Church of San Xoan de Fonte Rosas

Parish: Fontes Rosas (San Xoán)

Location: A Cimadevila

The church has a rectangular floor plan and has masonry walls plastered in white with stone door and window frames, as well as granite ashlar corners. The ensemble is crowned by a bell tower in the form of a single-span belfry.

The patron saint of the parish is Saint John the Baptist, who dedicated himself to preaching conversion, baptizing in the River Jordan. He is remembered above all for baptizing Jesus, recognizing him as the Son of God. Considered the last prophet of the Old Testament and the first Saint of the New, he was martyred by beheading on the orders of Herod Antipas. The Church celebrates him as the precursor of Christ, with a feast on the day of his birth, something unusual in Christian liturgy.

The night of Saint John, celebrated on the night before June 24, has a deep-rooted tradition in Galicia. It coincides with the shortest night of the year and is marked by popular activities such as roasting sardines, jumping over bonfires, or collecting wild plants (herbas de San Xoán). In this celebration, religious devotion is mixed with pagan rituals linked to the summer solstice.

In the surroundings of the church are the parish cemetery, a cruceiro(stone cross), and a fountain located in the rear churchyard. Very close by, visitors can also discover other points of interest such as the Hórreo of Outeiro, the Batán Waterfall, or the Coto de San Sebastián viewpoint.