Ribadeo

Capilla de San Francisco

The Chapel of San Francisco is located in the heart of the streets of Ribadeo attached to a residential building known as the Casa Bustelo.

Its construction dates back to 1870 and is completely built of stone in masonry. In its facade highlights the small openings that form a set of six windows and a larger opening that forms the access door, all topped with semicircular arches. It is worth mentioning that at the top of the facade is a small belfry under which a bell is sheltered.

From its interior stands out the main altarpiece dating from the early eighteenth century, being built years before the chapel where it is located.

Capilla de San Roque

The chapel of San Roque is a temple of the sixteenth century and dedicated to San Roque that underwent numerous extensions, the most important being in the eighteenth century in which was built its great altarpiece presided over by the Saint accompanied by San Sebastian, San Domingo and St. Thomas Aquinas, among others.

Casa Acevedo

The Acevedo house is the union of two houses dating from the early twentieth century. The main building consists of two blocks, one of them with first floor and first floor and the other with one more floor. It highlights the facade that covered with cement gives the impression that it is stone.

Casa de Sela y Jardín de los Indianos

The house of Sela is considered one of the oldest Indian buildings in Ribadeo, dating from the second half of the nineteenth century. It stands out for its large volume, the scarce decoration and the masonry and granite fabric of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

The Garden or Park of the Indianos was created to honor the memory of the emigrants from Ribadeo and has typical bushes from Galicia and America: araucarias, magnolias and flowering plants.

Casas Indianas

Many of the inhabitants of Ribadeo who emigrated to America did not return to their homeland. However, many others did return, after succeeding with their businesses on the other side of the Atlantic, and, to demonstrate to the other neighbors of Ribadeo that they had achieved a great fortune and had been successful in America, they used to buy gold watches or the most luxurious cars. However, another way of demonstrating wealth was to build a grandiose house. Some other emigrants also showed great kindness and generosity to the locality, providing a number of facilities that improved the lives of the Ribadenses.

Thus, as a sign of the fortune achieved by the emigrants from Ribadenses, the town has a great Indian legacy consisting of more than 27 houses, schools, a cemetery, etc.

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Casco histórico

The historic center of Ribadeo was named of Cultural Interest in 2004. Of the set of its most unique buildings and spaces include the Old Customs and the Castle of San Damian of the eighteenth century, O Cargadoiro of the twentieth century and the Plaza del Campo around which stand the neoclassical Pazo Ibáñez, the Tower of Morenos, the Convent of Santa Clara and the Parish Church of Santa Maria del Campo.

You can enjoy the historic center through routes such as the Urban Route of the Indianos or enjoy the different businesses of the town as well as the gastronomy through tapas or dishes.

Convento de Santa Clara

It is an architectural complex whose first function was that of a beaterio, founded in the thirteenth century. In the sixteenth century it was completely destroyed by fire but it would be in the second half of the sixteenth century when a small chapel is founded.

At the beginning of the 19th century, due to the War of Independence and the occupation carried out by Napoleon’s troops, it was seriously damaged, becoming a few years later a military hospital and later a hostel for the sick.

Today the convent consists of a single-nave church with a triumphal arch connecting to the presbytery. The central cloister, from the 18th century, forms a square with semicircular arches and a square tower that ends with a belfry.

Cuartel viejo

This building was fitted out as a barracks after having been an Indian dwelling, hence its current name.

This tower-house is mainly known for its size, highlighting the functionality of its architectural form of the main body of the building, a three-storey octahedron. On the exterior, the balustrade crowning the main facade and the right side with the use of embossed woodwork can be highlighted. An exterior aesthetic improvement is currently underway.

Puente de los Santos

The bridge of Los Santos joins the Communities of Galicia and Asturias which was built in 1987 but in 2008 was rebuilt to make way for the Cantabrian freeway.

The bridge was built in 1987 but in 2008 was rebuilt to make way for the Cantabrian freeway.

The bridge of Los Santos joins the Communities of Galicia and Asturias.

It has four roadways and two sidewalks, from which walkers can observe the wonderful views of the estuary.

Puerto de Porcillán

The port of Porcillán unites the fishing tradition, as well as the importance of water sports and tourist activities offered by the place. The primitive dock was increasing from the nineteenth century as it reached the boats that crossed from Asturias.

In Porcillán we can find the Gate of Santo Domingo that honors this Saint who embarked to undertake the crusade against the Albigensians.

Fuerte de San Damián

The Fort of San Damian is the best example of military architecture in Ribadeo. The fort was built by the Marquis of Cerralbo in the first half of the 17th century and its purpose was to protect the entrance to the estuary.

In the early years of the 18th century it was destroyed by an English attack and rebuilt in the second half of the 18th century but had the misfortune that in 1809 it became ruins again.

