ÁREA DE ALLARIZ
Natural spaces
On the Way of St. James
Location
Ourense
A Bola | Allariz | Rairiz de Veiga | Vilar de Santos
Coordinates:
42º 08' 46.6" N - 7º 49' 01.7" W
Description
Meadows, rivers, coppices
To the greens and blues of nature is added the red of the logo in the form of a mosaic which represents the Allariz area in the world network of biosphere reserves. Red of the roof tiles. Made up of old thirty two municipalities, ten thousand souls. According to the official census, there are just under three thousand inhabitants in the municipality and another seven thousand living in small villages. In the municipality of Allariz alone there are eighty small settlements.
It is a human and natural mosaic produced by centuries of rural patience. Human labour around water therefore configures this landscape. There are two main rivers taking different paths through the reserve: Arnoia, tributary of the Miño, and Limia, shared with Portugal.
To the greens and blues of nature is added the red of the logo in the form of a mosaic which represents the Allariz area in the world network of biosphere reserves. Red of the roof tiles. Made up of old thirty two municipalities, ten thousand souls. According to the official census, there are just under three thousand inhabitants in the municipality and another seven thousand living in small villages. In the municipality of Allariz alone there are eighty small settlements.
It is a human and natural mosaic produced by centuries of rural patience. Human labour around water therefore configures this landscape. There are two main rivers taking different paths through the reserve: Arnoia, tributary of the Miño, and Limia, shared with Portugal.
Access
The southern coast of Galicia A-52 highway
and the N-525 road to Allariz. Also, turnoffs
to other points in Xinzo de Limia. A Carballa
da Rochas (A Saínza) and A Veiga de
Ponteliñares in Rairiz de Veiga, on the OU-
531 Xinzo de Limia- Celanova road.
The Ways of St. James
Vía de la Plata
Situation
In the Ourense municipalities of Allariz, Vilar
de Santos, A Bola and Rairiz de Veiga.
Area
21,482 hectares.
Services
Accommodation: Yes.
Food: Yes.
Food: Yes.
Without missing
The Arnoia is called Arnado as it passes through Allariz. It is one of the most beauful riverside walks of Galicia. There is an
outstanding Ethnographic Park, with a water mill which can be visited and museums dedicated to flax and leather, for, in days
gone by, the tanning of skins was an important activity. Not to be missed is the visit to the labyrinth of narrow streets, all in
an excellent state of repair, in the historic quarter. Far from being a sleepy area, it is the heart of the town.
The walk along the bank can begin at the recreation area of Acearrica and follow the course of the river downstream to one of the villages in the O Briñal reserve. It is a beautiful, long walk along the river under the shade of the forest.
In the other direction, upstream from Allariz, and accessible by car, is the O Rexo ecospace (Requeixo de Valverde) famous for the sculptural and artistic interventions of the Basque arist Agustin Ibarrola on the trees and rocks along the bank.
Another river at this altitude is the Limia, a living memory of a different past. Until it dried up in the 1960s it fed the Antela pool, one of the biggest wetlands of the Iberian Peninsula. The pool connues to be a mythical reference point in the whole region. There is an interesting ethnographic museum in Vilar de Santos and in neighbouring Sandiás there is an Interpretation Centre dealing with the old lake ecosystem, which is now being partially recreated in the pools of the abandoned sand mines and is undergoing a process of natural regeneration.
The walk along the bank can begin at the recreation area of Acearrica and follow the course of the river downstream to one of the villages in the O Briñal reserve. It is a beautiful, long walk along the river under the shade of the forest.
In the other direction, upstream from Allariz, and accessible by car, is the O Rexo ecospace (Requeixo de Valverde) famous for the sculptural and artistic interventions of the Basque arist Agustin Ibarrola on the trees and rocks along the bank.
Another river at this altitude is the Limia, a living memory of a different past. Until it dried up in the 1960s it fed the Antela pool, one of the biggest wetlands of the Iberian Peninsula. The pool connues to be a mythical reference point in the whole region. There is an interesting ethnographic museum in Vilar de Santos and in neighbouring Sandiás there is an Interpretation Centre dealing with the old lake ecosystem, which is now being partially recreated in the pools of the abandoned sand mines and is undergoing a process of natural regeneration.
Information and facilities
Área gestionada por los ayuntamientos. Concellería de Medio Ambiente de Allariz
Telephone: +34 988 440 001
Próximo a la reserva: Centro de Interpretación de lal Laguna de Antela
Telephone: +34 988 465 001
Parque Etnográfico del río Arnoia (Allariz)
Telephone: +34 988 440 859
Museo Etnográfico da Limia (Vilar de Santos)
Telephone: +34 988 465 883
Centro Promoción Económica (Allariz)
Telephone: +34 988 442 210
Aula de la Naturaleza ? Ecoespacio O Rexo (Fundación Ramón Glez. Ferreiro)
Telephone: +34 988 436 182
Address: Sandiás
Map
