What to see in Corcubión

Corcubion, land of calm and bravery

Cultural Heritage

San Marcos da Cadeira

Ethnological heritage

San Marcos is the patron saint of Corcubión. He is called "San Marcos da cadeira" (cadeira means chair in Galician) because he is represented in a seated attitude. In this image we see an elderly bearded man sitting on an ornate chair flanked by the coats of arms of the Moscoso (wolf's head) and the Castro (six circles). With curly hair, he is covered with a smooth bonnet. He has an open book between his knees in which he is writing with pen. He wears a tunic and a cloak that is fastened with a rosette-shaped clasp. He has a winged lion at his feet, a symbol that corresponds to the Evangelist San Marcos.

Tradition says that the statue arrived in Corcubión by sea. Legend has it that one day a sailboat arrived in Corcubión carrying a statue of San Marcos among its load, a carving that would have been destined for some European port. The ship entered into Corcubión due to bad weather. But once the storm subsided, and every time the ship tried to continue its journey, the bad weather started again. After several attempts, the crew began to get restless and, faced with religious fear, they managed to convince their captain that, perhaps, by leaving San Marcos statue on land the storm would subside. Finally, by leaving San Marcos at Corcubión the ship was able to set sail again and continue its journey.

There is another version of this legend that says that the image was the figurehead of a Venetian ship that its crew threw into the sea, being picked up by the fishermen of the town who made it their patron saint.

According to a former administrator of the Counts of Altamira, this image came from Venice. The art historian López Vázquez states that it is a Gothic carving, from the second half of the 15th century, made in an Italian sculpture workshop. There is evidence that Venetian and Genoese ships were forced into the ports of Costa da Morte following the trade route to Flanders, just as ships from our area were forced into the freight markets of Genoa. The heraldic symbols that appear in the picture correspond to the Moscoso and Castro family and it is very likely that the carving came from Italy, as the Counts had relatives who held political and military positions in those lands.