We leave Ourense and take the A-52 highway towards Madrid, taking the exit of AG-31 towards Celanova. We turn off to A Mezquita for visiting, in the parish of San Pedro, the Romanesque church of San Pedro de A Mezquita, “built by the evil just in one night”. Its origins are lost in the 10th century, although the current building is from the beginning of the 13th century. We go back to AG-31 towards Celanova. The village of Celanova was established around the Monastery of San Salvador, funded by Saint Rosendo in the 10th century. The 10th century Mozarabic chapel of San Miguel is also kept.
From the monastery we move towards Plaza Cervantes by the Rúa de San Roque, where we can contemplate a reproduction of the Castromao Tábula. We take Rúa Curros Enríquez and we arrive at our next stop, the Casa dos Poetas, the old familiar house of Curros Enríquez, where the literary offer of the town is assembled.
We leave Celanova and take the OU-540 road and we approach Vilanova dos Infantes, an extraordinary medieval village dominated by an amazing tower.
Another salient characteristic of Vilanova dos Infantes is its historical relationship with shoemakers, who became quite famous in Galicia. Here we find the Ethnographic Centre of Shoemakers, located in an old popular house which contains an enigmatic cave popularly known as San Vivián.
From Celanova we can also take road OU-531 towards Ramirás and at the first crossroads we turn towards Castromao. The Roman site of Castromao is one of the most representative forts from the Roman culture in Northern Spain.
In the Celanova lands we should highlight the presence of many Marian sanctuaries, each one with a particular legend or romery. It is very interesting to take a journey for all of them: Sanctuary of Nosa Señora das Maravillas, Sanctuary of Santa Maria do Mundil (Cartelle), Sanctuary of Nosa Señora de Val de Poulo, Sanctuary of Nosa Señora da Guía (Gomesende). In addition to that we can visit places rich in history: San Munio de Veiga (in A Bola) or the Monastery of San Pedro (in Ramirás).
We leave the lands of Celanova behind and get to the Baixa Limia by the OU-540 road.
We go past Alto do Vieiro, with its unique fountain which flows from the root of an oak to arrive in Bande. Here, the first Sunday of every month the Mercado do Xurés takes place, with the sale and degustation of Reserva da Biosfera Transfronteriza Gêres-Xurés products.
In Baños we found a sight on the left hand that takes us to the Bande Springs or Baths. They have a Roman origin and they are revealed when the reservoir flow rate makes it possible. In Porto Quintela a path takes us to the headquarters of the Interpretation Centre of the Roman site “Aquis Querquennis”, which is a few metres down from the archaeological site camp formed by a military camp and a road mansion. It worked from the half first century until the beginning of the second century and it was built at the same time as Via Nova. Its visit depends on the reservoir level. In the same place there is a river beach.
Back to N-450 road, there is a turning on the right that takes us to the Church of Santa Comba, one of the most important constructions of 7th-century Visigothic art. Around it there is a permanent exhibition known as Museo de los Iconos. We continue our journey on the OU-540 until we turn right towards Entrimo. In Feiravella we follow the steps to arrive in the recreational area of Río Pacin. Very close to it, near the river and accessible from the recreation area, we found Pozo Caído and its waterfalls and pools, an extremely beautiful natural area to enjoy the bath or the landscape. Before getting to the river area, we can take a turn off to follow the way to the archaeological area of Os Castelos fort to find a place full of mystery and legends, A Pía da Moura. From here we address A Terrachán, capital of the district, where we can visit the Church of Santa María la Real and get closer to San Rosendo de Pedreiriño viewpoint. If there is time, we can visit the Olelas reservoir and Laboreiro river with its amazing Pozas do Mallón.
DID YOU KNOW THAT?
In Padrenda don’t lose the Lodairo viewpoint, which offers fantastic views over Miño valley and the first cross-over border with Portugal.
In Quintela de Leirado the “Museo da Emigración a Guinea Ecuatorial” is placed.
After the visit has ended, we take the main road again towards Lobios. In Lobios it is the Information and interpretation centre of Baixa Limia Serra do Xurés Park.
In Lobios we can walk along different paths, but the most outstanding one is the Corga de A Fecha one. The tour allows us to get to know important resources of this area: its thermalism, the Roman way XVIII or Via Nova and its nature.
To get there we take the road OU-312 to arrive in Baños de Riocaldo. We start in the thermal springs of the river Caldo and the spa until Mansio Aquis Originis. We continue walking until A Corga de A Fecha, the tallest waterfall in Galicia. In this place we found the awesome pools and waterfalls, where you won’t be able to resist the bath. We continue by the old Via Nova to arrive in the mile-stone of A Ponte Nova. If we don’t want to walk, it is possible to go by car on the road OU-312 until the mile-stones and where we can visit the remains of the roman road. Later on, following the Via Nova by the original mapping, we find the mutatio of “As Mouroás”.
By the OU-540 road towards Portugal it is one of the enigmatic places in Lobios, A Escusalla: the “hunted house” of Xurés. If we want to make a very ethnographic route, we recommend to visit the villages of Esperanzo, Guende, Puxedo and A Cela.
We should not leave Baixa Limia without visiting Muiños through OU-540 until the village of As Conchas to go over the reservoir and head towards Muiños. In the capital of the district, Mugueimes, we find
Complexo turístico-deportivo O Corgo (O Corgo complex), a river beach with all the services. Next to it, the Outeiro da Cela park: thirty-five hectares of pure nature and a wonderful walk. We will also visit in our journey in Muiños the Megalithism route. We recommend visiting first the Megalithism Interpretation Centre in O Corgo so as to better understand this interesting route. The dolmens site in Maus de Salas (OU-1252) is one of the best preserved and most important in the province of Ourense.
We start our route in the Casiña da Moura. On the other side of the reservoir, we found Casola do Foxo, next to the Foxo do Salas. We end the trip on the route of the Outeiro de Cabaladre. We can go back to Ourense on the road OU-1201/1202 until Bande, not before visiting the Xordos viewpoint. From here we take again road OU- 540 and the AG-31 highway.
DID YOU KNOW THAT?
In Verea the dolmen site of Mota Grande in the Serra do Leboreiro is one of the biggest dolmen concentrations in north- west of Spain.
Puxedo is an authentic museum about the bread cycle. We can see some remarkable murals along its streets and “eiras”
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