Ourense

Ourense (Orense in Spanish) is a 105,505 inhabitants city by river Miño and capital city of the province of Ourense, in the south of Galicia (Spain). It's the 3rd city in Galicia in terms of population and the most important one which isn't by the sea. Ourense is known due to termalismo (hydrotherapy), with many free and paid spas. It's also part of the Portuguese Way of El Camino de Santiago.

How do I arrive to Ourense?

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

• Train: the routes link Ourense with Ribadavia (aprox. 20 minutes) in its way to Vigo (aprox. 2 hours) quite frequently. In the other direction it connects with Monforte de Lemos (aprox. 45 minutes), Lugo (aprox. 1 hour 40 minutes), plus Santiago de Compostela (aprox. 40 minutes) and A Coruña (aprox. 1 hour 15 minutes).
• Bus: Ourense has frequent connections with most of the cities of Galicia by Ourense Bus Station. It also has connections with other Spanish cities like Madrid or León.
• Car: if you rented a car, it's 30 minutes from Ribadavia and Allariz, 45 minutes from Monforte de Lemos, 1 hour far from Tui, 1 hour 10 minutes from Vigo, 1.5 hour from Lugo and Santiago de Compostela.

History

Although the area has castros and was already inhabited, Ourense was founded in Roman times, with the construction of the bridge (protected with a garrison) that connected Asturica Augusta and Brácara Augusta. After the Roman domination Ourense turnt into an important trade center due to its geographic position, being the capital city of the Kingdom of the Suebi during Chararic and Theodemir times. In the 10th and 11th centuries it was attacked by Muslim and Norse armies but afterwards it started to recover. Bishops of Ourense ordered the construction of Ramiro castle, destroyed by the Catholic Monarchs. In the 15th century the duke of Lancaster occupied Ourense and proclaimed himself king of Castile and also in that century it took place Irmandiño revolts. Ourense kept itself as a small city till the 19th century, when it was made capital of the province of Ourense and grew in population and economica importance thanks to the railway to Vigo and the arrival of Castilian bourgeoises. After the Spanish Civil War Ourense gained a lot of population due to the inmigration from villages of the province.   

What can I visit in Ourense?

Ourense has a nice walk around praza Maior and all the Old Town.

These are Ourense's main attractions:

• Ourense Cathedral (11-14:30 and 16-19 from Mar to Sep; 11-14:30 and 16-19 from Oct to Feb; 5€/ 4.50€/ 3€  adults/ retiree/ students):cathedral first built in the 12th century but it has modified several times with extra chapels and decoration. It also has a beautiful Gothic cupola, an impressing altarpiece at the high altar and the portico do Paraiso, a 13th century portico inspired by Santiago de Compostela's one. The capela Santo Cristo, a 14th century Baroque chapel, is spectacular.
• St. Eufemia Church: 17th century church that keeps the remains of Eufemia de Ourense, a saint who died martyred in the times of the emperor Hadrian.
• St. Francisco Cloister (11:30-13:30 and 18:30-21:30 Tue-Sat, 11:30-13:30 Sun from Jun to Sep; 11:30-13:30 and 17-20 Tue-Sat, 11:30-13:30 Sun from Oct to May; free): 14th century Gothic cloister composed by 63 arcs and whose capital has surprising details.
• Next to is located St. Francisco Cemetery, a nice and picturesque cemetery that mixes Neogothi and Baroque styles and it's regarded as BIC (Bien de Interés Cultural).
• As Burgas (free): hydrothermal waters placed where the city of Ourense was born and fountains where it goes out. It has As Burgas Interpretation Center (10-14 Tue-Fri), a museum which helps to understand the history and its relationship with Ourense's history.
• River Miño's Thermal Route: in the banks of river Miño there are several thermal pools, some of them free, that can be enjoyed with views to the river.
• Ourense Roman Bridge: bridge from Roman times which was rebuilt around the 11th century. 
• Outside Ourense, 25 km west, can be found Parque Arqueolóxico da Cultura Castrexa (10-20 Tue-Sun from Jul to Aug; 10-18 Tue-Sun from Sep to Jun; 5€/ 3€  adults/ reduced), located in the municipalities of Punxín (Pungín in Spanish) and San Amaro. This castro is one of the largest in Galicia (and just the 12% is explored) and the walk on its more thant 2,000 year old ruins is very nice. To understand the context of the castro, it's recommended to visit its interpretation center.
• Going 40 km north, in the municipality of San Cristovo de Cea (San Crstóbal de Cea in Spanish), there's the Monastery of St. María de Oseira (10-12 and 15:30-18:30; 3€/ free  adults/ kids under 9), monastery first built in the 12th century and rebuilt in the 17th, named by some the Galician El Escorial. It has three cloisters: the most important ones are claustro dos Pinaculos (Renaissance one with a well in the center) and claustro de los Medallones (cloister with representation of historic characters). The chapter hall is designed in Manueline style.

