Monastery of San Paio de Antealtares

Monastery of San Paio de Antealtares
	Facade of San Paio de Antealtares in Quintana Square.
Religion
Affiliation	Roman Catholic
Ecclesiastical or organizational status	Monastery
Location
Location	Santiago de Compostela, Galicia, Spain
Architecture
Style	Baroque, Neoclassical

The Monastery of San Paio de Antealtares (Galician: Mosteiro de San Paio de Antealtares) is a monastery in Santiago de Compostela, Galicia, Spain.

It was founded in the 11th century by Alfonso II of Asturias and conceived as a Benedictine monastery originally integrated by twelve monks. It was initially aimed to look after and render worship to the newly discovered tomb of the Apostle James, which brought a pilgrimage status to the city.

Once the Benedictine monks left the monastery in 1499, it was occupied by cloistered nuns and dedicated to St. Pelagius, a 10th century Galician child captured, tortured and dismembered by order of the Caliph Abd-ar-Rahman III of al-Andalus after his refusal to renounce of his Christian faith.

The present-day construction can almost entirely be traced back to the 17th and 18th centuries.

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