Logbook · 8 places

What to see and do in Rionegro del Puente

What to see and do in Rionegro del Puente (La Carballeda, Zamora): 8 places across monuments, nature, activities and curiosities, with a photo and a Google Maps location.

1 Villages · 2 Monuments · 1 Nature · 1 Activities · 1 Curiosities · 1 Historical milestones · 1 Food and drink

Towns near Rionegro del Puente

Spain › Castile and León › Zamora › La Carballeda › Rionegro del Puente

What to see and do in Rionegro del Puente

Rionegro del Puente
Village
Rionegro del Puente is the chief town of the comarca of La Carballeda, in the province of Zamora, situated at the confluence of the Negro and Tera rivers, near the Sierra de la Culebra and Lake Sanabria. Its town centre is crossed by the Sanabrés Way of St James, whose revival made it possible to restore in 2007 the old pilgrims' hospital of the Brotherhood of the Falifos. The municipality retains the sanctuary of the Virgen de la Carballeda, also owned by that brotherhood, with an ashlar tower rising more than twenty metres and an entrance arch from which hang chains symbolising redemption. Resettled in the Middle Ages by the kings of León, it later belonged to the district of Mombuey and, since 1834, to that of Puebla de Sanabria. It has 224 inhabitants.
The sanctuary of Nuestra Señora de la Carballeda
Monument
Raised over a Romanesque chapel and enlarged between the fourteenth and eighteenth centuries, it belongs to the brotherhood of the Falifos and keeps the image of the patroness of the comarca; its tower exceeds twenty metres in height.
The walnut-wood funerary monument
Monument
Inside the sanctuary a funerary monument five metres high is preserved, carved in walnut wood by Tomás Montesino in 1722, a piece considered unique in its category within the heritage of Zamora.
The confluence of the Negro and the Tera
Nature
The village owes its name to the bridge over the river Negro, which shortly afterwards delivers its waters to the Tera; along these banks, between 790 and 900 metres of altitude, move wolves, wild boar, roe deer and storks.
The Brotherhood of the Falifos
Curiosity
Since the Middle Ages this brotherhood, whose name alludes to the rags of the poor, paid for bridges and hospitals for the pilgrims going to Compostela; it still owns the sanctuary and keeps up the village's hostel.
The founding of Caracas by Diego de Losada
Historical milestone
The conquistador born in Rionegro and baptised in the church of Santiago Apóstol founded Santiago de León de Caracas; his ancestral house, the so-called palace of the Losada family, was restored in 1992 as the village's cultural centre.
The pilgrimage of the Virgen de la Carballeda
Activity
On the third weekend of September the pipers open the pilgrimage festival of the patroness of the comarca: children dressed in their best offer flowers to the image and the fair fills the surroundings of the sanctuary with stalls and concerts.
The Carballeda-style octopus
Food and drink
Boiled in a copper cauldron in the Galician manner, octopus became the greatest dish of the comarca's pilgrimage festivals despite Rionegro being hundreds of kilometres from the sea; it is missing from no stall at the September festival.