Logbook · 7 places

What to see and do in Neda

What to see and do in Neda (Ferrol, A Coruña): 7 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 Food and drink

How far each place is from the centre of Neda

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Spain › Galicia › A Coruña › Ferrol › Neda

What to see and do in Neda

Neda
Village
Neda is a municipality of about 4,900 inhabitants at the head of the ria of Ferrol, in the valley formed by the Belelle river before it flows into the Grande de Jubia river. Dammed at the Fervenza reservoir, its waters provided power from the late 18th century to paper, copper and cloth mills, and later to a power station that supplied Ferrol. Thanks to the timber from its forests there was also an important shipyard, where a ship of two hundred tuns was built that, according to the chronicles, took part in the reconquest of Algeciras in 1344, which earned Neda trading privileges. The town is crossed by the Camino Inglés and is famous for its bread, to which it dedicates an annual festival; the Belelle still turns several mills, and the Gothic church of San Nicolás is preserved.
Church of San Nicolás de Neda
Monument
A 15th-century Gothic church, with a single nave and a rectangular apse, which holds the tomb of Diego Esquío; beside it stands a granite cruceiro of the same century, one of the few of its kind preserved in Galicia.
Waterfall of o Belelle
Nature
The fervenza do Belelle is formed where the Belelle river plunges down a 45-metre granite wall, one of the largest waterfalls in Galicia, near the hamlet of O Roxal, in Neda, very close to the Fragas do Eume; at its base natural pools form, ringed by oak and chestnut woods. Next to the natural waterfall a hydroelectric power station was built in the early 20th century which, via a channel running to Mount Marraxón, raises the usable drop to 125 metres and which is still in operation today. The river carries water all year round, though it increases in autumn and winter, the best time to see it. It is reached by a path of under four kilometres return, starting beside the pazo of Isabel II.
Royal Mint of Xuvia
Curiosity
Copper works founded by order of 1790 at the place of Xuvia, parish of Santa María de Neda, to clad the ships being built at the Ferrol shipyard; production did not start until 1803. The war against the French turned it into a mint in 1811, and in 1812 its first coins came out, worth eight maravedís. It lost ground to the Segovia mint from 1815 and stopped minting between 1827 and 1835, when it was given over to making tinplate; it resumed minting decimal-system coinage in 1850 and, after a temporary closure, struck escudo centimes from 1866. In 1868 the Ferrol-born writer Benito Vicetto was appointed superintendent, the year it closed along with the Segovia mint; the site later became a textile factory.
The church of San Nicolao de Neda
Monument
A 14th-century Gothic church on the shore of the estuary, beside which stands a granite cruceiro considered one of the finest in Galicia. The villa also has the Baroque church of Santa María, with tower and dome.
The English Way as it passes through Neda
Activity
The Jacobean route that starts at Ferrol crosses the villa at the head of the estuary, waymarked from the medieval Torre do Reloxo. From here also sets out the traditional path towards the sanctuary of Santo André de Teixido.
The bread of Neda
Food and drink
Pan de Neda has long been kneaded from flour milled in the mills of the river Belelle, whose waters enjoyed a reputation for the quality of their milling. The tradition became established in the 16th century, when Philip II set up the Reales Fábricas de Bizcocho in Neda to supply the naval base and shipyards of Ferrol, with a bread that stayed edible for months for voyages to America; in the 18th century workers here staged Spain's first strike, trying to exchange this bread for the one made in the shipyard itself. With a thick crust and dense crumb, it is distinguished from pan de Cea by its stronger flavour and by being eaten fresh out of the oven. The mills remained active until the 1950s, and since 1989 its festival has been held every first Sunday of September.