A Peregrina Church, as its name suggests, has a lot to do with the Camino de Santiago. It is dedicated to the Pilgrim Virgin, who was the one who guided the walkers who came from Baiona to Santiago. She is the patron saint of Pontevedra and the Portuguese Way.

It was built in the 18th century, halfway between the Baroque and the Neoclassical. The first thing that catches our attention is its half-rounded façade, why is it? As it turns out that the plant is inspired by a scallop shell, this church could not be more pilgrimage! All the details are related to the pilgrimage. Even the baptismal font is a giant shell donated by Méndez Núñez, who brought it back from one of his exotic trips.

The main façade, by Antón Souto, has an image of the Virgin from the 19th century on top. The main altarpiece is neoclassical, made by Melchor de Prado, with variations contributed by Manuel de Prado and Juan Pernas Gambino. The entrance to the church is preceded by a fountain, in which we can fill our shell and have a drink.

Another symbol of the city is the Alameda: the urban park of Pontevedra par excellence. It was designed at the end of the 19th century by the architect Alejandro Sesmero. as part of the expansion works of the city outside the walls. In the past it was the Campo da Verdade and das Rodas, and here the fishing instruments were made. With the arrival of the Dominican loos, the space was transformed into a place for a walk.

It is a wooded oval surface. On the western side there is a viewpoint with stairs. On the outer wall, the mosaics by Carlos Sobrino stand out, with costumbrista and traditional scenes: the Plaza de la Leña, the hermitage of Santa María de A Lanzada, hórreos de Combarro… On the promenade there is also a monument to the heroes of Ponte Sampaio and a music box.

If we cross the Plaza de España from the Alameda and walk along the Avenida de Santa María, where will we end up? In the Royal Basilica of Santa María A Maior, of course. It is a Gothic building, the most important example of Elizabethan Gothic in Galicia, with influences from the Portuguese Manueline. The construction of the temple, in the 16th century, was promoted by the Dizzying Guild, very powerful at the time, due to the maritime and commercial boom of the city.

We access the main façade, to the west, through a steep staircase. The façade looks like a Plateresque altarpiece, the work of Cornielis de Holanda and Juan Noble, probably from 1541. The relief of the dormition of the Virgin stands out.

The façade on the south side faces the Plaza de Alonso Fonseca. A large stone cross and the Good Trip Christ, protector of devout travelers, stand out. The tower leads to a museum and a viewpoint with views of the old town and the estuary. Curiously, another view of the city is engraved on the stone itself on the façade.

By the way, the old Mayot altarpiece of the basilica is on display in the Museum of Pontevedra. Actually, this museum houses a good number of works of art. It was born in 1927 with the mission of conserving, exhibiting, researching and disseminating Galician heritage, and it has grown so much that it now occupies six physical locations, all in the historical complex of the city. Namely: the Castro Monteagudo building, in the Plaza de la Leña, in the process of being restored; the ruins of San Domingos, one of the first to be declared a national monument, in 1895, which in 1937 was incorporated into the museum; the García Flórez building, today also under rehabilitation; the Fernández López building, administrative center of the museum and headquarters of the archive, library and research room; the Sarmieto building, rehabilitated in the 20th and 21st centuries, and dedicated to Prehistory, ancient history and ceramics primarily, and the Castelao building, entirely newly built, dedicated to Galician history and art from the early Middle Ages to today.

As we can see, Pontevedra is a city with a lot of art: it has a monumental historic center, a museum to tip your hat off to, the only fine arts college in Galicia and even… an artistic island! It is the Illa das Esculturas (Sculpture Island), also known as Illa do Covo or Illa da Xunqueira. It is in an area of ​​Lérez of great natural value, which is part of the Natura 2000 Network. It has everything: bike lanes, walkways, bridges, fountains and even a playground.

The island has become an open-air museum since it houses sculptures by twelve great international contemporary artists. The proposal, which came from the historians Rosa Olivares and Antón Castro, implied making a work in granite, which had to do with Galicia, and specifically for the island. Thus, for example, Robert Morris’s labyrinth is inspired by the Mogor petroglyphs, Dan Graham’s pyramid takes us into the shadows and reflections of the river, Jenny Holzer invites us to reflect on its banks with engraved phrases, Leiro proposes the extension of the home inside the river, with an armchair and a shelf with floating cheeses…

Santiago de Compostela

Monuments to St. Francis and the Sacred Heart

The city where he spent a good part of his life houses several of Francisco Asorey’s works. The most visible and important is the monument to Saint Francis of Assisi on which the sculptor worked between 1925 and 1930 to commemorate the seventh centenary of the death of the Italian saint. The sculpture is located in front of the façade of the monastery that the saint himself had ordered to be built at the beginning of the 13th century in Compostela after his pilgrimage to the tomb of the Apostle. In addition, in the courtyard of the Compañía de María school there is a sculpture of the Sacred Heart of Jesus sculpted by Asorey in 1940.