In posterity it passed into the hands of the town hall for restoration which kept some characteristic elements such as the outer wall. It currently houses a municipal exhibition hall.

Granja escuela Pedro Murias

The farm-school Pedro Murias functions as an agricultural training school. Of large proportions, it has two floors with attic and two wings. In this building we can observe the Indian heritage and the typical rationalist architecture.

Las Fuentes

The fountains were once a place of coexistence and contact with other neighbors. Ribadeo has more than 124 fountains scattered throughout the town. However, those that stand out the most are the following:

FOUNTAIN OF THE FOUR FOUNTAINS IN FERNANDO O SANTO

This fountain, built in the second half of the century with a circular stone base, is located in the town center of the town, in the square of the Travesía de Fernando El Santo. In the center of it stands out a column topped by a pinnacle from which the four pipes come out.

FOUNTAIN OF THE CAMPO DEL CRISTO

This fountain is located in the parish of Rinlo (San Pedro) and is a very simple construction that has a communal character, thus belonging to the genre of mine or spring fountains, that is, a deposit built based on digging in the ground in which water from a spring accumulates. Thus, the water gushes through a faintly inclined stone pipe.

Molino de As Aceñas

This is a tidal mill, which is located in the cove of As Aceñas, within the parish of Ove. Although it is not documented, it is believed to be 500 or 600 years old.

The mill has a wall that serves to retain the sea, which does not completely close the inlet.

Parque de O Cargadoiro

The ethnographic park of O Cargadoiro recalls the loading of goods, the place of unloading the train, which brought ore. It is an old footbridge that functioned as a loading dock in an industrial complex of mineral, based on the extraction of iron.

Thus, the goods from the train were transferred to the ships by means of a crane, facilitating trade with large ships and avoiding making them enter the estuary.

This industrial mining complex was inaugurated in 1903 and, it was from 1927, when the train began to be used as passenger transport, until it was closed forever in 1966, when the rails were lifted.

Pazo de Cedofeita

This medieval style manor house was built by Lope Garcia de Cedofeita between the late fifteenth and early sixteenth century, being a private property not visitable.

This manor house was built by Lope Garcia de Cedofeita between the late fifteenth and early sixteenth century, being a private property not visitable.

It has a rectangular floor plan with two heights and two towers, one located in one of the corners and another smaller one attached. It consists of two heights in the main space and three in the towers. On the main facade you can see the family coat of arms, made on wood. The construction is completed with a granary, a circular dovecote, a mill and a small chapel in the rococo style, with a belfry of a single van, a walled enclosure, a planting area and a garden.

Playa de las Catedrales

Its original name was Praia de Augasantas, due to the presence of a spring of medicinal waters with, according to the locals, miraculous properties. It is now known as Praia de As Catedrais, as its rock formations resemble the flying buttresses of the spectacular Gothic cathedrals, making this environment a curious example of natural Gothic.

This beach was declared a Natural Monument in 2005 and is also one of the ZEC (Special Conservation Area) of the Natura 2000 Network, Special Protection Area of Natural Values, as well as a Biosphere Reserve since 2007. As if that were not enough, it has and renews every year the Blue Flag and the Q for Tourist Quality.

Plaza de Abastos

This large building, inaugurated in 1925, was donated to the town of Ribadeo by Don Ramón González Fernández, an indiano who encouraged other initiatives to be carried out in the town, such as the Library and the Athenaeum.

The architecture of the Plaza de Abastos stands out for having iron and concrete slabs, materials that were widely used in the early decades of the twentieth century and that provided elegance to important buildings.

In the vicinity of the building, takes place, every Wednesday, the market of Ribadeo, a tradition that has been taking place since medieval times.

Puerto de Rinlo

The fishing port of Rinlo was built in the Areosa inlet, where we find the headquarters of the oldest fishermen’s guild in Spain.

In the surroundings of the port of Rinlo are arranged a set of sailor houses, located in narrow streets so as not to be affected by strong storms. In addition, in Rinlo, around 1904, begins to operate a natural cetaria dedicated to the cultivation of lobster and spider crab, built on an area of the coast where a part of the sea enters the rocks and forms a small natural pool. Years later, the other two cetaria that Rinlo has started their activity.

Ría de Ribadeo

The Ribadeo estuary is the natural tourist resource that marks the boundary between the Community of Asturias and the Galician community.

This environment of great natural beauty allows visitors to delve into its biological diversity and nature, especially those who love ornithology, although it is also a very optimal space for the practice of water sports.

The estuary is included in the Natura 2000 Network and had previously been declared a Wetland of International Importance, included in the Ramsar Convention (agreement that protects the habitats of waterfowl). In addition, it was also declared a Biosphere Reserve (2007).

All kinds of activities are currently carried out in the estuary: fishing, shellfishing, maritime commerce, nautical activities, leisure and recreation, ornithology, etc.

