Contributions to the European Heritage-the book final(1).pdf

Contributions to the European
Heritage
2

Vischering Castle
Abendgymnasium der Stadt Münster
EPAPU Albeiros Lugo
Horizon College Alkmaar
AEOLIS Lesvos
3

Herausgeber: Abendgymnasium der Stadt Münster
Schulleiter: Helmut Börgmann
Anschrift: Wienburgstraße 52, 48147 Münster
Telefon 02 51 - 39 90 60
Fax: 02 51 - 3 99 06 29
E-Mail: abendgymnasium@muenster.de
Internet: www.abendgymnasium-muenster.de
4

Table of Contents......................5
Dear Reader.....................................9
Forewords......................................10
The Initiator´s Foreword.................11
The Coordinator´s Foreword...........12
Table of Contents
5
Germany................................13
Münster........................................14
The German Team..........................15
The German School........................16
The Münster Project Meeting..........17
Münster and the Hanseatic
League...................................19
Münster and the Hanseatic
League...........................................20
In the Footsteps of the Hanseatic
League............................................21
A Letter to the Family.....................22
Hanseatic Links..............................24
Hanseatic Lectures.........................26
The Münster Rebellion............29
The Chronicle of the Rebellion........31
Who is Who....................................34
Rebellion – Links............................35
Interview with Dr. Andreas Pietsch. 36
The Peace of Westphalia.........39
The Peace of Westphalia................40
Peace of Westphalia - Links............41
Bridges to Modern Times........42
Castles and Palaces of the Münster
Region
Man, Machine, Münsterland...........44
Our Local Poet................................46
Annette von Droste-Hülshoff..........47
Our Roman Heritage...............48
The Battle of the Teutoburg Forest. 49

Spain.....................................51
Lugo..............................................52
The Spanish Team..........................53
The Spanish School........................54
The Lugo Project Meeting...............55
Lugo Heritage.........................56
Interview to Adolfo de Abel Vilela ..57
Medieval Galician Lyrics..........60
Introduction to the Medieval Galician
lyrics..............................................61
Influence of the Provençal lyrics from
Occitania on Medieval European
poetry............................................63
Medieval Galician lyric poetry........65
Medieval Galician songs
A bilingual selection (English-
Galician).........................................69
Major Genres..................................70
Songs of a friend/songs of women in
lo...................................................71
Mendinho ( 13th century)...............72
Martin Codax (13th century)..........73
Fernand’Esquío (13th-14th century)
......................................................74
Songs of love/songs of men in love 75
Dinis of Portugal (1261-1352)........76
Bernal de Bonaval (13th century). .78
Johán Zorro (13th-14th century).....79
Songs of mockery and vilification...80
Fernan Velho (13th century)...........81
Johán García de Guilhade (13th c.).82
Martín Soárez (13th century).........83
Alfonso X of Castile, the Wise (13th
c.)..................................................84
Airas Núnez (13th century)............85
Minor Genres..................................86
Pastorela........................................87
Pero Amigo de Sevilla (13th century)
......................................................88
Johán Airas de Santiago (13th-14th
century).........................................89
Songs of St Mary............................90
Cantiga Nova Que Se Chama Ribeira
6
(New Lady Called Waterside).........91
Lugo and the Medieval Lyrics.........93

The Way to Santiago...............97
The “Codex Calixtinus”..................98
Pilgrims to Santiago: Yesterday and
tod.................................................99
Interview to the Person in Charge .
....................................................103
The Ways to Santiago..................106
The North and East Ways.............109
The South Ways...........................114
The West Ways to Santiago..........118
The Science of Al-Andalus.....122
The Birth of Al-Andalus ................123
Scientist of al-Andalus..................129
Gallaecian-Roman Lugo.........141
Interview with Antonio Rodríguez
Colmenero, archaeologist............142
Rome in the Iberian Peninsula......145
The Roman legacy in the city of Lugo
....................................................151
Santalla de Bóveda......................152
The Old Bridge.............................155
The Thermae................................158
The Wall.......................................160
History of the excavations............169
The Roman military camps...........179
A ludic-historical recreation..........182
Castro culture .............................184
Interview with Felipe Arias Vilas...185
Daily life in Galician castro culture
....................................................191
River Miño:...........................197
Introduction.................................198
The coast: A Mariña.....................199
The interior plain: A Terra Cha......206
The mountain...............................211
The mountain - previous notes.....212
Ancares........................................213
Courel..........................................218
Xurés...........................................221
Ribeira Sacra........................224
The wine culture in Lugo and
Ourense.......................................225
7
The Romanesque style.................229
The manor houses.......................234

Netherlands................................202
Alkmaar
The Dutch Team....................................202
The Alkmaar Project Meeting (2010)...204
Dutch Cartography in the
16th and 17th Century
The heritage of Willem and Joan Blaeu205
Maps of the Atlas Maior........................220
Licht der Zee-vaert of Willem Blaeu.....222
The Dutch Art of Painting
in the 17th Century
General History of Art during the 17th 224
Dutch 17th Century Painters.................225
Rembrandt van Rijn..............................225
Frans Hals..............................................229
Jacob van Ruisdael................................230
Johannes Vermeer.................................231
Jan Steen................................................232
Gerard Dou.............................................234
Govaert Flinck........................................235
Pieter de Hooch......................................235
The Dutch East India Company
VOC.........................................................237
History of the Dutch East India Company
The Asian part........................................239
Hugo de Groot (Grotius) ............243
The Revolt of the Netherlands
The Dutch revolt....................................248
The siege of Alkmaar.............................252
Battle of the Zuiderzee...........................254
The Romans in the Netherlands. .255
The Roman Temple of Elst....................259
High Tech Romans.................................261
8

