Ermida de Nossa Senhora da Lanzada

The chapel of Notre-Dame de la Lanzada is a small chapel located in the civil parish of Noalla, in Sanxenxo, in the province of Pontevedra, in Spain. The chapel, which is located at the western end of a point that juts out into the sea at the stunning A Lanzada beach , was built in the 12th Century in the late Romanesque style. 
Once an island but now connected with the mainland by an isthmus, the area was inhabited since ancient times. The old village of Castros and the necropolis with numerous Roman remains serve as evidence for this.

The Romanesque chapel was built on the remains of another older church linked to the fortress built in the 10th century to defend, with the western towers of Catoira and Cambados, the lands of Santiago de Compostela from Viking and Norman invaders.

The chapel went through numerous phases of war where it got destroyed in the 13th century. It was later rebuilt in a more robust way, but got damaged again in the 15th century by the Irmandiña revolts. Finally, in the 16th century, it was definitively abandoned. Currently, only the remains of one of the towers and the chapel are preserved.

Legends:

The chapel has been associated since ancient times with the fertility rite of the bath of the nine waves on the beach of La Lanzada.


The last weekend of August, the pilgrimage of the Virgin of La Lanzada is celebrated. On Saturday night, hundreds of women come to this location to end their infertility; for this they must undergo the bath of the nine waves at midnight.
This ritual involves the following:

a) The women must swim in the water at midnight and receive 9 waves over their belly
b) They must then visit the cliff under the chapel and look for a stone with a shape of a seat called 'Bed of the virgin' or 'crudle of the saint'
c) When leaning back or sitting on the stone, they must pronounce their wish to become a mother

Sailors also ask for the favours of the virgin to protect them from the dangers of the sea, as evidenced by the votive offerings in the form of miniature boats suspended inside the chapel.