Discover Ourense XI: A Ribeira Sacra

The postcard we sent to Beth from Coimadai in Australia featured a lovely view of Ribeira Sacra.

Ribeira Sacra is made up of the banks of the river Sil in the North of Ourense province and of the river Miño in the South of Lugo province. A total of 2569,28 km² where 63533 people live.

Canyons

Canóns do Sil (Turismo Galicia)

Ribeira Sacra constitutes the best kept secret inside Galicia. It appears majestic with its natural and biological treasures making up a rich ecosystem. The fanciful natural forms that it origins in this land creates a way of extraordinary attraction and unusual beauty. Deep valleys have been worked by the rivers Sil and Miño in the hard granite rock turning Ribeira Sacra into an authentic vertical plane. Sil slope proves to be rockier reaching up to 500 metres altitude at some points. Miño slope appears more smoothly and this slope is worked by human. The spectacular landscape of Sil Canyon announces us the river Sil passing through the mountains. In the Sil Canyon there are a lot of views to admire a superb nature. Also, we can admire the Canyon from into the river: the catamaran trips introduce us in the canyon.  

Art

Santa Cristina de Ribas de Sil

A monastic culture has left trace in this land. This way is testified by numerous monasteries and small Romanesque churches that appeared in Ribeira Sacra; an asset declaration which is considered to be the principal Romanesque in the countryside of Europe concentration.

Examples of this art are monasteries as Santo Estevo de Ribas de Sil (Nogueira de Ramuín), Santa Cristina de Ribas de Sil (Parada de Sil), or Santa María de Montederramo (Montederramo), among others, as well as spectacular  small temples like San Paio de Diomondi (O Saviñao), Santo Estevo de Atán (Pantón), San Miguel de Eiré (Pantón), or San Fiz de Cangas (Pantón). 

Wine

Ribeira Sacra wine

Wine constitutes one of the principal economic driving forces of Ribeira Sacra. The wine attracts many tourist and visitors to our territory, thanks to the quality and the personality of our wines. The Romans had full appreciation for these wines, fruity and smooth, ideal to combine meals. The Regulatory Council of the Wine Ribeira Sacra was provided with a whole of 89 wine wineries last year 2014. 
Among all the wineries they add 1258 hectares of vineyards, of which they have obtained a harvest of almost five million kilos of grape and more three million litres of wine were bottled. A few surprising and admirable information if we bear in mind that in Ribeira Sacra there are small and family wineries.

Watch this video to get a taste of this marvel!