Lalín

Monuments to Loriga and Aller

There are two works by Asorey in the municipality of Lalín, although in this case, unlike the ones in Compostela, they are not religious creations, but two pieces designed to pay homage to two outstanding personalities of the capital of the Deza region. The first, dating from 1933, is dedicated to the aviator Joaquín Loriga, famous for being part of the Elcano Squadron that completed an aerial travel between Madrid and the Philippines in 1926 and for being one of the pioneers of aviation in Galicia. His neighbours had started a popular subscription to give him an aeroplane, but after his tragic death in a plane crash in Madrid they decided to use the money to erect a monument to him, which was commissioned to Asorey and inaugurated in 1933. At the end of the 1950s, the sculptor’s talent was again called upon from Lalín to immortalise in stone another illustrious Lalín native, the mathematician, priest and astronomer Ramón María Aller Ulloa.

A Coruña

Monument to Manuel Curros Enríquez

The gestation of the imposing monument with which the city of A Coruña remembers the writer and journalist Manuel Curros Enríquez lasted almost three decades and was marked by various problems. The death of several important members of the Real Academia Galega (the entity promoting the tribute), doubts about the location of the monument, the fact that the first competition for ideas was not successful and the insufficient funds to undertake the project with which Asorey won the second competition were some of the obstacles that had to be overcome. It was finally inaugurated in 1934 in the gardens of Méndez Núñez, but the initial plan to deposit the ashes of Curros in a space provided for this purpose at the back of the building was never completed.

Samos

Monument to Father Feijóo

The sculpture with which those responsible for the monastery of San Julián de Samos wanted to commemorate the passing through the monastery of one of its most illustrious monks, Benito Jerónimo Feijóo y Montenegro, better known as Father Feijóo (1676-1764) and one of the most outstanding representatives of the Enlightenment, was also awaited. The project had begun in 1935, but had to be put on hold because of the Civil War and was not taken up again until the 1940s. Finally, the statue sculpted by Asorey and placed in the centre of the cloister named after Feijoo himself was unveiled in 1947.

Vigo

Monument to García Barbón

The importance that the businessman and patron of the arts José García Barbón (1831-1909) had in Vigo can be seen in buildings such as the theatre that bears his name and the School of Arts and Crafts. And also in the monument with which the city wanted to show its gratitude a few years after his death to this emigrant who had prospered in Cuba and who, on his return to Galicia, after spending a few years in his native Verín, decided to settle permanently in Vigo. In this case, Asorey designed a large sculpture with the figure of García Barbón seated and the god Hermes presiding over the whole from above. The piece was inaugurated in 1927 by King Alfonso XIII in the avenue also dedicated to the patron of the arts and very close to the house he had lived in the city, but years later it was moved to a roundabout in Isaac Peral street. Another work by Asorey in Vigo is the sculpture dedicated to Eduardo Cabello, the engineer responsible for the works on the city’s port. This piece is located in the Bouzas area and was inaugurated only a year after the García Barbón sculpture.

Pontevedra

Monument to Manuel Barreiro Cabanelas

Manuel Barreiro Cabanelas (1867-1950) is another emigrant who prospered in emigration (Brazil), was noted for his philanthropic works and was immortalised by Francisco Asorey. The important donations he made to the Provincial Hospital of Pontevedra, which allowed it to expand its services on several occasions, led the Provincial Council to promote the construction of a statue in the early 1940s, which has changed its location at least a couple of times, but without ever moving away from the hospital façade. It was originally located above a fountain, but this was removed during one of these changes of location.

Mondariz

Monument to Doctor Rodríguez

Also related to medicine is the sculpture unveiled in Mondariz in 1925. Maximino Rodríguez Fornos was a doctor who died as a result of a fatal infection contracted during his intervention in a complicated childbirth. In homage to his dedication and by popular subscription, Asorey was commissioned to create a piece in which, next to the bust of the honoured man, there are figures that can be interpreted both as Greek gods and as the protagonists of the episode that caused the doctor’s death.

