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Cangas, |
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| Cangas, |
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>> Interesting Routes...(Cangas) |
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It roams along paths, medieval tracks and forest trails, what permits us to come into a better contact with nature and a wide knowledge of the geography and the highlighting values of the environment.
It admits to walk many or few kilometres,
depending on the time we have, one or several
days, without hurrying up. The path is now only
a mean, not an aim, a mean to appreciate what we
are surrounded by and to know ourselves better. " Route " We put as a reference the kilometre zero in the Castiñeiras Lake, in the municipality of Moaña, across forestall tracks, accompanied during a little part of the walk by the general view of the Ria of Vigo. Once we reach the Alto da Portela, (kilometre 24) we go to the coastal zone and we put as an aim the place called O Facho, (kilometre 36) in the surrounding area of Donón, place with a high landscape value. After leaving this point, we head for the area of Cabo Udra that also has a great beauty and is included into the “Rede Natura”. The aim is to reach the point of departure in the lake of Castiñeiras and for that purpose we walk along the north hillside of the Peninsula of Morrazo, climbing up 400 metres of height in 14 kilometres, reaching Ermelo, place from where we can see the rias of Pontevedra, Vigo and Arousa. Our route along the hillside, accompanied by the general view of the ria of Pontevedra, leads us to the last stretch, consisting on an ascent from Marin to the lake along a narrow path that crosses several times the Castiñeiras stream.
::Coastal Path
::River Path
The village of Cangas, and more particularly in its monumental zone, has a rich historic-artistic heritage, every day more recognized and appreciated. In this seafarers' old hamlet, the wise hand of the stonemason and the well make of its men and women throughout centuries bequeathed us the precious fishing architecture that takes roots into the medieval tradition. But Cangas is not only history, but also present. A present of great vitality, where our built-up area continues to be embellished by new and magnificent contemporary buildings.
And from here we head to Outeiro, with its old “casas de pincho”, and going down to the Fonte Ferreira we can gaze at the typical washing place and finish the visit in O Señal quarter, where it is kept the prevailing tendency of an architecture created by and for the sea, making up one of the most admirable collection of monuments in all the Galician coast.
We can talk about some natural spaces.
Arriving in Bueu we take the PO-315 road that leads us to Cangas bordering the coast, passing through the parishes of Beluso and Aldán, which belongs to the municipality of Cangas. In Aldán, an intersection to the right takes us to the parish of Hío and its famous “cruceiro” (cross). The church of San Andrés in Hío is very interesting due to its age. The church is a whole of many and varied styles as the result of the changes and ornamentation of the façade, the corbels of the roof and its Latin cross ground plan. Inside, it has Gothic groin vaults combined with baroque lacunaria vaults in the transept and the sacristy remembering us to San Martín Pinario in Santiago de Compostela. Its Romanesque origin can be discovered even today in the porch. It has a trumpet-shaped structure accentuated by means of two semicircular archivolts with double bead supported by an impost. The capitals have a vegetable ornamentation except for one with bow carvings. The shafts of the columns are plain with Tuscan bases. The outer archivolt, that ends the whole, has the shape of a band of little beads with ornamentation of moulding in arris.
The motives of the corbels are identical to the ones of Santa María in Cela. The church of Hío is very important due to its “cruceiro” (cross), work of the master Cerviño. The “cruceiro”, as Hipolito de San Bravo signals, is poetry of theology carved in stone. It is maybe the most important “cruceiro” preserved in Galicia. The originality and magnificence of the work is clear for the visitor. From the ends of the XIXth century (1872), the sculpture is markedly baroque due to the theatre air given by the author to the sculptures.
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The
route covers 84 kilometres around all the
Peninsula of Morrazo with a circular route. It
is considered as a long-haul route and has the
official approval of the mountaineering
federation with the number GR-59.
1
- Viewpoint
1
- Washing Place
Due to this, we will start our
route in the Town Hall, an avant-garde work that has the
unmistakable stamp of the distinguished architect Alberto Noguerol.
