Noalla Parish

"Noalla is a parish in the municipality of Sanxenxo, belonging to the archpriesthood of O Salnés and archdiocese of Santiago de Compostela. The church of Santo Estevo de Noalla is built on the Romanesque remains of a previous temple, of which the portal is preserved, although not in its original state, as it was later remodeled. Of this door, the archivolts with pointed arches and the carvings of the tympanum, scene of the crucifixion of Christ, dating from the 18th century, stand out. On the outside of the side walls of the nave are the remains of two narrow loopholes and a door with a pointed arch, all of them walled up and located between the first two buttresses, as well as numerous stonework marks that confirm the reuse of materials from the old Romanesque factory. Near the church we see the beautiful cross of Quintáns."

VICTOR MARTINEZ

"A temple with a very long history, where its exterior alone is worth a careful visit. The transept is beautiful!
The parish church of Santo Estevo de Noalla (or San Esteban de Noalla) is a Baroque church, the result of the conversion of a Romanesque church. It preserves important parts, such as its two doorways: one with brick walls and the main one, which is in the transition to Gothic, to which a Baroque Calvary, all in granite, was added.
Its proximity to the old rectory, now a private residence, and its beautiful transept are very interesting.
Last year, while spending the summer on Montalvo beach, we visited the church of Santa Maria de Adina, the oldest church in the municipality of Sanxenxo in Pontevedra. This church, Santo Estevo de Noalla, is the largest of all.
Built on the site of an earlier Romanesque church, its main doorway, already Romanesque-Gothic from the 13th century, is preserved, with pointed archivolts to which, as I mentioned, an 18th-century Calvary was added to fill the tympanum. The interior of the nave has three bays: two with ribbed vaults, and the other with a barrel vault. The sacristy and a small chapel also have a barrel vault.
Also noteworthy is the Baroque bell tower, so essential for calling people to mass and which, in many cases, ended up being built in conjunction with older churches. On the side of the church where the staircase leading up begins, there is a Baroque doorway with a statuette of the church's titular saint: Saint Stephen or Saint Stephen, holding the palm of martyrdom on the right, and on the left, a pile of stones like those with which this deacon from the beginning of Christianity was stoned to death."

Francisco José Jaspe y Anido

"Beautiful Romanesque church, well restored and with excellent views of La Lanzada beach."

Jj Ferr