St. Michael's Church in Old Lugo

Isolated deep in the woods and dominating a loop of the Leyre, the church of Vieux Lugo (Historic Monument 1957) was an important stopover for pilgrims to Santiago de Compostela. The chapel is the only vestige of the old parish, abandoned in 1849. Oral tradition keeps the memory that it was dedicated to Our Lady and it remains today the object of a pilgrimage in September. It is made up of a semicircular apse vaulted in the back of an oven and a single nave, terminating on the west by an imposing tower. An annex was added at the end of the Middle Ages, to the south-east of the building. The whole building was built with a local reddish-brown stone, formed in the sand of the Landes, which is called "garluche". Remarkable frescoes (around 1500) were discovered in 1955. They adorn part of the walls of the chevet, the nave and illustrate the Compostelan pilgrimage.

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