From here, we go along the magnificent Xardíns do Señal to the place
where we can find the Hospital Chapel, emblematic monument ordered
to build by the prior Gonzalo de Nogueira e Arauxo in 1711 and
recently rebuilt in the year 2002. After, we head to the Alameda,
with the splendid effigy of José Felix Soage Villarino, sculptured
in 1914 by the brilliant Francisco Asorey. We can find
some examples of the unlimited generosity with which this great man
endowed the love he felt for his natal village: the music box, the
market and many other philanthropic deeds, because of which the
village has him an immortal love. Almost immediately we can find
another sublime sculpture known as “A volta do Mar” with which the
unforgettable Xoan Piñeiro wanted to pay tribute to all the
seafarers of Cangas. A little further we can admire the popular
Reloxo, a symbol of our identity that is a weather station with a
very elegant construction given in 1907 by Alvaro Guitián for the
service of the seafarers.
From this point, we can
appreciate the architectonic richness of our old quarter. In O Arco
square, former access to the village, we find one of those corners
of singular charm, where it is said that Jews lived during the
Middle Ages. The Rúa Antonio Garelly (street) preserves one of the
most magnificent houses with “patín”,
the fishing house par excellence in Cangas, and in the Rúa Pablo
Iglesias (street) we are surprised by the huge gates in its day used
to keep fishing boats. After, we will go up Rúa Real (street),
scattered with old and noble houses, which still show off their
coats of arms, but also with impressive buildings dated from the end
of the XIXth century and the beginning of the XXth century, with its
façades made of granite and worked with care and white and happy
closed balconies. We will also see the equestrian sculpture of the
Apostle Santiago, one of the most famous images of our collection of
historic monuments. And so we reach the most important architectonic
treasure in the village and the highest pride of Cangas: the former
collegiate church of Santiago. Its splendid Renaissance façade from
1585 is among the most beautiful and harmonic ones in Galicia. But
it is also necessary to visit the inside, its majestic naves,
baroque altarpieces and its very valuable wood carvings, in front of
which anyone can stay indifferent. There, it is preserved the
venerable Christ, maybe miraculous, which is told that didn’t want
to burn, because in 1617 it survived to the burning of the church by
the Turkish pitiless. Although maybe anything is so admired as the
other Christ, Cristo del Consuelo, live expression of the suffering
in the cross that the master Juan Pintos knew how to reflect.
From
here, through the Rúa do Hío (street) we head
for the Eirado do Costal, heart of the original
centre of Cangas. Its winding streets hide many
very beautiful houses with “patín” alternated
with other types of fishing houses, such as
“casas terreñas”, its oldest precedent, and the
house with “sobrado” (upper floor) or between
party walls. Also here the visitor is surprised
by a venerable “hórreo” (raised granary) that,
from its odd situation on a wall, remembers us
the hard times when surviving was a daily
struggle. An eroded coat of arms, that long ago
showed the emblem of the Spanish Inquisition,
catches our attention when we go along the Rúa
de Singulis (street). So we will gain access to
the square of the same name, dominated by a
wonderful baroque “cruceiro” (cross) and framed
by a splendid group of houses with “patín”,
characterizing an urban space that transports us
to another time.
The
oak wood of Coiro, in the parish of the same
name, represents one of the most important
indigenous forests in the south coast of
Galicia. We can reach there through several
places. On the one hand, coming from Bueu to
Cangas by the inland, it is to say, by the PO-320
road, just when we reach the place called “Alto
da Portela”, we turn left going to the chapel of
San Cosme. If we continue for here, going slowly
into the forest, we pass beside the waterfall of
the Bouzos river that springs up into the zone
of Ermelo. Another way to reach very easy is to
go up to the beautiful church of Coiro and take
a path that continues behind the church going up
along a very steep path leading to the main
track coming from San Cosme. In our way we will
find some junctions leading to the Pena,
Paralaia or Ermelo mounts.
The
area of Barra and Cabo Home, which in a not very
far future could be part of the Sea and Land
National Park of the Atlantic Islands, is
another one of the natural spaces. It is a
coastal area, open to the Atlantic Ocean,
protected by the Cies Islands and counting on an
important area of dunes. To go there we have to
take the road PO- 315 that extends from Cangas
to Bueu and, about 4 kilometres, take the
intersection to the parish of Hío, where we can
see a sign that lead to Barra and Cabo Home. The
views from Costa de Vela, with the cliffs and
the Cies Islands, have an incomparable beauty.
The
tympanum catches all our attention due to the
represented motif: the X of Xistrus. Both sides
of the X, there are images of children holding
books or instruments.|
© 2004 Concello de Cangas (Organismo Autónomo de Turismo) |