Page 59 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide 2017 - Northern Spain

GALICIA  57

5 Cedeira 6 Ferrol
A Coruña. Road Map B1. * 7,500. A Coruña. Road Map B1. * 70,000.
n Av. de Castelao; 981 48 21 87. n Rúa Magdalena 56; 981 31 11 79.
( Sat & 2nd Sun of month. _ Rapa ( Mon, Wed & 3rd Sun of month.
das Bestas (Curro de la Capelada) (last _ San Julián (7 Jan), A Noche de las
Sun Jun), Fiestas Patronales and Nuestra Pepitas (18 Mar), Fiestas Patronales
Señora del Mar (around 15 Aug). (31 Aug). ∑ turferrol.com
One of the prettiest villages Ferrol has strong links with the
in the Rias Altas, Cedeira sea – some of the ships in the
spans the river Condomiñas, Spanish Armada set sail from its
and has excellent beaches, port. Yet it wasn’t until the 18th
exquisite seafood, a tiny century that the town became
fishing harbour and good an important naval base,
conditions for watersports. acquiring an arsenal, shipyards,
The surrounding area is ideal and the castle of San Felipe,
for fishing and hunting. which defended the mouth
In the medieval old town, of the local ría. The Magdalena
fragments of the town walls district was laid out in
are preserved. The parish symmetrical Neo-Classical
Houses in Ferrol with typical glass- Iglesia de Nuestra Señora style in the 18th century. It
enclosed balconies del Mar de Cedeira dates features many houses
from the 15th century. with glass balconies,
Environs Some 12 km (8 miles) plus the 18th-
The Ría de Viveiro constitutes away, perched above century Iglesia de
the mouth of the Landro river the Atlantic atop sheer San Xulián with
and is part of the Rías Altas surf-battered cliffs Mannerist elements,
region. The area is character ized in wild, windswept designed by Julián
by high waves, beaches with countryside is the Sánchez Bort.
fine white sand, and an 12th-century
abundance of fish. During a Monasterio de San Environs
storm in the 19th century, two Andrés de Teixido, Lying 10 km
ships – the Magdalena and the a Galician shrine A figure of St Andrew in (6 miles) south
Paloma – sank here. that once belonged San Andrés de Teixido of Ferrol is
to the Knights of Pontedeume, an
Malta. The earliest preserved attractive medieval town that
4 Ortigueira fragments in the monastery are boasts a tower with a huge coat
the late-Gothic north portal, of arms, built in the 14th century
A Coruña. Road Map B1. * 6,200.
n A Lagarea s/n; 981 42 20 89. and the murals depicting the in honour of Count Andrade.
( Thu. _ Santa Marta (27 Jul– martyrdom of St Andrew. It is There is also an equally old
1 Aug), Inter national Celtic Festival customary for pilgrims to throw bridge, in the middle of which
(2nd week end Jul). breadcrumbs into the nearby once stood a hostel for pilgrims
∑ www.turismoortigueira.com spring, which flows from and a hermitage. Andrade’s
underneath the church’s altar. castle is nearby, while hidden
The main attractions here are Legend has it that if a crumb in the forest is the 12th-century
the fantastic beaches and the floats, your wish will be fulfilled. monastery of Caaveiro.
diverse landscape of fertile
valleys, hills and steep cliffs.
The town’s architecture dates
mainly from the 19th and 20th
centuries, but in the Museo
Ortegalia an exhibition traces
the region’s prehistory, including
the oldest Galician megaliths
(4400 BC). North of town lie
the ruins of Punta dos Prados –
a settlement dating from the
4th to the 1st centuries BC.

Museo Ortegalia
Avenida Francisco Santiago 6.
Tel 981 40 24 13. Open 11am–2pm &
5–8pm Tue–Fri, 11am–2pm Sat–Sun.
Closed public hols. 7 Fishing boats in a bay near the picturesque village of Cedeira

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