Lugo

Lugo is a 98,025 inhabitants city and capital city of the province of Lugo by river Miño. It's the 4th city in Galicia in terms of population and one of its oldest cities of Galicia and Spain, founded around 25 BC by Paullus Fabius Maximus as Lucus Augusti. It has one of the best examples in Europe of Roman walls, placed in UNESCO's world heritage list.

How do I arrive to Lugo?

  Lugo is quite well connected with other places in the region in many ways. 

• Train: the routes in Galicia link Lugo with A Coruña (aprox. 1 hour 30 minutes), Monforte de Lemos (aprox. 1 hour) and Ourense (aprox. 1 hour 45 minutes) 7 times every day.
• Bus: Lugo has frequent connections with most of the cities of Galicia by Lugo Bus Station. It also has connections with other Spanish cities like Madrid or Barcelona.
• Car: if you rented a car, it's 50 minutes from Monforte de Lemos, 1 hour far from Mondoñedo, 1 hour 10 minutes from A Coruña, 1 hour 15 minutes far from Ferrol or Ribadeo, and 1 hour 30 minutes from Santiago de Compostela and Ourense.

History

Lugo was founded as a military camp settled around 25 BC (in a place where there used to be a castro) and the city of Lucus Augusti was founded here by Paullus Fabius Maximus. The city grew and in the 3rd century became one of the three capital cities of the Roman province of Gallaecia and was granted with city walls too (the ones that are placed into UNESCO's World Heritage list). During the Kingdom of the Suevi it was an important city (which later lost, just recovering it in the 10th century). Lugo competed against Mondoñedo and Ribadeo for being the most important city in the area, which was only solved in 1833 when Spain was divided in provinces and Lugo was made capital city of the namesake. Here took place Solís Uprising, an unsuccessful uprising agains president Narváez in 1846. The first trains arrived to Lugo in 1875 and shortly after it became the most important bovine livestock trade center.

What can I visit in Lugo?

The Old Town of Lugo isn't very big but has several places to walk and enjoy. Some of them are around praza maior, praza de Santa María, praza do Campo, praza de Santo Domingo, praza de Ferrol or rúa de San Marcos.

These are Lugo's main attractions:

• Roman Walls of Lugo: walls from the 3rd century AD, one of the best examples in Europe. They are largely intact, with its 82 towers and eight gates, some of the best examples are porta do Carme. It was added UNESCO's World Heritage List in 2000 and there's a path all over the wall. Not far from the walls there's the Roman Wall Interpretation Center (11-14 and 16-18 Mon-Wed; 11-18 Thu-Sun; free), located in a 18th century building, it helps visitors understand and gain a deeper insight in the past of the city and the Roman walls.
• Lugo Cathedral (8:25-20:45; free): 12th century Romanesque cathedral constructed by Raimundo de Monforte. The façade dates back to the 18th century and its apse is incredible, with some small chapels with works of arts by Galician artisans. Some other amazing points of the cathedral are the Baroque chorus, the north portico or the cupola.
• Lugo Diocesan Museum (11-13 Mon-Sat from Jun to Sep; 2€): museum which shows what's left from the cathedral threasure (the main things were stolen by Napoleonic troops).Visiting the tribune will provide you great views of the cathedral and the rest of the museum has ceramics, Romanesque capitals or sculptures.
• House of Mosaics or Domus Oceani (11-13:30 and 16-19:30 Tue-Sat, 11-14 Sun from Jun to Oct; 11:30-13:30 and 17-19 Tue-Sat, 11:30-13:30 Sun from Nov to May; free): remains of a richly decorated domus or latial home which dates ack ot the 3rd century AD. It has some parts of rooms, mural paintings in some of them and the mosaics in their floors.
• Lugo County Museum (9-21 Mon-Fri; 10:30-14 and 16:30-20 Sat; 11-14 Sun; free): museum that shows the history and keeps archaeological remains found within the province of Lugo.
• St. Pedro Church: 12th century church in a transition style between Romanesque and Gothic by Lugo County Museum. It has two wonderful statues from the 14th century.
• St. Domingos Convent's Church: Gothic church whose first evidence dates back to the year 1274. It used to be part of the adjacent convent, currently occupied by the Augsutine nuns.
• St. Froilán Church: Baroque church which dates back to 1768. From its birth it was linked to a hospital, the one disappeared in 1878 owing to a fire.
• San Roque Archaeological Center (11:30-13:30 and 17-19 Thu-Sat; 11:30-13:30 Sun; free): site with the remains of a Roman cemetery, a worship poind and a kiln of late construction.
• Rosalía de Castro Park: 1920s park with Art Nouveau buildings (like the kiosks or the wisteria pergola) and a lake.
• Roman Baths in Lugo: baths located in a hotel and which are in use. The remains from Roman times are just the underground part but it's still impressing.
• Lugo Roman Bridge: bridge from Roman times which was rebuilt around the 11th century.
• Outside Lugo, 15 km west, can be found St. Eulalia de Bóveda Temple (8:30-14:30 Tue-Fri and 10-14 Sat from Jul to Aug; variable the rest of the year; free), sanctuary built in the 3rd century BC whose use is unknown (some think it was used as baths, others as a nymph temple) and which has some paintings. After the evangelisation of Galicia it was used as a baptistery.

Lugo Cathedral

Lugo Roman walls

Castro de Viladonga

 On the way from Lugo to the cosat, before reaching Mondoñedo, there are also things to do and visit. A good idea is stopping at Meira, a 1711 inhabitants small town located 35 km northeast from Lugo. Its most important monument is St. María de Meira Church, Burgundy Cistercian church whose origin goes back to the 13th century monastery with a beautiful façade and sober decoration. Continuing the way, 11km far from Meira and 23 km from Lugo, there's the archaeological site Castro de Viladonga (10-20 Mar-Oct; 10-19 Nov-Feb; free). One of the two best digged and preserved castros in Galicia, whose original shape is perfectly visible. Next to it there's a museum that provides an insight into the life of this community with the objects found on it (which traded with cities like current Milano, Lyon or Istambul). Nowadays it isn't known why the inhabitants left without taking all their belongings and jewery and why there are no tombs.

Where can I eat in Lugo?

The recommendations in Lugo are eating in places like the bar Cotá (rúa Soidade 18), restaurant A Nosa Terra (rúa Nova 8), the Galician restaurant O Figón (praza do Campo Castelo 47) or bar Daniel Taberna (rúa Bispo Basulto 4). In case your budget higher some choices are the Galician restaurant España (rúa do Teatro 10) or Mesón de Alberto (rúa da Cruz 4). Going 7 km far from Lugo there's a very good restaurant, Casa de Baixo (castro Alfonsín 7).

Posted in: Europe,Galicia,Spain