Leboreiro: Igrexa de Santa María, along the Camino Frances

I found this wonderful Mary on the last leg of the Camino Frances. It was the loveliest story of my walk: a statue who didn't didn't want to come inside.  All Victoria's photos of this day are an otherworldly blue as you see in the profile picture.
She's one of many statues found in the water.  I am writing now about two Mary statues pulled out of the Mekong riverbed.  

Too lazy to do anything but copy and paste this very good overview of the church and story:

"Across the Rio Seco, is the 13th-century late-Romanesque Igrexa de Santa María (some sources say Gothic with some Romanesque features and call it one of the best examples of Galician Romanesque transition). It has a lovely carved Romanesque tympanum above the main door with a relief of Virgin and Child flanked by angels swinging censers. However, the church was rebuilt in the 18th century and given a wood roof.  Supporting the roof are a variety of interesting Romanesque corbels, including one very obvious phallus.

The Iglesia de Santa María was built to house a statue of the Virgin. Villagers following a lovely smell and a glowing light supposedly found the statue at a local fountain. For several days, they placed the Virgin on their church altar but by the next morning it would return to the fountain. Eventually, the villagers decided to honor the Virgin by carving a tympanum and dedicating the church to her. At that point, the statue remained calmly on the altar and is still in the church.
​
The Casa de la Enfermería, an old pilgrim hospital, is just opposite the church. The hospital was founded in the 12th century. A document dated 1172 says that it belonged to the Monastery of Sobrado (near Arzúa). However, by the 15th century, it was a property of the wealthy Ulloa family, whose coat of arms is still preserved on the façade. In recent times, it has served as a hay barn.

Just after Leboreiro, we crossed the humpbacked 14th-century Puente María Magdalena (Magdalena Bridge) over the Río Seco [dry river] into the hamlet ofDisicabo (Disecabo or Desicabo)."

Credit to this Camino blogger:
http://madillcamino2014.blogspot.com/2015/10/placeholder-sunday-september-21-2014.html

---