Greece........................................282
Lesvos.........................................283
The Greek Team.....................................283
The Greek School...................................285
The Lesvos Project Meeting (2011).......286
History of Lesvos........................288
Mansions of Mytilene Town..................293
9
Acropolis as a Part of
the European History.................294
The Greek Art of Painting
Greek Painters of the 19th century.......298
Georgios Iakovidis..................................301
Theophilos Hatzimihail.........................302
Two Greek Nobel Prize Winners
Girgos Seferis.........................................304
Odysseus Elytis .....................................305

This book is the result of the fouryear
Grundtvig project "Contributions
to the European Heritage". Initiated
by the German secondary teacher
Ludwig (Louis) Schmidt and his Dutch
colleague Henk Rijkeboer, joined by
the Spanish teachers Maria Xosé
Rodriguez Valcarcel and José Antonio
Armesto Rodríguez as well as their
Italian colleagues Mariella Candio
and Maurizio Seggioli, we started to
work on the above project in 2008.
Unfortunately, our Italian partners
were denied renewal of their funding
by their national agency. Instead our
Greek partners from Lesvos, Ifigenia
Georgiadu and Christos Sotiropoulos,
joined the Grundtvig project.
The teachers from all these different
nations were able to inspire many of
their students to work for the project.
Its aim is to show the importance of
our local history for the historical
heritage of Europe and to prove that
the participating nations have
common European roots. The
analysis of the different cultural and
political aspects of the European
history has made cross-border
networking of Europeans in recent
centuries possible. This led to the
awareness that there has been an
exchange of goods and ideas across
the borders of the various European
nations which have helped create a
Dear Reader
10
European identity.
We met five times in each of the
participating countries to present the
results of our work, to discuss the
further progress of our cooperation
and to visit the historical, cultural
and scenic locations of the
respective country. We wrote texts,
took pictures and edited graphics
finally presenting them on our
member Rainer Wermelt's Internet
platform. The book has been
compiled by Rainer Wermelt, Marc
Kaiser and Louis Schmidt, and is to
be understood as a printed version of
this site. It will be a memento for all
members of our group having worked
on the project, having become
friends. Moreover, it can also be used
to serve as a source of inspiration for
future classroom work, to get an
insight into our project and our
European topic. We are grateful to
Grundtvig which has made it possible
to learn and work together and
understand each other. It is not only
a website and a book which have
been created, but also everlasting
friendships.
Enjoy reading!
The team of "Contributions to the
European Heritage"

The Initiator´s Foreword
How it all began ... Dublin 2008
Lifelong learning means that you
never stop being curious. So I
decided after many years of teaching
English to apply for a Grundtvig
grant – motivated by my daughters
who had studied in Nottingham and
Sheffield supported by an Erasmus
grant. I applied for a teachers'
training course in Dublin and was
accepted. Studying at Trinity College
was fantastic, the course itself an
eye-opener. I got to know colleagues
from various European countries, and
besides learning a lot about Ireland
and the latest methods of teaching
English to non-native speakers of
English I understood the true
meaning of these courses:
Bringing together people from all
over Europe, spreading the European
idea, finding out what it means to be
European. I learned that we all have
a lot in common, but at the same
time appreciated the cultural and
linguistic differences which is a real
treasure trove. But the most
important experience was making
friends, and developing lifelong
friendships.
Back home I decided to spread the
European idea, letting other people
profit from my experience, and
because we Europeans have the
same historical roots, the topic of the
Grundtvig project was soon born:
Our common heritage.
11
I put the topic on the Grundtvig
database platform, and was found by
the first partner – Henk Rijkeboer
from the Netherlands. That was the
start of “Contributions to the
European Heritage”.
Soon we found a school in
Lugo/Galicia in Spain (Centro E.P.A.)
with our Spanish colleagues José
Armesto and Maria Rodriguez and
another school in Martina
Franca/Apulia in Italy with our Italian
friends Mariella Candio and Maurizio
Seggioli. But the Italian agency did
not fund them, so we looked for
another partner and found them on
Lesvos: Aeolis - Cultural
Development Society of Lesvos
Island with our colleagues Ifigenia
Georgiadou und Christos
Sotiropoulos.
After four years of working together
on the project we became friends –
all involved, teachers and students
alike. Without our students the
project would never have come true,
without their enthusiasm, their
willingness to meet people from
other nations and without their
support it would not have been the
same. Seeing the result of our
project, the friendships which have
developed and the joy of meeting
each other in all the different
countries, it was worth it.
Thank you all. …
Louis Schmidt