Lugo

Monument to Mayor López Pérez

Mayor of Lugo for four different periods between 1905 and 1931, as well as being a lawyer and president of the Círculo de las Artes, Ángel López Pérez left an indelible mark on the city of the Wall to the point of being honorarily designated “perpetual mayor”. Once again, Asorey was the sculptor chosen to turn into art a tribute for posterity, which can still be seen in Rosalía de Castro Park. The sculpture, which includes a fountain and a pond, was unveiled in 1958, but plans for a neighbourhood tribute to Ángel López Pérez dated back to the early 1930s.

Marín

Statues for the Naval School

The Marín Naval Military School can boast of housing a total of four creations by Asorey. All of them were commissioned on the occasion of the transfer of the Navy’s study centre from Cádiz to Marín and its inauguration in 1943. By that date Asorey had already completed a stone sculpture dedicated to the Virgen del Carmen, patron saint of seafarers, and a bronze statue of Álvaro de Bazán, the famous 16th century admiral. In the following years they would be joined by busts dedicated to two other illustrious mariners: Isaac Peral and José Luis Díez.

Cangas

Monument to Soage

Another of the statues that Asorey sculpted to pay homage to a philanthropist can be found in Cangas. The monument dedicated to José Félix Soage is dated 1924 and would have been placed a year before the inauguration of the market square paid for with the donations of this emigrant in Argentina. The piece consists of a bust of Soage and the image of a sailor holding an oar and is located in the gardens that also bear the name of the philanthropist.

Cambados

Monument to Cabanillas and tributes to Asorey

The town where Asorey was born could not remain oblivious to the legacy of the sculptor. In its streets you can see the monument erected in memory of another illustrious neighbour of the town and to whom he was linked by a relationship of friendship and by various parallels in their careers: Ramón Cabanillas. The so-called “poet of the race” was honoured by the “sculptor of the race” with a piece made up of a large block of stone on a pedestal on which a bust of the writer can be seen. The work, located on the Paseo da Calzada, was inaugurated a year before the death of the sculptor, who shortly afterwards would be the recipient of his own tribute. In this case it was two of his disciples, José Cao Lata and Joaquín Gil Armada, who were in charge of shaping a piece inaugurated in 1965 in the square also dedicated to Asorey and in which, in addition to the bronze face of the sculptor, a replica of one of his most famous creations can be seen: A Naiciña.

O Burgo Bridge

Pontevedra

O Burgo bridge is not only one of the best known landmarks of Pontevedra. Without its presence, much of the city’s history would not be understood. An earlier viaduct gave its name to the town and over the bridge, which with various modifications has survived to the present day, the Lérez pact was signed in 1165 between Ferdinand II and Alfonso I of Portugal to try to put an end to Portuguese incursions into Galician lands. The bridge of O Burgo also witnessed other disputes over the centuries and also suffered the onslaught of the forces of nature, such as a flood that caused significant damage in the mid-17th century. In 1719 it was the English who left their mark on the viaduct. As part of the War of the Quadruple Alliance, the English troops that had taken Vigo for a few days also attacked Pontevedra and destroyed the Tower Bridge that stood at one end of the viaduct and the prison building attached to one of its sides.

Maceira Bridge

Negreira and Ames

The viaduct that links the municipalities of Negreira and Ames, giving its name to the pretty village of A Ponte Maceira, was built in medieval times and played an important role in two conflicts in which two archbishops of Compostela took part. The “Historia compostelana” describes a 12th century conflict in which troops of the Compostelan archbishop Diego Gelmírez and the count Pedro Froilaz de Traba were involved. In 1471, the same pass over the River Tambre was the scene of part of the armed dispute between the supporters of Archbishop Alonso de Fonseca II and the troops of Lopo Sánchez de Moscoso for control of the lands of A Maía. This confrontation, also known as the Battle of Altamira because what was at stake was the control of the fortress that bears that name, took place partly in Ponte Maceira because it was there that the archbishop’s troops clashed with a contingent that came to the aid of Sánchez de Moscoso’s men. 

O Burgo Bridge

Culleredo and Cambre

The medieval bridge of O Burgo, which joins the municipalities of Culleredo and Cambre at the beginning of the estuary of the same name, did not escape the consequences of one of the most important battles of the War of Independence in Galicia. The opposing sides were the British troops led by General John Moore, who had come to the Peninsula in support of the Spanish troops, and a French army corps under the command of Marshal Jean-de-Dieu Soult. After the failure of the Spanish campaign, the British headed for A Coruña with the aim of embarking back to the islands. Shortly before reaching their destination, in mid-January 1809, they did not hesitate to blast the bridge at O Burgo to delay the French advance. However, the existence of an alternative pass nearby and the rapid repair of the viaduct allowed the Gallic troops to catch up with their enemy before he had completed the evacuation and force him to fight a bloody battle. The end result was hundreds of deaths, including that of John Moore himself.

