OURENSE CITY

This route is ideal to discover the heart of the city and to read the history of this place from another point of view. The stones that built this city are 2000 years old. There are thousands of official histories, tales, art, unique personages and popular memories and knowledge.

2 hours

In the 19th-century by a Royal law the Cemetery of San Francisco is built. This hidden spot is like a labyrinth where the graves are well preserved and there are different kind of models of burials. The memories of great artists, politicians, well-known families and other people from Ourense rest there. All of them have made history for the last 200 years among the city of Ourense.

2 hours

Eduardo Blanco Amor was a well-know and recognized “Ourensan” writer in the beginnings of the 20th-century. This route is inspired by his novels: “La Catedral y el niño”, “Os Biosbardos”, “A Esmorga” and “Xente ao Lonxe”. A provocative route that reclaims social, political and diversity perspectives.

2 hours

From the 12th-century the Cathedral of Saint Martin prevails and protects the medieval city of Ourense. Solid and strong walls of stones in its exterior. Explosion of romantic, gothic, renaissance and baroque art in its interior. Monument full of meanings, a peaceful refuge and a devotion place.

2/3 hours

It might be that the Franciscans where the most appreciated monks by the Ourensan society in the Middle Ages. The visit to the gothic cloister of the ancient monastery is a travel where the medieval imaginary emerges on the sculpts made of stones; dragons, centaurs, shrews, mermaids, warriors, dancers, local flora, monks, evangelists… In this route, it is offered an interpretation of the meanings that these mythological creatures evoke.

2 hours

This route includes a visit to the “Escolma” of the Sculpture at the archaeological museum of the province of Ourense.

“SanTome”’ is an ancient village located 5 kilometers away from the Ourense city center. It is described by the local people as a hidden natural and historical paradise next to the craziness of the city. From these views one can see Ourense and it is especially magic at the sunset time. The archaeological settlement allows and engages the visitant a good walk through the roman and Galician prehistoric villages. A well preserved settlement hidden between trees and autochthonous flora. The river “Loña” can be seen there.

1, 2, 3 hours

This route is adaptable to the lengths and interests of the visitors; it can include if wanted an easy walking route.

From the 19th-century to the 20th-century the city changes its medieval limits and embrace the arrival of modernism and progress. The main families of the city wanted to live in houses to show up the flourishing times of this period. Therefore, the urbanism of the city changes with new squares, business and beautiful and stoning buildings with a careful and well thought design. The young intellectuals of this period rescue their love for their own land, language, history, politics, archeology and ethnography. They created the generation “Nós” (We in Galician). From the architecture to the new ways of observing and thinking the world, the city lived one of its most important cultural times. Ourense it was called “La Atenas de Galicia” (The Athens of Galicia).

2 hours