Galicia Tourist Guide 2018

Hórreo at Combarro. Poio

Castro de Baroña. Porto do Son

Pazo de Oca. A Estrada

barro , or those from Piornedo , you will see how they vary. These cons- tructions, aimed at protecting crops, were raised on pillars that support airy chambers made of wood or stone. Common in rural areas, pazos , these stately homes of noble families were built from stone between the 17th and 19th centuries. They are always surrounded by breath-tak- ing gardens where flora —such as camellia, for example— from all of the world's continents can be found. The pazos located in Mariñán, Oca , Santa Cruz de Ribadulla and Fefiñáns

are just some of the majestic exam- ples of what can be found throughout the region. It is impossible to travel through Galicia without encountering dozens of cruceiros : we have some 12,000! Cruceiros, an expression of popular religious worship, are stone crosses constructed on roadways or near churches or cemeteries to protect travellers. Be sure to visit the one in Melide, which dates back to the 14th century, or the one in O Hío, a stunning cross from the 19th century that depicts various biblical scenes.

HÓRREOS, PAZOS AND CRUCEIROS

Granite carvings have helped confi- gure out ethnography, both as some- thing that peasants as well as sailors would do. Canteiros , or stonewor- kers, have been working for centuries with the stone that they have used to build the thousands of cruceiros that keep watch over the roadways, the ashlars of the heavy-duty walls of the most noble pazos and the hórreos where the most prized crops were stored. No two hórreos are alike: if you look at the one in Carnota , those in Com-

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