Cruzul Bridge

Becerreá

Shortly before arriving in A Coruña, the French and the English had also crossed the Cruzul Bridge, in the Lugo region of Becerreá, although there is no consensus on the specific circumstances of that episode. Some argue that the French had planned to demolish with explosives this structure, built over a tributary of the River Navia at the end of the 18th century, in order to prevent the English from retreating. But there are also those who argue that it was the english who planned to blow it up in order to interrupt the march of their pursuers. What there is more consensus on today is that, despite the idea that was quite widespread in the past, neither one or the other fulfilled their plans and the viaduct was never blasted, although it would have undergone modifications at a later date.

Sobradelo Bridge

Carballeda de Valdeorras

There are fewer doubts about what happened to the Sobradelo bridge, which spans the river Sil in Carballeda de Valdeorras. In this case, the chronicles tell us that its central arch was blasted by the abbot of Casaio at the beginning of 1809 to stop the French once the troops led by the Marquis of La Romana had crossed it. It took almost 100 years for the wooden framework with which it was temporarily repaired to be replaced by the new structure that can be seen today. 

Sampaio Bridge

Soutomaior and Pontevedra

The French presence in Galicia was seriously affected after the battle that took place in mid-1809 over the waters of the river Verdugo, on the border of the current municipalities of Pontevedra and Soutomaior. There is the imposing bridge of Ponte Sampaio, a medieval viaduct probably built on the foundations of an earlier Roman pass, which the French intended to use to regain the positions lost during the previous weeks in the south of the province. The French troops, made up of almost 10,000 soldiers and horsemen, arrived at the site on June 7th and were met by a heterogeneous defensive contingent of regular troops and volunteers organised under the command of Colonel Pablo Morillo, who had even knocked down several of the bridge’s arches to prevent passage. The Gallic attacks were unsuccessful and on 9 June Marshal Ney was forced to order his troops to withdraw.

Ponte Caldelas

Ponte Caldelas

The victory at the Battle of Ponte Sampaio would perhaps not have been possible without the development of another battle that took place a few kilometres upriver on a bridge built in the 16th century and which gives its name to the municipality where it is located: Ponte Caldelas. This was the pass chosen by the French to try to outwit the resistance they had encountered at Ponte Sampaio and surprise their enemies from the rear. But they did not expect to meet a group of peasants and noblemen led by Francisco Oubiña, lord of the Pazo do Coto de Forzáns, who were ready to confront them. Their heroism was rewarded and they managed to repel the French attack.

Ponte Vea Bridge

A Estrada and Teo

The work of the locals to stop the French was also key in this strategic point on the river Ulla where the Ponte Vea bridge stands. Several clashes took place there during the first half of 1809, which led to the collapse of some of the arches by the local inhabitants on several occasions and the subsequent repair by the invading troops. The original structure was built in the 16th century, but over the centuries it underwent several modifications, not only to deal with the consequences of the War of Independence, but also to repair the damage caused by the floods.

The bridge of Ponte Ledesma, on the border between the municipalities of Vila de Cruces and Boqueixón, the bridge of Pazos de Arenteiro (Boborás); A Ponte Bibei, between Quiroga and A Pobra de Trives, the Mourentán Bridge (Arbo), the As Achas Bridge (A Cañiza) and A Ponte Arante (Ribadeo) are other centenary viaducts that played an important role during the War of Independence and were the scene of heroic displays by the local population.

Rianxo

The town of Rianxo saw Castelao’s birth in 1886 and was his place of residence during most of his childhood and adolescence, as well as after completing his studies of Medicine. It is therefore not surprising that his trace is particularly vivid there. The writer, cartoonist and politician gives his name to the municipal library, located in an old manor house, and to the square where the town hall is located. This is the starting point of the route designed in his memory, which covers many of the places related to Castelao’s life. There are more than 30 different spaces, twenty of which are located in the old town of Rianxo and are easily accessible on foot. The rest are in other parishes of the municipality. Those who follow the Castelao Route can visit places such as the Casa Cándido, which houses the bookshop founded by his friend Cándido C. González; the chapel of San Xosé de Floresta, one of whose coats of arms inspired Castelao to design his coat of arms of Galicia; the bust in his honour located in the Paseo da Ribeira, or his birthplace, acquired by the town council to turn it into a house museum.