Deposito paelolitico de Louseda

Located in the north of Galicia, they are considered one of the most important Paleolithic deposits of the Cantabrian coast dated around 300,000 years B.C.

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Most of them are tools elaborated through the canals and stones of the estuary destined to the treatment of the skin of animals.

At present there is an exhibition of more than 300 tools in the Museum of Prehistory and Archaeology of Vilalba.

Casa del óptico

Home of the optician Pedro García, it is a building erected in the early twentieth century following the Indian style of the area. It is crowned by a gazebo related to the merchants and shipowners of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. In his garden still remains an acacia that has a century of life in addition to the typical palm tree of the gardens of Indianos.

Santuario de Nuestra Señora de las Virtudes

This temple is located in the place of A Ponte (Arante), in the surroundings of the North Way of Santiago. It is a sanctuary highly praised and loved by the faithful because of its virgin, who is said to be miraculous. The temple dates from the late 14th century, although it underwent a reform in later centuries.

This sanctuary consists of a single nave, pointed triumphal arch and wooden presbytery, being in the latter where there are samples of the start of the vault. This temple has a single nave, pointed triumphal arch and wooden presbytery, being in the latter where there are samples of the beginning of the vault. In the altar we can observe a Renaissance altarpiece with images of Our Lady of Virtues and Santiago Matamoros while the main altarpiece is of baroque style.

Torre de los Moreno

The Moreno Tower is located in the Plaza de España and Ibáñez street and is considered since 1997 as an Asset of Cultural Interest. In the place where this tower is currently located was the Fortress, where the wall started and had a counter gate a short distance away.

Iglesia de Santa María del Campo

The main chapel, together with two more chapels in the apse, the transept and two other open chapels form this temple with a central nave covered with a simple ribbed vault, a 14th century Gothic main door with capitals with plant ornamentation, a large window and a neo-Gothic tower.

The main chapel has a central nave covered with a simple ribbed vault, a 14th century Gothic main door with capitals with plant ornamentation, a large window and a neo-Gothic tower.

The main chapel has a central nave covered with a simple ribbed vault.

Of convent origin, in 1835 it became the parish church that it still is today, but over the years it has undergone several changes. The wall that exists today was built in the early twentieth century over the previous belfry, because it was demolished. Among some of the aforementioned changes, it is worth mentioning the enlargement of the church by adding the portico and the choir, highlighting that the general layout of the old convent, the arch of the presbytery and the slabs are maintained.

Plaza de España

The Plaza de España is located right in the center of town, although in earlier times it was located on the outskirts, next to the medieval wall. Along this square, the visitor can contemplate other very curious constructions that help to make a journey through the history of Ribadeo, such as the noble houses, the pazo of Ibáñez (currently municipal headquarters), modernist facades, the Tower of the Moreno, the Alfándega or the Tourist Office.

In the center of the square there is a garden area that has some sculptures in tribute to the two illustrious sons of Ribadeo: José Ma Alonso Trelles y Jarén (El Viejo Pancho) and Dionisio Gamallo Fierros.

Zona especial de protección de aves

The bird protection area covers the space formed by the Eo river and the estuary. This environment forms a large area with ideal and optimal climatic conditions for the presence of numerous species of birds, a peculiarity for which it was declared a Special Protection Area for Birds (SPA) in 1989.

This SPA covers an area of almost 2000 hectares, of which two thirds correspond to Asturias and the rest to Galicia.

The Ribadeo estuary was chosen because it is an important area of passage for numerous migratory species, highlighting the ducks and waders, such as the great cormorant, the egret, the grey heron, the asubion duck, the yellow-legged duck, the black gallinule, etc.

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Ascensor Panorámico

It is a steel and glass elevator with a cavity for 16 people, whose purpose is the connection of the pier with the historic center to avoid the unevenness of more than twenty meters. From inside you can see wonderful views of the estuary.

Capilla de la Trinidad

The chapel of the Trinity or Atalaya is located on a mound from which you can see the entrance to the estuary, being one of the oldest temples of Ribadeo. In it the guilds met and open councils were held.

The chapel is located on a mound overlooking the entrance to the estuary.

Over time it has undergone several reforms but retaining for example the Gothic main door of the fourteenth century, with a shield in Ribadeo stone and a belfry of a single van. It consists of nave, triumphal arch and presbytery, besides finding in its interior three altarpieces, highlighting a baroque one and a mounted water pylon.

In its surroundings is the well-known Mirador de la Atalaya, which is accessed thanks to the Panoramic Elevator so characteristic of the town. This viewpoint, in addition to offering stunning views of the estuary and its surroundings, is characterized by having several defensive cannons that recall that this area was one of the most strategic in terms of protecting the town of Ribadeo.