Dear visitor.
The Coordinator´s Foreword
This website has been created by
four European adult education
centres. They used Grundtvig, a
European platform for adult
education.
Grundtvig is part of the Lifelong
Learning Programme (LLP) that
focuses on all organizations,
institutions and associations
providing general education for
adults, whether they belong to the
formal, non-formal or informal sector.
Participants can be adult education
centres, museums, libraries, prisons
and welfare organizations.
A Grundtvig learning partnership is a
unique programme. Not the
outcome, but the process is
important. It is the experience and
cooperation with European partners
which add value to our organizations
and to yourself.
12
The European History Project
Each school presents a number of
examples of historical contributions
to the European culture. You will find
these topics on the following pages.
These are our contributions to history
from a European perspective.
We want to highlight the historical
and cultural exchange between
different European regions and
countries. In this way we hope to
stimulate interest in history getting
aware of the mutual influences of the
various parts of Europe. We are
convinced that this can be a
contribution to the development of a
European consciousness.
I hope you will enjoy reading our
pages.
Henk Rijkeboer, project coordinator
More Information:
For more information about
Grundtvig see:
http://ec.europa.eu/education/lifelon
g-learning-programme/doc86_en.htm
For more information about the
European Heritage project see:
http://www.na-bibbest.eu/search_p_detail.php?
id_project_base=2010-1-NL1-GRU06-
02918

Germany
On Top of the World - Überwasserkirche
13

Teachers
Schmidt, Ludwig - Team Coordinator
Börgmann, Helmut
Börgmann, Helmut
Headmaster
The German Team
Students
Brombach, Manuel
El Ali, Ihab
Gorev, Sergej
Kaiser, Marc
Steiner, Olga
Wermelt, Rainer – Webmaster
14

Dear visitors,
I would like to welcome you on the
website of the “Abendgymnasium der
Stadt Münster” (Secondary Evening
School of Muenster) appreciating
your interest in the results of our
project group.
As an introduction I would like to
briefly introduce our school for
working adults. The
“Abendgymnasium“ is an institution
offering a second chance education
where working adults have the
opportunity to achieve a higher
educational degree (a university or
technical college entrance
qualification).
The German School
15
The “Abendgymnasium” provides an
opportunity for new life plans, and
our students are opening up to new
chances of studies or careers within
their professions.
The school was founded in 1980, and
currently 400 students are attending
our evening school, which in addition
to the location in Münster has
another point of presence in the City
of Rheine close to the Dutch border.
Since the founding of the school
about 2,000 students have taken
their A-levels, and approximately
1,200 students have passed their
qualifications for technical college
entrance. They all developed new

career prospects and expanded their
personal horizons.
We are happy to present our country,
and especially our region of
Westphalia to you, and by so doing
our European heritage on the
following pages.
The Grundtvig project offers a
welcome opportunity to get in
contact with adult schools in other
European countries and encourages
an active debate of the different
educational and historico-cultural
conditions in our individual countries.
There is every indication that our
students are highly motivated. In
addition to their work and
attendance of our evening school,
they work in their spare time on the
16
topics of the "European Heritage
Project". All participants involved,
students and teachers, experience
the planning, design and
implementation of the topic's pages,
and especially enjoy the meetings
with our project partners from Spain,
Greece and the Netherlands who
have become friends.
This is the real personal asset.
I wish you a wide range of
experience while reading the pages
of our project group.
Helmut Börgmann
Headmaster

The Münster Project Meeting
4th Project Meeting in Münster
April 29th - May 5th, 2012
Agenda
Sunday, April 29th, 2012:
Arrival of the partners, dinner/social
evening in the City of Muenster
(Besitos)
Monday, April 30th:
10:00 h:
Opening by the director of the
Abendgymnasium, Herr Börgmann,
greeting of the partners
Greeting of the partners and
evaluation of the project so far, by
Henk Rijkeboor, Coordinator
13:00
Lunch at the canteen of the
Bezirksregierung Muenster
15:00
Visiting of the City Harbour of
Münster as being part of the German
project,
Tour of the old City of Münster,
Visiting Frauenstr. 24 as a local
example of the Münster heritage
17
Tuesday, May 1st, bank holiday:
Visiting the battlefield of the Battle of
the Teutoburg Forest (another part of
the German project),
visiting the City of Osnabrück, the
partner city of Münster, concerning
the Peace of Westphalia (German
project),
then guided tour of the town hall,
dinner in Osnabrück
Wednesday, May 2nd,
9:00 h:
Meeting at school,
walking to the town hall, tour of the
hall (Friedenssaal),
greeting by the deputy mayor of the
City of Münster
10:00 h:
Guided tour of the old part of the
city,
cathedral, the Bishop's garden, the
Chateau of Münster and its botanic
garden
15:00 h:
Lunch at the Marktcafé
Afternoon off for social activities in
the city
20:00 h:
Dinner at a local restaurant: Altes
Gasthaus Lewe,

Thursday May, 3rd:
9:30 h:
Meeting at school:
Perspective and forecast, follow-up
meetings by L. Schmidt
and evaluation of the project by its
members
Lunch at the canteen
15:00 h:
Social and sporting activities near
the Werse River (Muenster),
Pleistermühle (old water mill)
(Alternatively if it is raining: Münster
City Museum)
18:00 h:
Visiting lessons at school,
talking to Münster students, giving
and getting an impression of adult
education in Germany
Dinner at the Kristall next to the
school
18
Friday, May 4th:
9:30 h:
Meeting at school: Excursion to the
castles and palaces of the
Münsterland as part of the German
project (Rüschhaus, Hülshoff Castle,
Vischering Castle, the Chateau of
Nordkirchen)
20:00 h:
Farewell dinner and social evening at
La Provincia next to the school
Saturday, May 5th:
Departure

