Village
Oímbra is a municipality in the province of Ourense, in the comarca of Verín, on the border with Portugal. It has about 1,690 inhabitants and its economy rests on agriculture and livestock farming, with white pepper as its flagship product, protected by a protected geographical indication and celebrated at an exaltation fair on the first weekend of August. It is the Galician municipality with the highest concentration of rock-cut wine presses, which can be toured along a marked route, among them the restored winery of Adega-Lagar das Barrocas; it also preserves the church of Santa María de Oímbra, of Romanesque origin though much remodelled in the 17th century. Its best-known festival is the Entroido de Oímbra, one of the most important carnivals in Galicia.
Monument
A noble residence dated to 1786 and enlarged several times in that same century, with heraldic coats of arms on the façade and a Baroque chapel where the tombs of the Yáñez de Lugo family are preserved.
Monument
Romanesque in origin, it was thoroughly remodelled in 1634; the crypt of Juan Yáñez de Lugo opens off its Baroque chapel, and in the same concello stands the cruceiro of San Cibrao, from 1754, with scenes of the Passion.
Curiosity
The concello has the greatest concentration of rock-cut winepresses in all of Galicia, with waymarked routes between them; next to one of them the adega-lagar das Barrocas has been restored, with three storeys and underground chambers.
Curiosity
In Videferre stands an ashlar building bearing the coat of arms of the Holy Office, a reminder of the inquisitorial tribunals that operated in this border strip between the fifteenth and seventeenth centuries.
Nature
The Támega structures the municipality, and on its eastern bank stood Coelobriga, a Roman settlement close to the present-day village; the valley supports cereals, potatoes, huerta crops, fruit trees and olive groves recovered in recent years.
Activity
Gastronomic fiesta declared of Galician tourist interest, held in Oímbra, in the comarca of Verín, every first Sunday of August since its first edition in 1997, when it began as a popular celebration, growing to draw an average of 4000 visitors. It centres on the white pepper of Oímbra, picked green at an intermediate stage of ripeness and protected by a Protected Geographical Indication, sweet in flavour and without heat owing to its lack of capsaicin. It is held at the Carballeira, next to the Casa do Concello, with folk music, an agricultural fair and children's games. Its central moment is the popular meal, at which the pepper is served stuffed or fried together with meats and octopus, and a contest that rewards the creativity of dishes made with this ingredient.
Monument
Church of the 18th century in the parish of Bousés, the largest in the concello of Oímbra; it stands in a border valley dotted with wine presses cut into the rock and traditional cellars.
Monument
A stone cross located in the western part of the parish of San Cibrao, in the concello of Oímbra, Verín district, barely 500 metres from the border with Portugal. On its base, carved in granite, the inscription that dates the work is preserved: "Esta obra mandouna facer Francisco Crespo, año 1754." With the Instruments of the Passion carved on the capital, it is considered one of the major pieces of the diocese of Ourense.
Nature
Rise of some 400 metres over the Támega valley to which the population moved in the 6th century after the destruction of the settlements of the plain; on it sits the centre of Oímbra.
Curiosity
Cellar of three storeys restored in Oímbra, a concello that brings together the greatest concentration of rock-cut wine presses in Galicia, basins excavated in the rock where the grape was trodden from ancient times.
Historical milestone
A Portuguese incursion during the War of Restoration razed and burned the tower that defended the town; the border conflict would mark the valley until the Treaty of Lisbon of 1668.
Historical milestone
The army of the Marquis of La Romana crossed these frontier lands in 1809 in its withdrawal before the French advance; two months later Soult's troops would be defeated on the other side of the border, at Amarante.
Food and drink
The olive grove of the Támega valley, whose cultivation goes back to Roman times, almost disappeared in the middle of the 20th century and today is recovering; its oil coexists with the white pepper, the other local product.