Pontevedra

In 1916, the job he obtained in the Geographical Statistical Institute took Castelao to the city of Pontevedra, where he settled and developed an intense intellectual and political activity. He took an active part in the activities of the Museum of Pontevedra from its creation, becoming a member of its first board of trustees and contributing his own materials to its collection in 1931. Thus began the Castelao Collection, which was considerably expanded after his death with the works donated by his widow. Nowadays, the Museum of Pontevedra holds and exhibits an important legacy of more than 2,000 works and pieces by Castelao, to which the original illustrations of the Álbum Nós have just been added. Also recently, those responsible for the institution have decided to baptise with Castelao’s name one of the six buildings that make up the complex, which until now was known simply as Sexto (Sixth). Moreover, the intellectual’s trace in Pontevedra goes beyond the limits of the museum and can be seen in many other parts of the city. The most visible are those where the two sculptures erected in his memory stand. The first of these, the work of Buciños, was placed in 1983 in the Plaza de Santa María. More recent (2006) is the sculptural group created by César Lombera and placed in front of the Café Moderno in homage to the intellectuals who participated in the gatherings that took place there in the 20th century. A bronze Castelao shares the space with Alexandre Bóveda, Ramón Cabanillas, Valentín Paz Andrade, Carlos Casares and the musician Manuel Quiroga.

Santiago de Compostela

The Galician capital was the city where Castelao studied medicine and where he began to develop his artistic interests. And it is also the place where his mortal remains rest, after being transferred to Galicia in 1984 from Buenos Aires, the city to which the exile caused by the Civil War had taken him and where he died in 1950. Castelao now occupies a place of honour in the Pantheon of Illustrious Galicians, located in the old church of the convent of San Domingos de Bonaval, alongside other great figures of Galician culture such as Rosalía de Castro, Domingo Fontán and Ramón Cabanillas. There, the foundation created to preserve his memory celebrates an annual floral offering on the anniversary of his death. A sculpture by Francisco Leiro placed in 1995 in the Alameda in which Castelao’s silhouette appears on a large map of Galicia is another of the tributes that can be seen in Santiago de Compostela.

And also…

But the memory of Castelao is not only present in Rianxo, Pontevedra and Santiago. The intellectual gives his name to streets and educational centres all over Galicia and there are dozens of sculptures, busts and plaques in his honour in cities, towns and villages. One of these monuments can be seen in A Coruña, a city that reserved one of the most prominent spaces in its Plaza del Humor for the rianxeiro. A life-size sculpture of Castelao on a stone bench presides over that place next to another similar piece dedicated to Álvaro Cunqueiro. Ourense, where another statue of the intellectual made by Buciños seems to walk through its streets, Padrón, Lira (Carnota) and Redondela are other localities in which they also pay tribute to the rianxeiro with sculptures, and their number keeps growing. At the end of 2020 and coinciding with the centenary of the magazine Nós Lugo inaugurated a sculpture so that the city of the Wall can also remember Castelao. In A Estrada, the town where Castelao married and in whose cemetery the remains of his wife and son rest, it can be seen in the Manuel Reimóndez Portela Museum the Castelao’s bedroom in the Argentine capital, donated in the 1980s to the municipality by the emigrants in Buenos Aires. 

Ethnoludic Museum of Galicia (Melga)

Ponteceso

In the town of Ponteceso, in the Bergantiños region, you will find this authentic paradise for lovers of games and toys. More than 4,000 pieces from all over the world make up the collection of this center in which millenary cultures, traditional Galician games and examples of how sports have evolved coexist. Visitors will also have the opportunity to participate in some of the activities organised there, such as plasticine workshops, origami or toy construction. More information here.

Grobit Village

O Grove

The Hobbits, characters created by the writer J.R.R. Tolkien, have distant relatives on A Toxa, the small and famous island located in the Pontevedra municipality of O Grove. Their place of residence, the Grobit Village is a children’s park formed by small houses that seem to sprout from the ground (one of them can be visited), play areas and multicoloured logs. The space is located in a forest park of great natural value inhabited also by a couple of gentle donkeys, always ready to interact with visitors. More information here.

Illa do Covo

Pontevedra

This small river island located in the waters of the Lérez River combines culture, leisure and fun to become another ideal destination for families. There you can find the pieces of the artistic project called Illa das Esculturas, areas for walking and a space for family leisure. It is also the setting for an original proposal called Discovering the Illa do Covo, which encourages participants to discover the artistic and natural heritage of the place through a route guided by eight videos. More information here.