Münster and the Hanseatic League
19

Abstract
Münster and the Hanseatic League
The Hanseatic economic area
emerged at around AD 1250. It was a
network of traders spanning from
Bruges to Nowogorod to trade in
English wool, Flanders cloth,
Norwegian cured cod, Russian furs
and wax and grains from the
hinterland of the southern Baltic Sea.
The Hanseatic League had its origin
in early remote merchant
cooperatives of German tradesmen
in the most important cities of the
above trading system like Bruges
and London.
This economic network of the Baltic
Sea following the most commonly
used traffic routes became a
dominating factor in the European
economy of the late medieval times,
and along with it the tradesmen of
the "dudeschen Hanse“ (German
Hanse) who brought their business
into the area gained in importance.
20
Münster became a significant
passage area between the
commercial metropolis Cologne and
the Netherlands, Flanders and
England. When in 1469 Cologne was
expelled from the Hanseatic League
Münster took the leading role in the
whole of Westphalia.
In 1554 it was decided that Münster
had to lead the congregation of the
Westphalian cities. The balance of
power had shifted, and Münster had
clearly become the economic centre
of Westphalia.
Source:
Franz-Josef Jakobi, Geschichte der
Stadt Münster, Münster: 1993, pp.
638 and 647

In the Footsteps of the Hanseatic
League
Münster - The Westphalian Head
of the Hanseatic League
As "Westphalian head of the
Hanseatic League" Munster
represented the Westphalian partner
cities in the alliance until the 17th
Century. City Hall, the Principal
Market and Krameramtshaus bear
witness to the self-conscious
citizenry that was proud of the
autonomy of their city. But even in
the recent history, are reflecting on
the naming of buildings or roads on
the old traditions. We have embarked
on a photographic research.
The "Prinzipalmarkt" Houses
During a shopping tour in the main
market street, the “Prinzipalmarkt”,
you can experience history first
hand. The gabled houses have been
there for centuries, the domain of the
Münster merchants and witnesses of
the wealth of the old Hanseatic city.
For example, an architectural model
of the house "Principal Market No.11"
in the Museum gives you a good
inside view into the interior of the
building of a Hanseatic merchant
house.
21
The "Hansesteine" - Stones from
other Hanse-Cities
In the pavement of the traditional
"Salzstraße" (= salt road) you can
find the so called Hanse-Stones.
These are pavement-stones of many
partner cities of the Hanseatic
League of modern times. The stones
were laid down because in 1993 the
3rd Hanseatic Days were held in
Münster.
The "Hansemahl" - A Public Meal
On the Hanseatic League table in the
“Prinzipalmarkt”, the Münster
merchants invite you to take part in
an annual banquet. Against a
historical background it is hosted by
the shopkeepers, managers and
owners themselves with traditional
Westphalian ham and bread with
cheese slices, Pinkus beer and wine.
With this gesture, Münster presents
itself as a city of trade and service
and keeps its tradition alive as a
Hanseatic city with a cosmopolitan
and international character. As a
souvenir the merchants distribute a
specially designed Münster "Hansebag"
and give it to their customers.

A Letter to the Family
by Marc Kaiser and Manuel
Brombach
A fictional text.
Magdeburg, December 1498
My Dear Family
Grace be unto you, and peace, from
him which is, and which was and
which is to come!
I hope you are still in good health in
Münster. We are glad to be alive and
I am happy to be able to send you
this sign of life. Our journey to
Königsberg is exhausting, the
deadness of the winter steals our
vigour like a thief a warm loaf of
bread … we are at the end of our
tether.
On our way to Magdeburg we were
all struck with severe maladies. Our
coachman John was so afflicted that
we had to bed him in our cartload of
cloth. Thus I had to take the reins
and steer the coach myself.
Just before reaching Magdeburg, we
got stuck in a quagmire. We were all
so tired and sickened that we could
not free our carriage with our
combined force.
Suddenly we heard rustling in the
underwood. Anxiously we turned
arround to be surprised by three
young men. Luckily they meant no
22
harm. One of them, a young lad
named Martin, offered assistance.
Since the three were pupils of
Magdeburg's monastery, they could
bring monks to help us.
The brothers came and freed our
cart. They even offered us shelter
and medical treatment in exchange
for a small donation and we were
accommodated in their monastery.
There we got food and some
remedies. John could rest and
recuperate and the monks repaired
our cart.
Our stay there took about a
fortnight. So I spent much time in
the convent's library but sadly could
not read much as most of the books
were written in Latin. I was
frustrated.
In the abbey's cross coat I met
young Martin again. He is from
Eisenach, son of a councillor named
Luther and here to study Latin. I
talked to him about the hardships, a
traveling salesman has to endure.
He advised me to study the Bible
more diligently to satisfy God's will.
I told him about my frustration with
the Latin books in the library. In my
humble opinion, the Holy Bible
should be in German, so that a Godfearing
man such as I could
understand the divine message
better.
He laughed and said what a
dangerous idea that was. It would be

