you can see the Monument to the Muller Labrega (Peasant Woman).