Logbook · 7 places

What to see and do in Laza

What to see and do in Laza (Verín, Ourense): 7 places across monuments, nature, activities and curiosities, with a photo and a Google Maps location.

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

How far each place is from the centre of Laza

Hillfort of Laza 50 m

Towns near Laza

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What to see in Verín 13 km · 12 places
What to see in Trasmiras 13 km · 4 places
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Spain › Galicia › Ourense › Verín › Laza

What to see and do in Laza

Laza
Village
Laza is a concello of 216 km² and about 1,150 inhabitants in the province of Ourense, in the upper valley of the Támega river, inhabited by the Tamagani, a castrexo tribe mentioned on the Columna Honorífica of the Chaves bridge. Its name may come from the Latin Latium, from which the first Romans settled in the valley would have come, although other authors attribute it a Celtic origin. The municipality preserves numerous castros and up to 78 petroglyphs, among them those of the Pisadiñas and the Herraduras, and in 2015 a two-metre-high menhir was discovered at Soutelo Verde. Laza is famous today for its ancestral entroido, which brings the peliqueiros out into the streets and adds the farrapada, a battle with mud-soaked rags, and the throwing of the celebrated formigas.
Church of Santa María de Retorta
Monument
The parish church of Retorta, one of the ten parishes of a concello of 216 square kilometres that has lost almost three quarters of its population since 1900, when it numbered 4,405 households.
Hillfort of Laza
Nature
One of the seven fortified settlements catalogued in the municipality of Laza, along with Castro dos Mouros, A Coroa, A Cidadella, Lombo da Cerca, O Castro and A Picota; Roman gold-mining operations were also documented in the area. It stands beside the secondary road that linked routes 17 and 18 of the Antonine Itinerary: it is a natural castro, with no visible constructions, in a strategic spot facing the oppidum of Chaves, already in Portugal.
La Morena of the Laza carnival
Curiosity
After the farrapada, a wooden figure imitating a cow's head comes down into the square guided by a local resident and charges at the people; that same Monday the young men release ants over the gathered crowd. It is one of the high points of the Entroido de Laza, the longest carnival in the province, which begins a month before the opening Sunday with foliones of chocos and drums and culminates, on that Sunday, with the peliqueiros, central figures in masks and animal-shaped caps who run through the town and hand out loaves called galegas. On Monday, known as borralleiro, the plaza da Picota first hosts the farrapada, a battle with mud-soaked rags, and in the afternoon the descent of the morena, followed by the throwing of the ants collected by the local young men.
Carnival of Laza
Activity
The Entroido de Laza, in the comarca of Verín, is the longest carnival in the province of Ourense: it begins a month before the opening Sunday with nocturnal foliones of fachós and torches. On Saturday the residents cover each other in flour in the plaza da Picota, and on Sunday out come the peliqueiros, with mask, cap and cowbells at the waist, who run through the streets and receive the handing out of the bica. On borralleiro Monday comes the farrapada, a battle with mud-soaked rags, and at dusk the Morena, a resident with a wooden cow's head who chases the people while they throw ants at him. On Tuesday, in an already mournful mood, the cycle closes with the reading of the testament, verses that go over what has happened since the previous year. It has been a fiesta of tourist interest since 2000.
Petroglyphs of the Footprints and the Horseshoes
Curiosity
Rock engravings of the place of Soutelo Verde whose names allude to footprints and horseshoe prints marked in the rock; popular tradition attributed them to the passing of saints or of enchanted horses.
The Vía de la Plata as it passes through Laza
Activity
Stage of the Camino Sanabrés that comes down from the height of A Alberguería to the Támega valley; the concello maintains a pilgrims' hostel on a stretch of sharp height difference and almost depopulated hamlets.