helpful but also heresy, so no one in
his right mind would even consider
translating the Bible.
What nice fellow this Martin Luther
was. Maybe we will meet again on
our journey back from Königsberg.
Now at the last day of our stay I am
sitting at a small fire writing this.
One of the monks says that in a few
days a messenger will come who
could take along this letter. I hope it
will reach you.
It is meanwhile middle of December,
and winter will not end until march.
Nevertheless we will continue our
journey tomorrow. Königsberg is still
23
far away but we hope to return to
Münster next autumn with amber
from the Baltic Sea.
Either we will come through
difficulties to the stars or against
great odds, we will reach Münster as
wealthy men. Only God knows.
My hope is that there will be a
reunion next year in Münster.
I miss you all sadly and pray for your
well-being!
The Lord works in mysterious ways!
I embrace and love you all!

Wiki – Sites
Wikipedia (EN)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanseati
c_League (English)
Wikipedia (DE)
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/C
ategory:Hanseatic_League?
uselang=de (German)
Wikipedia (ES)
http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liga_Han
se%C3%A1tica (Spanish)
Wikipedia (NL)
http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanze
(Dutch)
Wikipedia (GR)
http://el.wikipedia.org/wiki/%CE
%A4%CE%B5%CF%85%CF%84%CE
%BF%CE%BD%CE%B9%... (Greek)
Wikisource
http://de.wikisource.org/wiki/Hanse
(German)
Wiktionary (EN)
http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Hanse
(English)
Wiktionary (DE)
http://de.wiktionary.org/wiki/Hanse
(German)
Encyclopaedia / Lexicon /
Dictionary
Hanseatic Links
24
Meyers Großes Konversations-
Lexikon
http://www.zeno.org/nid/2000674176
2 (German)
Adelung: Grammatisch-kritisches
Wörterbuch der Hochdeutschen
Mundart
http://www.zeno.org/nid/2000021706
9 (German)
Brockhaus' Kleines Konversations-
Lexikon
http://www.zeno.org/nid/2000117326
X (German)
Damen Conversations Lexikon
http://www.zeno.org/nid/2000173658
2 (German)
Herders Conversations-Lexikon
http://www.zeno.org/nid/2000336410
0 (German)
Pierer's Universal-Lexikon
http://www.zeno.org/nid/2001007741
3 (German)
Hanseatic Pages
Hanse
http://www.hanse.org/ (German)
Hansekogge |
http://www.hansekogge.de/ (German)
Hanseparlament
http://www.hanse-parlament.eu/
(German / English / Polish / Russian)
Hansegeschichtsverein

http://www.hansischergeschichtsvere
in.de/ (German)
Westfälischer Hansebund
http://www.westfaelischerhansebund.de/
(German)
Youth Hansa
http://www.hanseonline.net/frameset.html
(English)
Hanseatic Cities in Westphalia
Haltern am See
http://www.hanse-haltern.flanco.de/
(German)
Other Important Hanseatic Cities
Nowgorod
http://www.nowgorod.ru (German)
Other Recommended Articles
Planet Wissen
http://www.planetwissen.de/pw/Artikel,,,,,,,F0B7B4082
A Hanseatic „Stone“ from Venice
25
6CD60C5E0340003BA5... (german)
Gymnasiums Blankenese, Hamburg
Hausarbeiten des Leistungskurses
Geschichte (2. Semester, Schuljahr
2000/2001) | Zur Geschichte der
deutschen Hanse
http://www.bernhardkeller.de/Projekt
e/_Die_deutsche_Hanse_/_die_deutsc
he... (German)
schms.de
http://www.schms.de/geschichte/mitt
elalter/wirtschaftsgeschichte/diedeu...
(German)
Deutsches Wörterbuch von Jacob
Grimm und Wilhelm Grimm
http://urts55.unitrier.de:8080/Projekte/WBB2009/DWB
/wbgui_py?lemma=Hanse (German)

