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Discovering Galicia – Cultural Heritage
Galicia has an extensive cultural heritage, legacy of the numerous villages that historically occupied the region, such as the Celts, Romans or Suebi, amongst others.
In this article we will present some examples of the ample cultural heritage that you will discover when you visit Galicia. Here are some of the most notorious places you cannot miss:
CATHEDRAL OF SANTIAGO DE COMPOSTELA (en) / CATEDRAL DE SANTIAGO DE COMPOSTELA (gal)
Located in Santiago de Compostela, the capital of the Autonomous Community of Galicia, the cathedral of Santiago de Compostela is one of the emblems of the region as well as the most outstanding building of Romanesque art in Spain. It was declared a World Heritage City by UNESCO thanks to its monumental beauty and extraordinary conservation and it is the final destination of a thousand-year-old pilgrim route: the Way of St. James, which has transformed this finis terrae into a meeting place of Western faith and thinking since the 9th century.
CASTRO DE BARONA (en) / CASTRO DE BAROÑA (gal)
The Castro de Baroña is a fort located in the province of A Coruña. Built on a peninsula and inhabited from the 1st century BC to the 1st century AD, this fortified settlement, known in Spanish as “castro”, is surrounded by two walls and contains twenty roundhouses that still remain today.
LIGHTHOUSE OF CAPE FINISTERRE (en) / FARO DE CABO FISTERRA (gal)
Built in 1853, 138 meters above sea level. It is located on Cape Finisterre (from Latin finis– end, and terra– earth) and said to be the cape at the end of the world. It is probably the most visited in Europe, and the nearest to America.
TOWER OF HERCULES (en) / TORRE DE HÉRCULES (gal)
The Tower of Hercules is the only fully functioning Roman lighthouse that continues to exhibit the same functions today as when it was founded: on one hand as a maritime sign and on the other hand as a navigation assistant for the ships that crossed and still cross the Atlantic corridor. It is located in the NW of the Iberian Peninsula in the city of A Coruña and it is said to have been the place where mythical hero Hercules fought and defeated Geryon the giant.
ROMAN WALLS OF LUGO (en) / MURALLA DE LUGO (gal)
The Wall of Lugo was built in the later part of the 3rd century and legend has it that it was meant to defend “Augustus’ Holy Forest”, Lucus Augusti in Latin, from which Lugo takes its name. The entire wall survives intact and it is the finest example of late Roman fortifications in western Europe.
DOLMEN DE AXEITOS (en) / DOLMEN DE AXEITOS (gal)
Dolmen de Axeitos is a megalithic funeral monument, erected in the Neolithic period (4th millennium B.C.). Eight large granite slabs sunk into the earth form a polygonal layout supporting another horizontal slab measuring 4.5 x 3.5 m.
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