Parador de Monforte de Lemos Monasterio San Vicente do Pino

Spain - Galicia - Lemos

A four star hotel overlooking the town

Situated at the highest point of the town of Monforte de Lemos, enjoying excellent views of the regional capital, is the San Vicente do Pino monumental complex.

It comprises the Keep, the San Vicente do Pino Monastery and the Condes de Lemos Palace; the latter two house the Parador de Monforte’s facilities.

The original monastery goes back to the 9th century and the current building, which stands on its site, is Neo-classical and dates from the 17th century. The building has been restored and converted into a Parador with 50 rooms distributed around the central cloister. There is also an annex building called the “Casa del Monte Fuerte” with a capacity for 100 guests.

The monastery building contains a central Neo-classical cloister of finely-worked stone; it is the monument’s most interesting architectural feature, with an intelligent layout of slopes and curved channels in the central flooring that were used to collect rain water that was then stored in a cistern beneath the floor tiles.

The 16th century Condes de Lemos Palace, located opposite the monastery, was damaged by fire and then restored in the 18th century. Today, the palace houses the Parador’s three magnificent function rooms and a 300 capacity banquet room. All the rooms in the Palace have impressive chestnut coffered ceilings.

The Parador restaurant, the ultimate crowning feature, invites the visitor to take a tour of the fascinating cuisine of Galicia. The four highlights are medieval brochettes of sirloin steak, cod with braised onions, beef "O Caldeiro" from "A Limia" and roast suckling pig in the style of the Counts of Lemos.

Hunting and fishing are two activities common to the region, and can either be done yourself or else enjoyed second hand by tasting the local trout, elvers (baby eels), and game such as roe deer or hare. Other local activities are golf, trekking and water sports.

The regional festivals are open to all. The Empanada and Lamprey festival takes place the last Sunday of August, and on 21st September San Mateo is celebrated. From the 12th to the 16th August there are festivities in honour of the town’s patron saint, La Virgen de Montserrat. On 3rd February there is the festival of San Blas, and San Lorenzo on the Sunday before Holy Week.

There are a number of interesting visits and trips in the area. Follow the local Romanesque routes through Monforte, Sóber, Proendos, Pinon, Cadeiras and Lobios. The route of the monasteries is also fascinating as is the “way of St James”. Take a trip on a Catamaran, and explore the Ribera Sacra region.

The Parador’s 50 rooms are divided into 38 twins,5 doubles, 4 suites and 3 duplexes, and all have full bath, minibar, air conditioning, television with interactive service and internet connection.

In addition to the standard hotel services such as restaurant, cafe, function rooms, etc, the Parador features a sauna, Jacuzzi and seasonal pool.

Pets are not allowed in the luxury hotels in the Spanish Paradores group.

The Parador season's closing from 7 January 2007 to 20 February 2007.
 

Directions

The Parador is located on San Vicente hill in the town of Monforte, 60 km from the walled city of Lugo. Its main access road is the A6 motorway, taking the N120 exit toward Monforte-Ourense near Ponferrada. Monforte is located 110 km from the town of Ponferrada, and the closest cities are Ourense (40 km), Lugo (60 km) and Santiago (117 km).