Pontevedra and Combarro

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After Christmas we set sail, entered the Ria de Pontevedra on Dec 26 and anchored in front of Combarro. The town is off the tourist map but the old quarter proved well worth a visit the next day.

One of the Praza’s with Cruceiros and public library in the background.
The original fishermen quay. Now a praza with many restaurants for the mainly Spanish tourists.
The typical granite fishermen’s houses with stone balconies inspired by Galician pazos. All of them facing the sea with the ground floor used as warehouse and the first floor with living room and kitchen.
One of the many charming alleys
We dingied back to the boat at anchor in the bay.
And enjoyed this view with a sun-downer.

The next day we took a 3 mile dingy ride up the Rio Lerez to Pontevedra, the provincial capital. The center is car free and Pontevedra has been awarded several awards for its urban quality and quality of life.

For centuries Pontevedra was the largest city in Galicia until the end of the 16th century when the harbour silted up with sediment from the river. Columbus’s flagship the “Santa Maria” was build here.

When motoring up the river Lerez early Saturday morning we were “greeted” by the local canoe club.
This chapel is located in a former Dorothean convent in Pontevedra where Sister Lucia lived and received Marian apparitions on Dec 1925 and Feb 1926. It is now known as the “Santuario das Aparicions”. The three children; Lucia dos Santos and her cousins Francisco and Jacinto Marto, were born in Fatima, Portugal. The children reported apparitions starting from 1916 onwards. In 1930 the Bishop Da Silva declared the events “worthy of belief”. The “Santuario de Nossa Senhora de Fatima in Portugal is amongst the most important Catholic Shrines around the world.
Monument to the soldiers who fell in the Battle of Ponte Sampaio, Pontevedra June 1809 when the Spanish forces defeated the French and forced their evacuation from Galicia.
The Ingrexa da Virxe Peregrina (Church of the Pilgrims) is a must for the Pilgrims (and tourists) that follow the Portuguese Way of Saint James to Santiago de Compostela
The untraditional floor plan of the church is shaped after a scallop (coquille St. Jaques) which symbolises the pilgrimage.
Convent and church of San Francisco.
Garden of Casto de San Pedro, in front of the Monastery.
Praza de Estrella, a tourist get together in front of the convent.
“Tourist lunch”, sold as a typical Galician dish, but not as well prepared as in the establishments where the locals eat. Meals in the smaller villages are tastier.
Little squares surrounded by restaurants abound.
Shopping street flanked by the typical Galician galleries.
Praza Alonso de Fonseca in front of the Basilica de Santa Maria a Maior.
We were lucky since there was a service going on with the interior fully lit.
The impressive facade of the Basilica.
The old bridge over the Lerez river with the scallop symbol on every pillar.
Back to the boat in our “water car”.