City of Culture

Santiago de Compostela

The complex built on Mount Gaiás offers numerous proposals to enjoy a day of games and fun with the family. The climbing wall and the skate track in the Theatre Garden and the play area in the Parque da Balea will delight children and young people, while those who prefer to walk or relax in green surroundings can do so in the Parque del Lago, the Literary Garden or the Galician Forest. More information here.

Domus

A Coruña

Its more than 150 interactive modules make this museum in A Coruña an ideal place to learn and reflect on human beings in a fun and playful way. At present, because of the covid, it offers three activities (maker@domus, atapuerca@domus and mission@domus) with prior reservation of places for groups of people living together. More information here.

Galician Museum of Toy

Allariz

Among the wide range of museums in the town of Allariz, there is also a place for the world of toys. The Galician Museum of Toy, located in the pazo of the old courthouse, houses a collection of games and toys from very different periods. More information here.

Fernández Pacheco Train Collection

Ourense

The history and evolution of the world of railways is condensed in the more than 4,000 pieces of this collection, which ranges from the first steam engines to high speed. Among its scale replicas there is no lack of mythical trains such as the Orient Express or the machine used by Buster Keaton in the film “The General”. The collection can be visited at the Marcos Valcárcel Cultural Centre. More information here.

Briz Farm

Marín

Lakes, slides, games integrated into nature and spaces for walking come together in an enclosure that until the beginning of the 19th century was part of the possessions of the monastery of Oseira. The place also includes a space called Park of the Senses with five different areas to stimulate the touch (with different textures), the ear (with large musical instruments), the eyesight (with the panoramic views offered by the place), the smell (with aromatic plants) and the taste (with fruit trees). More information here.

Kiko Pastur Magic Museum

Santiago de Compostela

Since November 2020, the world of illusionism has its own monographic space in the old town of Compostela. The magician Kiko Pastur is the driving force and director of this museum where it is possible to observe historical articles and pieces, see reproductions of some of the numbers of the great magicians of history and be surprised by optical illusions that will challenge our minds. More information here.

Tower of Hercules

A Coruña

Letting yourself be caressed by the sea breeze and going inside the stairs of the Tower of Hercules helps to imagine the importance of a monument that was included in the select list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites in 2009. But to better capture its magnitude, in the interpretation and visitor service centre there is a typhlological model (designed to be appreciated through touch) a little over a metre high that allows you to contemplate the architecture of this thousand-year-old tower with your fingertips.

Castrelos Sensory Garden

Vigo

Among the numerous attractions that the park of Castrelos in Vigo offers to the visitor, there is a sensory garden designed for blind people to enjoy a pleasant experience. It is a route adapted to people with sight deficiencies and articulated through tactile and olfactory stimulus. A tape guides the participant along a route that also has explanatory panels in Braille about the different species in the garden and their characteristics, as well as the history of the enclosure.

Archbishop’s Towers Interpretation Centre

Pontevedra

A fortress that has now disappeared comes to life in this interpretation centre that was created to house and publicise the ruins that were discovered during a construction works carried out in 2007. One of its main attractions is, precisely, a tactile model of the pazo-fortress labelled in Braille that allows one to imagine the appearance of this imposing construction.

Thermalism

All Galicia

The Romans and the Castrexos already knew the mineral-medicinal properties of the Galician waters, so it is not surprising that today Galicia is an unbeatable destination for thermal tourism with facilities, some of them already hundreds of years old, spread throughout the community. Whether for therapeutic purposes or to enjoy an experience that can combine aesthetics, well-being and relaxation, the spas are an ideal proposal for blind people as well. All you have to do is close your eyes and enjoy.

Gastronomy

All Galicia

A visit to Galicia would be incomplete if it did not include its gastronomic section as a highlight. The vegetable garden and the Galician waters nourish from the best product a recipe book full of tasty proposals capable of stimulating all the senses, but especially smell and taste. Cities, towns and villages offer a wide range of establishments where visual deficiencies will not be an obstacle to enjoy this land with the palate.

Sensations in the sea

Rías Baixas

Several regional entities that group together municipalities of the Galician coast have developed in recent years tourism initiatives aimed at the blind population. This is the case of the Sentir o Mar project, born to promote inclusive tourism in the Muros and Noia estuary and which has already allowed a group of blind people to become familiar with the world of navigation. Other proposals launched by the municipalities of the Arousa Norte association and by private companies in the Rías Baixas are aimed at this same public, such as diving centres that organise diving baptisms and boat trips to get to know the importance of the mussel industry and taste its tasty products.

