Page 94 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Spain

92  NOR THERN SP AIN

8 September. Ac cording to 3 Betanzos
legend, those who fail to visit the A Coruña. * 13,000. £ @ n Praza
church in their lifetime will come de Galicia 1, 981 77 66 66. ( Tue, Thu
back to it as an animal in the & Sat. _ San Roque (14–25 Aug).
afterlife. The village of Cedeira,
which sits on a quiet bay, is a rich The handsome town of
summer resort with neat lawns, Betanzos lies in a fertile valley
modern houses with galerías, slightly inland. Its broad main
and a long, curving beach. square has a replica of the
Fountain of Diana at Versailles.
In its steep narrow streets are
2 Mondoñedo fine old houses and Gothic
Lugo. * 3,800. @ n Praza da churches. The Iglesia de
Catedral 34, 982 50 71 77. ( Thu. Santiago, built in the 15th
_ As Quendas (1 May), Nuestra century by the tailors’ guild,
Señora de los Remedios (2nd Sun has a statue of St James on
in Sep), San Lucas (18 Oct). horseback above the door.
Carved coat of arms on a house front The Iglesia de San Francisco,
in Mondoñedo This delightful town is set in dated 1387, has statues of wild
a fertile inland valley. Stately boars and a heraldic emblem
1 Rías Altas houses with carved coats of of Earl Fernán Pérez de Andrade,
arms and galerías are in the main whose 14th-century tomb is
Lugo & A Coruña. £ Ribadeo. @
Viveiro. n Foz, 982 13 24 26. ( Tue. square. This is dominated by the inside the church. For centuries
cathedral, a building of golden his family were the overlords of
Deep rías are interspersed with stone with a Roman esque the region.
coves and headlands along portal, a 16th-century stained-
the beautiful north coast from glass rose window, 17th- Environs
Ribadeo to A Coruña. Inland century cloisters 20 km (12 miles) north is the
are hills covered with forests and 18th-century large, though pretty,
of pine and eucalyptus. Many Baroque towers. fishing village of
of the small resorts and fishing A statue in a Pontedeume,
villages are charming. chapel in the with its narrow,
The lovely, winding Ría de cathedral, Nuestra hilly streets. Its
Ribadeo forms the border with Señora la Inglesa, medieval bridge
Asturias. To the west of it is the was rescued from still carries the
small fishing port of Foz, which St Paul’s Cathedral main road to the
has two good beaches. Nearby, in London. large industrial
the medieval Iglesia de San The Museo Ornate tomb in the Iglesia de San town of Ferrol,
Martín de Mondoñedo, standing Diocesano, Francisco in Betanzos to the north.
alone on a hill, contains carv ings entered through Originally a
of biblical scenes on its transept the cathedral, contains works medieval port, Ferrol became
capitals – note the story of by Zurbarán and El Greco. an important naval base and
Lazarus. Viveiro, a summer dockyard town in the 18th
holiday resort 37 km (23 miles) E Museo Diocesano century, and its Neo-Classical
away, is a handsome old town Praza da Catedral. Tel 982 52 17 79. buildings survive from that
surrounded by Re naissance walls Open 10:30am–1pm & 4:30–6:30pm time. General Franco (see pp70–
and gateways, typically Galician Tue–Sat, 4:30–8pm Sun. & 71) was born in Ferrol in 1892.
glassed-in balconies or galerías,
and a Romanesque church.
Near the pretty fishing village
of O Barqueiro is the headland
of Estaca de Bares, with its
lighthouse and wind turbines.
Westward along the coast,
the lovely Ría de Ortigueira leads
to the fishing port of the same
name, characterized by neat
white houses. Around this area
there are also many wild and
unspoiled beaches.
High cliffs rise out of the sea
near the village of San Andrés de
Teixido, whose church is
the focal point for pilgrims on Pavement cafés in Betanzos’ Plaza de García Hermanos
For hotels and restaurants in this region see p562 and pp582–3

092-093_EW_Spain.indd 92 26/09/17 11:00 am
Eyewitness Travel LAYERS PRINTED:
Catalogue template “UK” LAYER
(Source v2.1)
Date 5th December 2012
Size 125mm x 217mm