Bande - Santa Comba

Santa Comba de Bande is a pre-Romanesque church from the Visigothic period that belonged to a monastery. It was probably built around 675. The church is dedicated to St Columba of Sens, who - according to legend - suffered martyrdom during the persecution of Christians in the French town of Sens. St Columba has been venerated in Spain since the 7th century. According to a cartulary, the Asturian King Alfonso III (866-910) ordered the repopulation of these areas around 872. In this context, lands are mentioned with "very old churches dedicated to the Virgin and Martyr Columba".

Restoration work was carried out in 1932. This uncovered the foundations of square annexes that adjoined the church to the north and south. These extensions, only one of which is preserved on the northern transept, created a rectangle measuring 12 × 16 metres, from which only the apse protruded. Pilgrims or travellers were presumably accommodated in the western extensions, while the two eastern ones, which only had access to the church, were probably used as monks' cells.

The dome over the crossing