Logbook · 9 places

What to see and do in Triacastela

What to see and do in Triacastela (Sarria, Lugo): 9 places across monuments, nature, activities and curiosities, with a photo and a Google Maps location.

1 Villages · 2 Monuments · 3 Nature · 1 Activities · 2 Curiosities

How far each place is from the centre of Triacastela

Cave of Eirós 2.7 km
Eirós Cave 2.7 km

Towns near Triacastela

What to see in Samos 7.6 km · 12 places
What to see in Becerreá 12 km · 13 places
What to see in As Nogais 14 km · 11 places
What to see in Láncara 14 km · 9 places
What to see in Sarria 14 km · 17 places
What to see in O Incio 15 km · 9 places
What to see in Baralla 15 km · 12 places
What to see in Pedrafita do Cebreiro 18 km · 14 places

Spain › Galicia › Lugo › Sarria › Triacastela

What to see and do in Triacastela

Triacastela
Village
Triacastela is a concello of about 590 inhabitants in the comarca of Sarria (Lugo) and a stage of the Camiño Francés, whose name comes from the Latin tria castella. Its great benefactor was King Alfonso IX (1188-1230); at San Pedro de Ermo stood the monastery of San Pedro and San Pablo, founded by Count Gatón of Bierzo, whose donations were confirmed in 919 by King Ordoño II of León. At Cancelo lies the Cova Eirós, a site with remains of Homo neanderthalensis, thirteen rock-art panels with 93 motifs and more than ten thousand recovered pieces, a reference for the study of the hunter-gatherers who lived in Galicia 40,000 years ago; nearby, the church of San Cristovo de Cancelo preserves 16th-century paintings of the Last Supper and scenes from the Passion.
Eirós Cave
Nature
The cova Eirós is a karst cave at Cancelo, in the municipality of Triacastela, at the foot of the serra do Oribio. It has been excavated since the 1990s, when its occupation by the cave bear was documented, with remains of more than 40 individuals; it marks the westernmost limit of this animal's range. In 1993 an archaeological campaign also began, uncovering Upper Palaeolithic lithic industry on quartz, and in 2008 the lower level was confirmed to contain Middle Palaeolithic material, of Levallois technique and attributed to Neanderthals, dating back some 35,000 years. On 20 August 2012 the discovery was made public of cave paintings and engravings up to 30,000 years old, the first evidence of Palaeolithic cave art in Galicia.
Church of Santiago de Triacastela
Monument
The parish church of the municipal capital and a classic stop for pilgrims coming down from O Cebreiro; it preserves a Romanesque apse and a later tower, and very close by the Camino forks towards Samos or towards San Xil.
Monument to the Pilgrim of Triacastela
Monument
A sculpture crowning a heap of limestone in memory of the walkers who, since the 11th century, carried a block of Triacastela limestone in their pack to leave at the lime kilns of Castañeda, some ninety kilometres away.
Limestone quarries of Triacastela
Nature
The limestone outcrops in the parish of Vilavella, at places such as Os Cotelos, A Pedra and O Penedo, are among the few in Galicia; from them came the stone used to make lime for Santiago cathedral.
The three castros of Triacastela
Curiosity
The place name comes from the Latin tria castella, three castles, and local tradition connects it with three fortified settlements: the castro of Triacastela itself and those of Tras do Castro and Lagares, now barely visible among the meadows.
Cave of Eirós
Nature
The cova de Eirós is a karst cavity located in Cancelo, in the municipality of Triacastela (Lugo), at the foot of the sierra of the Oribio. Excavated since the 1990s, it has yielded remains of more than forty cave bears and lithic materials from the Middle and Upper Palaeolithic; in 2008 the discovery of lithic industry worked with the Levallois technique, attributed to Neanderthal humans from around 35,000 years ago, was confirmed. On 20 August 2012 the discovery of cave paintings and engravings of the same age was made public, the first example of rock art found in Galicia, which led to its declaration as a Bien de Interés Cultural (Spain's highest level of heritage protection) and makes it one of the most important Palaeolithic sites in the north-west of the peninsula.
Limestone quarries of Triacastela
Curiosity
Limestone workings from which medieval pilgrims took a stone to carry to the kilns of Castañeda, a custom already recorded in the twelfth-century Codex Calixtinus.
Fork in the Way at Triacastela
Activity
At the exit from the town the French way splits in two: the San Xil variant, shorter and over the hills, and the Samos one, which follows the river; both come together again before reaching Sarria.