Illas Cíes

Vigo

Blind people are welcome to the crown jewel of the Illas Atlánticas de Galicia National Park. The ban on introducing domestic animals by visitors does not apply to guide dogs and among the information material available to those who come to the archipelago there are brochures in Braille. Guided tours with groups of people with disabilities have been common practice for years.

The oldest bridge is from the mid-eighteenth century. In the area there were other bridges once, but the floods of the Ulla eventually damaged them, forcing the neighbours to use one of the many boats that crossed the river until not so long ago. The one that survived is attributed to an architect from Santiago, Tomás del Río, and the Southwest Way to Compostela passes through it. It ends on Ponte Ulla’s main street, next to the beautiful church of Santa María Madalena, with Romanesque traces on its chancel. The bridge that crosses the river into the current N-525 road is the least interesting of the four and was built in the seventies of last century, when it became evident that the original one was no longer capable of accommodating modern traffic.

As for the railroad bridges, the sight of the two overlapping and overcoming the deep precipice is an impressive image. The oldest of the two was built to serve the railroad network plan between Ourense and Santiago. The narrowest pass in the area was chosen for it, in the fierce rocks of the place called San Xoán da Cova. The project was in the works since the 1920s, but the viaduct was not opened until 1958, after over a decade of arduous construction. The result is a beautiful stone bridge with an iron framework, classicist in style and located more than eighty meters above the riverbed. A little ways after its start in Pontevedra, there is a viewpoint with spectacular views of the Ulla region, with a panoramic view that stretches many kilometres and several municipalities nearby. If what you want is to admire the depth of the valley, it is better to do it from the A Coruña side, in the Gundián viewpoint.

As for the modern one, designed for  high-speed trains to pass through it, engineers had to consider the need to protect such a tall construction from the strong winds that form in such a deep valley, and the fact that the structure is placed between two tunnels. For weeks, neighbours and drivers passing through the lower road could observe a prodigy of technique: two construction vehicles advanced little by little, one from the hillside located in the Concello of A Estrada and the other one from Vedra, to meet with millimetric precision halfway through, over the spectacular pointed arch that supports the structure. The result is the highest viaduct of the Spanish high-speed train network, as the central arch is nearly 170 meters high. Nine columns on the ground and five more on the arch support its 630 metres of length; the design is similar, though updated, to that of its predecessor, and received the 2011 San Telmo Award for best work of civil engineering built in Galicia. The works finished in 2010, giving this natural Ulla pass its current look.

Christmas Market of Santiago de Compostela

The Christmas Market of Santiago de Compostela opened on Carreira do Conde street this past December 2nd and will be available until January 6th. It is worth consulting its website to check the hours at which they carry out activities, intended for children, among which are workshops to make cork objects, refrigerator magnets, or Christmas cards, popular games and classes taught by the market’s own exhibitors. Among them there are artisans that work wood or leather, or make toys, jewelry or decoration pieces.

Besides this, artists and artisans join each year at the Mercado da Estrela (“Star’s Market”), which is held halfway between the Museo do Pobo Galego and Plaza 8 de Marzo, in Compostela. Its sixth edition begins today, Friday, and lasts until Sunday the 17th, bringing together creators of handmade design products and also gourmet food producers, artists and painters, new musicians who offer intimate concerts… An ideal occasion to buy a creative, original and unique present for this Christmas.

Christmas Village in A Coruña

In A Coruña the center of Christmas activity is the María Pita square, occupied these days by a beautiful town made of snow-covered houses and colourful lights. In this area activities for children, theatre, magicians’ performances, concerts or workshops take place. In the Christmas Village, attractions for children have been installed, such as a carousel, a train, inflatables, a Ferris wheel, a snowboard simulator and various games.

Market in the Rúa do Príncipe in Vigo

The Rúa do Príncipe, in the centre of Vigo, has been the stage of a Christmas market for years, organized by the merchants of the area. Located on this occasion on London Street, behind the MARCO museum, it has an interesting representation of organic food producers, as well as food and craft stalls. It will be open until January 5th. It is also convenient to keep up with the local press, since in the city several Christmas-related  markets and activities are carried out in neighbourhoods such as Bouzas or Coia and in some shopping centres.

Nadalear in Pontevedra

Pontevedra holds from the 16th of December until the eve of the Wise Men day (January 5th) a Christmas market located in the Teucro square, in the historic center. The city has an intensive  program for these dates with concerts, theatre, charity galas and a festival of Christmas carols that are sung, as they were in the old times, in the taverns of the monumental area.

