Logbook · 9 places

What to see and do in O Bolo

What to see and do in O Bolo (Valdeorras, Ourense): 9 places across monuments, nature, activities and curiosities, with a photo and a Google Maps location.

1 Villages · 4 Monuments · 2 Nature · 1 Activities · 1 Historical milestones

How far each place is from the centre of O Bolo

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Spain › Galicia › Ourense › Valdeorras › O Bolo

What to see and do in O Bolo

O Bolo
Village
O Bolo is a concello in the province of Ourense, in the comarca of Valdeorras, between the Bibei and Xares rivers, at 785 metres above sea level; its name comes from the Latin “bullum,” hillock. It has 789 inhabitants (INE 2025). The town, called Volobriga in antiquity, belonged in the late 14th century to the nobleman Pedro Enríquez de Castilla, count of Trastámara, Lemos, Sarria, Viana and El Bollo; his son Fadrique inherited the titles and became duke of Arjona, until he was arrested in 1429 by order of John II of Castile. Of its castle, built in the late 15th century probably over another destroyed in the Irmandiña revolt, only the Torre do Bolo remains, square in plan and 18 metres tall. Its territory also holds the 18th-century baroque sanctuary of Nosa Señora das Ermidas.
Tower of o Bolo
Monument
The Torre do Bolo stands in the Ourense municipality of O Bolo, near the Serra do Eixe; the earliest documented references to the castle do not appear before the 12th century. In the 14th century King Peter I of Castile granted the town royal charter status (fuero de realengo) for its loyalty against Henry of Trastámara, and in the 15th century John II confirmed its privileges by granting the fortification to the Counts of Benavente, who disputed it with the Counts of Lemos. The medieval castle, rectangular in plan with seven towers, retains its keep, square in plan, eighteen metres high and about ten metres to a side, with three floors and a vaulted basement; it was rebuilt in the 15th century in Gothic style by Juan Pimentel. Beside the courtyard of honour a cylindrical tower and part of the defensive wall also survive.
Shrine of as Ermidas
Monument
The Baroque sanctuary of Nuestra Señora das Ermidas, from the 18th century, is set deep in the Bibei valley, in the parish of Santa María das Ermidas, in the west of the municipality (concello) of O Bolo, and was declared a Bien de Interés Cultural (Spain's highest level of heritage protection) in 2006. The place name Ermidas comes from the Latin eremita, a word that denoted a small church set apart from population centres. It is the main focus of devotion in Valdeorras, drawing pilgrims from across the region and the neighbouring Bierzo.
Chapel of a Virxe dos Navallos
Monument
A church of Romanesque root built at a crossroads in the municipality, its façade bearing the date 1420; its siting recalls the medieval custom of marking the meeting points of routes with a chapel.
Canyon of the Bibei
Nature
The River Bibei cuts its course into a deep gorge that marks the western limit of a municipality of 91 square kilometres lying between that river and the Xares, with ground rising to 1,200 metres at the Fraga da Ramalla.
Church of Santa María do Bolo
Monument
Parish church of the capital, at the foot of the tower that dominates the Bibei valley; the concello brings together eighteen parishes spread between the Manzaneda massif and the Trevinca ranges.
Ramalla Forest
Nature
Wooded rise of the north of the concello of O Bolo that reaches 1,200 metres of altitude, on the step that links the Bibei valley with the foothills of the Manzaneda massif.
Mondón Spa
Activity
Thermal establishment opened in 1903 in the concello of O Bolo to make use of a spring of ferruginous waters, in a remote valley of the upper Bibei to which spa-goers came from all over the comarca.
Creation of the municipality of O Bolo
Historical milestone
The town council was constituted under the Constitution of Cádiz over the former lordship of the tower; it kept the Castilianised form El Bollo between 1877 and 1985, when it recovered the Galician name.