Town Hall

Standing on the Alameda beside the Renaissance church of San Francisco, the town hall has a neo-Gothic tower with a large entrance arch and ornamental battlements. It was built in the mid-20th century; the rehabilitation was designed by the Santiago architect Leoncio Bescansa.

Inside, coats of arms from buildings in Noia are displayed in the ground-floor cloister, together with fragments from the Franciscan convent. Of particular interest is a medieval pointed arch from the Hospital of the Holy Spirit of Afora — so named because it stood outside the walls. Its voussoirs bear pilgrimage motifs (a staff with a gourd, and a scallop shell), as the hospital took in pilgrims. Another carving refers to Noia’s mythical origin: legend says the town was founded by Noah, and one voussoir shows Noah’s ark and the dove. A variant of the legend attributes the founding to Noela, Noah’s granddaughter.