Market in San Marcos Square in Lugo

Lugo will also have a crafts market this Christmas. It will be assembled in the centric San Marcos Square and will be open from December 21st to January 5th. The visit to this exhibition can be complemented with the numerous activities programmed for children and adults, including artistic walks along the Original Way to Santiago, music, puppets and exhibitions in the old city jail or in the spectacular Interactive Museum of History of Lugo.

Ventosa is located in the municipality of Agolada, in the interior of Pontevedra. It is easy to think of this province as an exclusively maritime territory, due to the much better known Rias Baixas. But the mountainous area that borders with Lugo, an area of ​​great beauty and landscape diversity, is also part of this province. The lands of the Deza, in which this monument is located, and those of Montes or Tabeirós are a paradise of undulating roads, rounded mountains and green meadows.

At the top of one of these hills is the church of Ventosa. The building has adapted to the times and circumstances for 800 years, and this is the reason for the accumulation of medieval sculptures placed against the interior walls: they were part of the old Romanesque building and later works. Most of the building, originally from the twelfth century, was modified in the nineteenth century, but the sculptural pieces were not discarded and were placed on the interior walls of the single nave, creating a very curious effect.

The central element of this particular museum is the tomb of Abbot Lope de Ventosa, from the fourteenth century, framed in an arch of clear Romanesque inspiration that could well be the entrance to any Galician temple of the time. The figure of the Abbot is surrounded by angels and inside the arch the scene of the death of Jesus Christ was delicately painted, which shows the importance that Lope de Ventosa must have had in his time.

Around the opposite wall, even covering some beautiful Renaissance paintings, the neighbours of Ventosa placed sculptures with works of the nineteenth century showing biblical scenes that came from a baldachin dismantled for lack of space. There is a spectacular Birth and Adoration of the Wise Men; Adam and Eve, tempted by the snake; the death of Abraham… Several centuries of art are condensed in this two facing walls, and the explanatory panels help to understand who is who in such a large iconographic catalogue. The polychromy can still be observed in every figure; which makes us wonder how they would have looked in its time of splendour.

Although the interior is impressive, you mustn’t miss the opportunity to walk around the small building, which has all the characteristics of the Galician rural church: the house of the priest, the cemetery, the “hórreo”…

The visit can be completed by going back to the village of Agolada to walk through the curious Pendellos, an area consisting of stone and wood constructions that host the local market since the eighteenth century. Well preserved and usually solitary, walking through its streets, intact for 300 years, transports the traveller back in time.

Now that they have fallen into disuse, many of these buildings have been recovered as ethnographic elements, many times around very attractive hiking routes. This is the case with the popular path of the mills of Folón and Picón, in the council of O Rosal, which allows you to tour in approximately one and a half hours one of the world’s largest concentrations of these hydraulic systems.

Folón and Picón are just two streams compared to the width of the nearby Miño river. However, some sixty mills took advantage of their strength to work. In a signposted route of less than four kilometres you can find buildings of all types, sizes and varied state of conservation. In them, over the decades the stonemasons and the owners engraved property marks that still remain today. The mills were built between the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries and have been recently restored.

To face the route you only need good boots and a little care, so the visit can be made with children, always keeping an eye on them through the most complicated places. The first half ascends along the Folón River. A narrow path passes almost forty buildings arranged in a tiered structure on the hillside: an authentic show of popular architecture that few resist to portray. It is the perfect background for a memorable photograph. At the top is the so-called Chan da Cereixeira and the little church of San Martiño, and it is at this highest point that the canals divide to give water to the two rows of mills.

The route is circular and, therefore, the second part is done downhill, by the Picón, around which are about twenty mills. Here you can see the remains of a road made with monumental stones and engraved by cart wheels over the centuries. Along the way it is also possible to enter some of the constructions, restored to show how once worked. It is also very curious to see the different channels and the many detours, almost always made of stone, which were built to make the most of the force of the water: Folón and Picón might have been minor streams, but they were enough to feed a whole industry of considerable proportions. It is tempting to sit down for a moment by one of the streams and try to imagine what life might have been like when the mills were running at full capacity, with the neighbours carrying grain sacks up the steep slope to the mills.

The mills of the Folón and Picón rivers are one of the most important attractions of the Concello de O Rosal, but not by far the only one. The municipality is well known for its wines and is one of the subzones of the Rías Baixas Designation of Origin, so it is not a bad idea to go down to the town once the walk is finished to refresh yourself with an excellent white.