y Rainer Wermelt
Books and Resources
A
Arand, Werner/Jutta Prieur (Hrsg.): |
„Zu Allen theilen Inß mittel gelegen“.
Wesel und die Hanse an Rhein, Ijssel
u. Lippe, | Ausstellungskatalog,
Wesel 1991.
B
Bracker, Jörgen (Hrsg.): | Die Hanse
— Lebenswirklichkeit und Mythos, | 2
Bde., Hamburg 1989. In: Katalog der
Ausstellung des Museums für
Hamburgische Geschichte in
Hamburg 24. August - 24. November
1989. Textteil in 4. Auflage, Schmidt-
Römhild, Lübeck 2006.
D
Dammann, Werner | Koggen –
Lastesel der Hanse | in: Das Logbuch.
Zeitschrift für Schiffbaugeschichte
und Schiffsmodellbau | 36.Jg.
(2000), Heft 2
Deeters, Joachim | Hansische
Rezesse. Eine quellenkundliche
Untersuchung anhand der
Überlieferung im Historischen Archiv
der Stadt Köln. | in: Hammel-Kiesow,
Rolf (Hrsg.): Das Gedächtnis der
Hansestadt Lübeck, Schmidt-Römhild
2005, S.427-446 ISBN 3-7950-5555-5
Dollinger, Philippe | Die Hanse |
Hanseatic Lectures
26
Stuttgart 1966 | 4., erw. Aufl.
Stuttgart 1989 | 5. Auflage, Stuttgart
1998, ISBN 3-520-37105-7.
F
Fahlbusch, Friedrich Bernward u.a.
(Hrsg.): | Beiträge zur westfälischen
Hansegeschichte | Warendorf 1988.
Fehling, Emil Ferdinand: |
Lübeckische Ratslinie | Lübeck 1925
Focke, Harald | Komm mit auf die
Hansekogge | GNT-Verlag 1999
Fritze, Konrad / Krause, Günter |
Seekriege der Hanse| Militärverlag
der DDR, Berlin 1989, ISBN 3-
926642-02-5
G
Graßmann, Antjekathrin (Hrsg.): |
Lübeckische Geschichte | Schmidt-
Römhild, Lübeck 1989. ISBN 3-7950-
3203-2
Gudelius: | Lemgo als westfälische
Hansestadt | Diss. Münster 1929
H
Hammel-Kiesow, Rolf | Die Hanse |
München 2000
Hammel-Kiesow, Rolf | Hanse | 3.
Auflage, München 2004, ISBN 3-406-
44731-7
Husmann, Gregor: | „Am Kran zu

Haltern empfangen“. Der Halterner
Kran von 1597 am Lippspieker und
seine Bedeutung für die Beteiligung
Halterns am hansepolitischen Leben |
in: Halterner Jahrbuch 1993, S. 71-
78.
Husmann, Gregor: | Von
Tuchhändlern und Tuchmachern (14.-
19.Jh.) | in: Halterner Jahrbuch 1994,
S. 128-138.
Husmann, Gregor: | Hansegeschichte
der Stadt Haltern | in: Hansische
Stadtgeschichten des Westfälischen
Hansebundes, Herford 1997.
Husmann, Gregor: |
Handelsbeziehungen und
reformatorische Bewegung in Haltern
um 1600 | in: Halterner Jahrbuch
1997, S. 129-140.
Husmann, Gregor: | Die Organisation
der städt. Waren- und
Lebensmittelversorgung im
Mittelalter: Von der Rolle der städt.
Waage, von Maßen, Gewichten und
Warenqualität im städt.
Wirtschaftsleben und deren Kontrolle
auf dem Markt und innerhalb und
außerhalb der Stadtmauern | Haltern
2004.
I
Ilgen, Theodor: | War die Lippe im
Mittelalter ein Schifffahrtsweg von
erheblicher Bedeutung? | in: Haltern
und die Altertumsforschung an der
Lippe, Münster 1901, S. 21-35.
(Mitteilungen der
Altertumskommission für Westfalen,
Bd. 2).
K
27
Kalfhues, Franz-Josef: | Lippe-
Schifffahrt | in: Blätter zur
Geschichte, hrsg. vom Verein für
Altertumskunde und Heimatpflege
Haltern 1(1985).
Kalfhues, Franz-Josef: | „...In Halteren
am Kranen...“. Die Rekonstruktion
des Halterner Lippekrans von 1597
und der hist. Hintergrund. Ein Beitrag
zur Geschichte Halterns vorgelegt
zum 500. Geburtstag des
Siebenteufelsturms | hrsg. vom
Verein für Altertumskunde und
Heimatpflege Haltern am See e.V.,
Haltern 2002.
Karrenbrock, Reinhard: | Baumberger
Sandstein: Ausstrahlung
westfälischen Kunstschaffens in den
Ostseeraum | in: Bracker, Jörgen
(Hrsg.): Die Hanse.
Lebenswirklichkeit und Mythos,
Ausstellungskatalog, Hamburg 1989,
S. 497-504.
Köster, Bernhard E.: | Ortsansichten
westfälischer Hansestädte in
Druckwerken der frühen Neuzeit | in:
Halterner Jahrbuch 1988, S. 34-37.
Köster, Bernhard E.: | Das Testament
des hansischen Kaufmanns Johann
Trage aus Haltern | in: Halterner
Jahrbuch 1989, S. 136-139.
Köster, Bernhard E. | Hansestädte
Lettlands und ihre Beziehunge zu
Haltern und Westfalen |
Ausstellungskatalog der
Stadtbücherei Haltern, hrsg. Haltern,
1992
Köster, Bernhard E. | Anmerkung zur
Buch- und Sprachkultur der

