LUGO CITY AND THE TERRA CHÁ (FLAT LANDS)

LUGO CITY
Built by the Romans in the 3rd century, Lugo is dominated by its city walls. These run for a distance of over two kilometres, with a walltop sentry path from which splendid views can be had of the city, the Los Ancares scenery, the hills of the county of Guntín and the Miño river valley. Dating from these times too are the thermal springs at the Balneario de Lugo (Lugo spa) on the banks of the Miño.

The Roman Wall, was built between the years 260 and 310 of our era. It is the only in Europe that conserves its whole perimeter of more than 2000 metres. Its height varies from 8 to 12 metres; formerly with 85 round turrets, and nowadays more than 70 are conserved. Its layout encloses the old part of the city, to which you get through its ten doors, only four of which have Roman origin. The remaining ones were opened with the need of the urban development of the city. In 1999, a group of enterprising people took the initiative in order to promote the Roman wall of Lugo outside this city. The project "Cumulum" finished on September 2000. For five months, more than 6000 people took part in this original project surrounding the wall with more than 500.000 books given by the people, which were then given to several organizations in Latin America. Finally, on November 30th 2000, the Roman wall of Lugo was declared 'Humanity Heritage' by the UNESCO.


The Cathedral, construction begins in the year 1129, giving as a result a Romanesque-gothic temple, which has improved with time with alterations of other architectural styles. The North Door is from the first stage, which holds two interesting sculptural pieces; in the 17th century, a Renaissance choir is incorporated as well as the altarpiece of the high altar; the cloister and the chapel of the Virxe dos Ollos Grandes are from the 17th and 18th centuries. The Most Holy is shown on the high altar day and night: the cathedral has had this privilege for ages.



Churches and Convents, close to the provincial museum, we have the parish church of San Pedro. It was the temple of the old convent of San Francisco and it is noticeable its gothic apse and its front. The convent of Santo Domingo was founded in the 13th century and in the 17th it suffered important changes. Today the church is left, the parish of Santiago, the new one. The church of San Froilán, the church of the Carmen and the chapel of San Roque are from the baroque era. Outside the city we have the Romanesque churches of Meilán, Bacerín and Mazo; and the baroque church of the Burgo.


WINES AND TAPAS - Another way to sample the rich Lugo cuisine is by "tapeo", through the wide variety of "tapas" (little snacks) in bars and taverns which are customarily on offer, together with the typical cup of ribeiro or any other wine. The most common wine areas are: Plaza del Campo and nearby: Rúa da Cruz, Rúa Nova, Rúa Catedral. Recatelo: Near the Rosalía de Castro park. Zona de Milagrosa: in the north of the city. Campo Castelo: behind the city hall.

THE TERRA CHÁ (FLAT LANDS)

 Vilalba, capital of the Terra Chá, is also the capital of the township with the same name and it has as its limits, to the north, the councils of Xermade, Muras and Abadín; to the west, Xermade and Guitiriz; and to the south, Cospeito, Guitiriz and Begonte. This town was born beside the castle that belonged to the house of Andrade, today Parador Nacional, and nowadays an important head in the farming region, with trading and services functions, among which we must point up the ones related to the tourism, because due to its geographical position, it is a compulsory visit for those who go to Galicia and to the north of Portugal, and it is placed on both sides of the roads from Santander-A Coruña and Madrid-Ferrol. As the name of the region indicates, the topography of this council is characterized by its flatness, except in the areas of the mountain range of the Carba and in Pena do Mirador. The hydrographic system is organized around the bank of the river Miño and in a narrow band of the north flows into the Eume. The mountain range of A Carba is the water divisor line between both banks and several streams are born there, which flow in the Támoga or Santaballa and in the rivers Trimaz and Magdalena, which drain most part of the township. 


Castro de Viladonga Celtic Hill-fort, discovery took place when in 1911, a local farmer got caught in his plough a gold torque braclet, which produced a series of excavation works since the 70's that left an almost circular acropolis of 10,000 square metres of surface on sight, surrounded by a defensive system made up by an alternate succession of walls and ditches. Inside the constructions are very different, belived to have been inhabited for seven or eight centuries, even surviving in the Roman age. It is the most valuable hill-fort from the didactic point of view, although there is a lot of land that is still un-excavated, but there are plenty of remains: torque, necklace pieces, brooches, a dart board, coins… which are shown in the monographic museum next to the site itself. Apart from the exposition rooms, where models and photographs are shown, it also has a restoration workshop. The site is a true formal model of a hillfort characteristic of the Northwest, with several walls and moats that lodge two antecastros or terrazes and the one ample acropole or central crown. In this main enclosure it is where they are most of the constructions discovered until now: houses, corrals and warehouses, some building of social or communal use, etc., grouped all of them forming joint or districts that articulate around two main streets and one make the rounds compares to the main wall.