   

St. Francis Cloister

Ourense's cathedral

Praza Maior in Ribadavia

Continuing 30 km by river Miño there's the beautiful small town of Ribadavia (5,028 inhabitants), located by river Avia in the western part of the province of Ourense and it's considered the capital of the winery count of Ribeiro. Here you can enjoy architecture between the 9th and 19th centuries like Ribadavia castle, 14th century castle which belonged to the family Sarmiento, one of the largest in Galicia; the Old Town Wall, 12th century Romanesque Santiago church and St. Xoán Church (both just visited during mass). Ribadavia Ethnographic Museum (10-16 Tue-Sat) helps to understand the town, itsw history and the region too. Ribadavia has one of the best juderias (Jewish district) in Galicia. Here you can visit the Jewish Information Center in Galicia, located in pazo of the Counts of Ribadavia. The town also has a beautiful Eiffel-style bridge, ponte de Ferro, which connects Lugo and Ourense by train. Close from this town can be enjoyed some spa time in termas de Prexigueiro or a beautiuful 12th century monastery (better said, what's left from it) of St. María de Castrelo de Miño Church, in the parish of O Padreiro. Ribadavia has a popular festival called Festa da Historia, in which the town goes back to Middle Age.

Romanesque bridge in Allariz

In case you want to explore the sourthern part of the province of Ourense a good choice can be Allariz, a 6,110 inhabitants town 20 km far from Ourense. This town has several things to do like enjoying the ethnographic museums (11-14 and 18-20 Tue-Sun from Jul to Sep; 17-19 Fri -Sun from Oct to Jun; 3€ for 3 museums or 2€ for each) like Leather Museum (tannery where it's shown its history, specially important in the 19th century), Fashion Museum (shows the history of Galician clothing since the 18th century) or the Galician Toy Museum (collection of more than 800 toys). It has many churches like fore example the Romanesque style Santiago Church, St. Clara Convent (18th century convent with the largest altarpiece in Galicia) or St. María de Vilanova church, close to the Romanesque bridge. 

Monterrei castle in Verín

Another interesting point is the International Garden Festival of Allariz (daily from May to Oct; 2€), a group of surprising gardens with lakes, statues and games, that changes every year. Keeping our way south 50 km there's Verín, a 13,817 inhabitants town less than 20 km far from the Portuguese border (where it forms part of the eurocity with Chaves). Here it can be found Monterrei Castle (five daily guided tours; free), beautiful fortress-palace first built in the 12th century and nowadays it's own by the Duke of Alba (although they loaned for 100 years to the town of Verín) and here it's built a controversial parador. It has a nice 13th century chapel with Visigoth sculptures and a precious of a pregnant Virgin Mary.

Where can I eat in Ourense?

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).
Ribadavia is obviously an excellent place to try wine ribeiro, the main wine in Galicia. Some options to eat in Ribadavia are Plaza Restaurante (praza Maior 13), O Birrán (praza Magdalena 8), and bar Calvo (rúa Virxe O Porta 5). It's also highly recommended purchasing sweets in Tahona da Herminia (rúa Porta Nova da Arriba) with old Spanish-Jewish recipes like mamul, kupperlin or mostachudos.

Posted in: Europe,Galicia,Spain