Hansezeit | in: Hansestädte
Lettlands, S. 66 ff.
Köster, Bernhard E. | Haltern, ein
„hansisch Städtelein“ | in:
Westfälische Hansestädte a lá Carte,
Bielefeld: Klocke-Verlag, 1987
Köster, Bernhard E. | Ortsansichten
westfälischer Hansestädte in
Druckwerken der frühen Neuzeit | in:
Hansestädte Lettlands, S. 104 ff.
Koppe, Werner: | Haltern. Hanse.
Lippehandel. Aspekte zur
mittelalterlichen
Wirtschaftsgeschichte Halterns | in:
Hansestädte Lettlands und ihre
Beziehungen zu Haltern und
Westfalen. - Eine Ausstellung in
Zusammenarbeit mit der lettischen
Staatsbibliothek Riga.
Ausstellungskatalog, Haltern 1992, S.
58-63.
Koppe, Werner: | Haltern, Hanse,
Lippehandel: Aspekte zur
mittelalterlichen
Wirtschaftsgeschichte Halterns | in:
Hansestädte Lettlands, S. 50 ff.
Krakhecken, Maria: | Die Lippe |
Münster 1939.
P
Pagel, Karl | Die Hanse | neu
bearbeitet von Friedrich Naab |
Braunschweig o.J.
Puhle, Matthias: | Die Politik der
Stadt Braunschweig innerhalb des
Sächsischen Städtebundes und der
Hanse im späten Mittelalter | in:
Braunschweiger Werkstücke, Band
63, Braunschweig 1985,
28
R
Riering, Bernhard: | Haltern und die
deutsche Hanse | in: Jahrbuch
Haltern 1988, S. 17-30. |
Genehmigter abgedruckter Auszug
aus: Riering, Bernhard: Die
hansischen Beziehungen des
westlichen Münsterlandes. Ein
Beitrag zur Geschichte der kleinen
Hansestädte | Phil. Diss., Bonn 1950.
Riering, Bernhard: | Die hansischen
Beziehungen des westlichen
Münsterlandes. Ein Beitrag zur
Geschichte der kleinen Hansestädte
| Phil. Diss., Bonn 1950.
S
Strotkötter, Gerhard: | Beschwerde
der niederländischen Städte über die
Erhöhung des kurkölnischen Zolls auf
der Lippe 1559/60 | in: Vestische
Zeitschrift 7(1897), S. 120-123.
Schipmann, Johannes Ludwig |
Politische Kommunikation in der
Hanse (1550-1621) | Köln 2004.
T
Terhalle, Dr. Hermann, | Vreden an
der Jahrtausendwende, (Beiträge
des Heimatvereins Vreden zur
Landes- und Volkskunde Band 50) |
Vreden, 1999
Terhalle, Dr. Hermann, | Die
Veröffentlichungen des
Heimatvereins Vreden,
zusammengestellt von Dr. Hermann
Terhalle, (Beiträge des Heimatvereins
Vreden zur Landes- und Volkskunde
Band 57) | Vreden 1999

V
Verein für Hansische Geschichte
(Hrsg.) | Hanserecesse | Duncker &
Humblot, Leipzig 1870ff.
Vreden, Stadt (Hrsg.) | Vreden nach
1150 Jahren, hg. von der Stadt
Vreden aus Anlaß der urkundlichen
Ersterwähnung vor 1150 Jahren |
Vreden, 1989
29
Z
Ziegler, Uwe | Die Hanse. Aufstieg,
Blütezeit und Niedergang der ersten
europäischen
Wirtschaftsgemeinschaft | München
1994
Picture: Erbdrostenhof in Münster

Abstract
The Münster Rebellion
The Münster Rebellion was an
attempt by radical Anabaptists to
establish a communal sectarian
government in the German city of
Münster.
The city became an Anabaptist
centre from 1534 to 1535, and fell
under Anabaptist rule for 18 months
from February 1534 until its fall in
June 1535 when the city hall was
seized by the Anabaptists and
Bernhard Knipperdolling installed as
mayor.
30
After obstinate resistance, the city
was taken by the besieging bishop
on June 24, 1535, and in January
1536 the leading Anabaptists, after
being tortured, were executed in the
marketplace. Their dead bodies were
exhibited in cages, which were hung
from the steeple of St. Lambert's
Church. The cages still hang there,
though the bones were removed
later.
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org

y Rainer Wermelt
1533 Beginning
The Chronicle of the Rebellion
The parish priest Bernhard Rothmann
preached according to the radical
reformation of the poor church. In
the beginning he and his followers
baptized secretly.
1533-01-05/06
Rothmann and his supporters
secretly received adult baptism
1533-08-07/08
There was much discussion in the
city hall about baptism and Holy
Communion.
1534
1534-1535
The Dutch "dreamers" came to
Münster where they wanted to set up
a “Täuferherrschaft”. The “Täufer”
refused infant baptism and insisted
on the christening of adult believers.
The town council granted them
religious freedom and the city hall
was left to the “dreamers”.
1534-01 - The "infidels" had to leave
the city
With the help of the influential
31
clothier Bernt Knipperdolling, the
Baptists arrived at a decision in
January 1534, that all "other faiths"
had to leave Munster. Their property
was distributed among the
Anabaptists.
1534-02-23 - Council election in
Münster
Victory of the Baptists | The Council
election in Münster led to the victory
of the Protestant party. Of the 17
elected candidates, only five were
"Old Believers". Münster became a
Protestant city.
1534-02-24 - Jan Matthys came to
Muenster
A baker from Haarlem and selfproclaimed
prophet of the Dutch
Anabaptists, Matthys with this
movement revealed its ugly face.
Shortly after his arrival, on February
24, 1534, there was a fierce
iconoclasm.
Iconoclasm of the Anabaptists
The iconoclasm of the Anabaptists in
1534/35 destroyed parts of the
sculptural decoration of the
Cathedral, the carvings of the
chapter house and all the altars.
Even the cathedral was looted.
Monasteries and churches were

