Coelleira
Encyclopedia
Illa Coelleira, or Colleira (Spanish: Isla Conejera, literal translation: Rabbits' Island), is a small island located in the mouth of the Barqueiro river, off the town of Vivero, in the Rias Altas
coastal region of Galicia, Spain
. The island is part of O Vicedo
municipality. It is known best as the site of a former monastery, and today houses a lighthouse
to aid navigation.
A firm record exists of a donation by Vimara Menéndez to the monastery of San Miguel de Quonicularia in 1095. The donation gave over to the monastery one third of the church of San Julian de Loiva under an intermediary bishop, Gonzalo.
Little record of the island exists from the 11th to 15th centuries. Some accounts describe the island being settled by Templars, who were then massacred in 1307. Reports resume in the 15th century, with the 1485 union of the island monastery with the mainland monastery of San Martiño de Mondoñedo under prior
Ares Pérez de Viladonga. There followed numerous difficulties for the Coelleira monastery, until in 1534 a papal bull annexed the monastery to Mondoñedo Cathedral.
Rias Altas
Rías Altas is the northernmost of three sections of A Costa do Marisco in Galicia, Spain. It extends from the port of Ribadeo to Santa Cruz....
coastal region of Galicia, Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
. The island is part of O Vicedo
O Vicedo
O Vicedo is a municipality located on the extreme northwestern coast of Galicia, Spain, in the province of Lugo.- Parishes :It is composed of the following "parroquias" or "freguesias" :...
municipality. It is known best as the site of a former monastery, and today houses a lighthouse
Lighthouse
A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses or, in older times, from a fire, and used as an aid to navigation for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways....
to aid navigation.
Name
The island's Galician name, Illa Coelleira, means "island of the rabbits", a reference to the numerous rabbits that today inhabit the otherwise bare island. Documents show its name in the 11th century as Quonicularia.History
Historians have speculated that the monastery was founded during the reign of Leovigildo (573-586 AD), a period during which Christians were persecuted. This theory holds that the monastery was populated with monks fleeing the monastery of San Claudius of León, who then spread out to work throughout Galicia.A firm record exists of a donation by Vimara Menéndez to the monastery of San Miguel de Quonicularia in 1095. The donation gave over to the monastery one third of the church of San Julian de Loiva under an intermediary bishop, Gonzalo.
Little record of the island exists from the 11th to 15th centuries. Some accounts describe the island being settled by Templars, who were then massacred in 1307. Reports resume in the 15th century, with the 1485 union of the island monastery with the mainland monastery of San Martiño de Mondoñedo under prior
Prior
Prior is an ecclesiastical title, derived from the Latin adjective for 'earlier, first', with several notable uses.-Monastic superiors:A Prior is a monastic superior, usually lower in rank than an Abbot. In the Rule of St...
Ares Pérez de Viladonga. There followed numerous difficulties for the Coelleira monastery, until in 1534 a papal bull annexed the monastery to Mondoñedo Cathedral.