Shell Church of A Toxa

Tiny 12th-century chapel on A Toxa Island, completely covered in millions of scallop shells

Address Illa da Toxa, O Grove
Opening Hours Daily during daylight hours
Admission Free

A small 12th-century Romanesque chapel on the wooded island of A Toxa, ten minutes' walk across the road bridge from O Grove. The building itself is plain and rectangular, with a single nave and a small bell-tower — except that every surface of the exterior is covered, top to bottom, in nailed-on scallop shells. The texture is extraordinary up close: millions of overlapping shells, weathered to grey-and-white, completely obscuring the original stone.

The interior is unremarkable (a tiny altar, a few candles, the smell of damp). The exterior is the thing. Combine with a walk around A Toxa Island — the wooded paths, the thermal spa hotel, and the small art galleries make for a pleasant afternoon.

things to do sight architecture
A story
The Ermida de San Caralampio was a plain Romanesque chapel until the early 20th century, when local fishermen began nailing scallop shells to its exterior in thanksgiving for safe returns from the sea — a traditional Galician offering. By the 1940s the entire exterior was covered. The shells are renewed annually by the local fishing community; the chapel is one of the most photographed buildings in Galicia.