Barbanza & Noia coastline

The coastal municipality of Rianxo sits on the southern edge of the province of A Coruña, bordering the province of Pontevedra. It lies roughly 45 kilometres from the city of Santiago de Compostela.

Monuments and points of interest

• Chapel of Our Lady of Guadalupe, dating from the 16th century.
• Visit the Writers' House in town.
• Visit Rafael Dieste square and the Martelo manor.
• Stroll along the town's waterfront area.
• Festivities in honour of the Virgin of Guadalupe, deeply rooted in the area.
• Feast of the Virgin of Carmen, held on 16 July, patron saint of sailors.
• Feast of San Xoán, celebrated on 24 June.

Rianxo was the birthplace of great and illustrious Galician writers. Among them is Manuel Antonio, who crossed different meridians as a pilot under sail, reflecting in his poems the cosmic grandeur and melancholy of the Atlantic. He died in 1929 in the prime of youth. Another writer from Rianxo was Alfonso Daniel Castelao, the son of sailors and one of the foremost leaders of Galician nationalism.

To the southwest of the province of A Coruña lies one of those places in Galicia you cannot miss: A Pobra do Caramiñal. Such is the charm of this town that readers of La Voz de Galicia chose it as the most beautiful village in Galicia.

You can start getting to know A Pobra do Caramiñal by strolling through its harbour and then heading to the town centre, where the church of Santiago da Pobra do Deán stands. It is notable for its many styles—seafaring Gothic, Plateresque, Renaissance, Baroque, and Neoclassical—as well as its chapels and the stone cross in its churchyard. This is the very church from which the famous Nazareno procession sets off in mid-September, also known as the Procesión das Mortallas. The event is declared a Festival of Tourist Interest of Galicia. Less than 100 metres from the temple stands the 16th-century Casa Grande, although it was later modified. Do not miss wandering through the town centre, seeing the Casa do Concello, and visiting the church of Santa María A Antiga do Caramiñal. This temple has a long history: construction began in the 16th century but did not finish until almost two centuries later, and it even underwent extensions in the 20th century. If you fancy a calm, unhurried walk, head to the Paseo da Xunqueira.

Continue your route until you reach another must-see spot: the Bermúdez Tower manor, listed as a National Historic-Artistic Monument and Site of Cultural Interest, which houses the Valle-Inclán Museum. The 16th-century building features ornamental figures on the exterior, such as gargoyles, while inside you can find various images and objects related to this important Galician author, including first editions of his books, manuscripts, sculptures, paintings, and posters from the premieres of his plays, among others.

If you walk the entire seafront promenade you will find the 18th-century church of Santa María do Xobre, and you will also see the rectory, the ruins of the San Antonio convent, and the remains of the castro at Punta Ostreira.

POBRA DO CARAMIÑAL – RIBEIRA (along the coast 9 km) + Aguiño (5 km) + we will continue to the Corrubedo lighthouse located 13 km away.

The Corrubedo lighthouse sits on the tip of the cape in a rocky environment from which you can observe the dunes of the Corrubedo Dunes Natural Park, formed by a living mass of sand that never stops moving. Built in 1853 and designed by Celedonio Uribe. From this location you can clearly make out the lights of the Fisterra lighthouse and the Cíes Islands.

It is one of the highest peaks on the O Barbanza peninsula and from the top you discover a different and striking perspective of the Ría de Arousa. On totally clear days the view reaches quite distant points such as Mount Santa Tegra on the border with Portugal. You can also contemplate a panoramic view of the municipalities of Arousa Norte, which offers a complete vision of their beauty and their strategic position on the Galician coast.

On the climb you will see wild horses.

One of these natural pools became famous worldwide because of the accident that left Ramón Sampedro Cameán quadriplegic, a story masterfully told by Alejandro Amenabar in the film The Sea Inside. A film that won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film and 14 Goya awards.

In 2018 the beach returned to our screens, becoming a key location in the renowned television series “Fariña”.

One of the most captivating settings in the series is the bench where Sito (played by actor Javier Rey) and Terito (Manuel Lourenzo) plotted their future operations. It does not exist in real life (they put it there for filming and then removed it), but there is another bench that reminds us of that image.

At the entrance to the Ría de Muros-Noia lies Porto Do Son. It can boast that the entire profile of its coastline is made up of wonderful beaches. Porto Do Son cannot deceive anyone: it is an eminently seafaring town with a wide gastronomic offering. It always has been, and it is very unlikely that in the future it will be anything else.

You can check that at a glance either as you approach the town, while reflecting from the Atalaia (which everything indicates is set atop a prehistoric village), or while wandering through its winding little streets.

Behind this church is the Atalaia promenade, where we strongly recommend that you watch some spectacular sunsets.

Noia is 36 kilometers from the city of Santiago de Compostela. Its old quarter is one of its main attractions. In it we find three religious constructions that stand out among the rest. The church of San Martiño is an example of the so-called seafaring Gothic style (15th-16th centuries), with a single nave with buttresses, a seven-sided polygonal apse on rib vaulting and a façade with a rose window. Santa María A Nova, from the 14th century, also belongs to the seafaring Gothic style, with remains of the earlier Romanesque building. It also houses the largest collection of guild and noble tombstones from the Middle Ages and the modern era. The convent of San Francisco is Gothic-Renaissance (early 16th century).

WE CONSIDER TODAY'S JOURNEY OVER, WE HAVE 36 KM ON THE EXPRESSWAY TO REACH SANTIAGO IN 40 MINUTES.