Our Very Very Young Postcrossers are going to send one more postcard
before summer holidays begin and so they’ve been taken on a walking tour of the
old town by their teachers Tamara and Yolanda in order to discover some of its most important spots.
Stop 1: Ourense’s Praza de Abastos (Wholesale Food
Market)
Located right behind the Alameda, one of Ourense’s
main parks, the Abastos market is the best place to buy fresh local products.
The main building was designed by the architect Manuel Conde and built in 1929.
It houses dozens of family
businesses that fall into one of
the following categories: fish and seafood, fruits and vegetables, meat, cheeses,
bread and pastries.
One of the Praza de
Abastos’s peculiarities is its outside, where you can visit small flower
stands and popular stalls in which products of the nearby orchards, fruit and
vegetables are sold along with local wines, pies, the so-called “Pan de Cea” (Cea Bread) and
many other products of the land.
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| Pan de cea. Cocinagallega.es |
Stop 2: As Burgas
As you already know from a previous post, As Burgas
are Ourense’s best known hot water springs. Medicinal mineral water gushes out from three sources: “Burgas de Arriba”, “Burgas do Medio” and
“Burgas de Abaixo”. Water temperature is really high, between 64ºC and 68ºC, and the volume of water flowing daily is impressively high too: over 4 million litres!
Stop 3: Main Square
The Main Square was featured in the first postcard sent in this project. The Praza Maior is a sloped square enclosed by various stunning buildings
with arcades to protect pedestrians from the rain and the wind. The two
traditional powers of the city are located here: the Town Hall and the Bishop's
Palace.
Stop 4: Town Hall
The Town Hall is the main administrative building in
Ourense; it houses the town council, its associated departments, and their
employees, who work to promote and enhance the quality of life in Ourense.
Stop 5:
Praza Bispo Cesáreo
This is a lovely little square named after a well
known 19th century bishop. Its Baroque water fountain at its center came
from the Mosteiro de Oseira, a Cistercian monastery dating back to the 12th
century.
Stop 6: The
Alameda Park
The Alameda is the oldest park in town, Formerly the
town hall’s gardens (“A Horta do Concello”), the Alameda was transformed in the
19th century into a park for the enjoyment of all the ourensanos.
Its transformation
was commissioned to Vázquez Gulías, who built amazing modernist constructions
such as the palco da música (music kiosk):
Thanks a million Tamara and Yolanda
for taking us on this tour to discover the history of some of Ourense’s
marvels!