vandalized, books and paintings
were burned, altars smashed. The
Münster Anabaptists wanted a "New
Jerusalem" and cleaned it of all
traces of the bygone past.
1534-02-27 - Siege
Start of the siege by troops of the
Bishop of Muenster, forced baptisms
1534-04-05 - Death of Jan Matthys
because of a military failure
Bishop Franz von Waldeck was not
idle, he gathered together a
mercenary army to reconquer the
city. On April 5, 1534 Matthys
apparently wanted to force a divine
miracle. With some companions he
rode unarmed to the camp of the
bishop, to persuade the soldiers to
repent through prayer. Matthys died
under the spears of the soldiers, his
severed head was stuck on a pike
outside the city walls and put on
display.
1534-04 - The Twelve Elders
Jan van Leyden was the prophet of
the reign of the "twelve elders".
1534-05-25
The first general assault of the
besiegers failed
1534-07 - Introduction of polygamy
To appeal to the Old Testament:
introduction of polygamy (plural
marriage)
1534-08-31 - The second attack of
the bishop´s troops was repulsed.
32
This success made Jan Bockelson
mad, so he formed a regime of
despotism and terror. By the end of
August, 1534, he proclaimed himself
king, introduced polygamy and
community property. Finally, he
announced he would conquer the
whole world.
1534-08-25 - A Pompous Train
It was a pompous train which moved
through the streets of the city of
Münster on August 25, 1534. Three
dozen mounted guards followed a
young man with a huge crown on his
head, a golden globe around his neck
dangling from a chain. At his side the
executioner, holding a long sword. All
the people knelt down and praised
"the righteous King John in the chair
of David." In the main market street
“Posaunengeschmetter”was installed
on a throne. From there, the King,
surrounded by his 17 wives, held a
visionary sermon. When the so-called
Baptist Spirit came upon him, he
picked a suspect from the crowd and
personally beheaded him, which was
acknowledged by the people with
wild joy dances.
1535
1535-05 - Elisabeth Scherer Want
defends herself
Under Bockelson´s thumb, any
resistance was brutally suppressed.
One of his 17 wives, Elizabeth Want
Scherer, defended herself. When as a
result of the bishop´s siege in May
1535, a famine broke out, she took
all her gifts of jewellery and asked
the king to let them go out of town
because she could not believe God

would allow so many people to die of
hunger, while they lived in
abundance.
1535-06-25 - Storming of the city
Two citizens who were horrified by
this reign of terror secretly went to
the camp of the bishop and betrayed
a place where the city wall was easy
to climb. On the night of 25th June,
1535 the besieging army in Munster
entered the city. After hundreds of
desperate Anabaptists were killed,
among them the preacher Rotmann,
Bockelson, Knipperdolling and the
Anabaptists
Jan van Leyden
Jan Matthys
Bernd Knipperdolling
Bernd Krechting
chancellor Henry Krechting were
taken prisoner.
1536
Who is Who
33
1536-01-22 - Execution of the
Anabaptists
The leaders of the Anabaptists, Jan
van Leiden, Knipperdolling and
Krechting were sentenced to death
and executed in public. Their bodies
were put into iron cages hanging
from the Lamberti Tower. The parish
churches of Münster fell back into
the hands of the Catholics.
Catholics
Graf Franz von Waldeck

y Rainer Wermelt
Wiki-Sites
Rebellion – Links
Wikipedia [en]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M%C3%BCnster_Rebellion
Wikipedia [de] | http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/T%C3%A4uferreich_von_M
%C3%BCnsterde
Wikimedia Commons | http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:T
%C3%A4uferreich_von_M%C3%BCn...
Rebellion-Musical | Wiedertäufer - Das Musical
Homepage | www.wiedertaeufer-musical.de [german]
Intro - YouTube Video | http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Zj9oo-LGzw [--]
Trailer - YouTube Video | http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jM0zzjtWWxQ
[German]
Great Stories - King of the Last Days (Film)
DVD Trailer - YouTube Video | http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3XcDTM6-uPM
Scene from the Film | http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IC2Ew25qQ2o
Münster Townhall
Faces on a Column
34

Interview with Dr. Andreas Pietsch
by Marc Kaiser and Manuel
Brombach
Interview
The empire of the Anabaptists in
Münster during the 1530s belongs to
the darker chapters of the city's
history. Which ideas and movements
of the Middle Ages formed the
breeding ground for their ideology,
radicalisation and reign of terror?
Dr. Andreas Pietsch: "There are many
possible explanations and factors: On
the religious side anticlerical
tendencies and criticism of the
church of the late Middle Ages are
always mentioned. Such ideas lead
to the Reformation in the early 16th
century. On the other hand the
increased inwardness of late
medieval piety paved the way for the
Anabaptists' ideas. Ideas were
floating around that salvation
depending on what and how
individuals believe and act –
downplaying the role of the church
which administer the sacraments for
the faithful. Economical and political
aspects can be added as well. This
intensified the opposition between
the city council and the bishop."
Even today many religious
communities herald the end of
Western capitalism, the return of a
king and the coming of a divine
kingdom. Which ideas formed the
35
philosophy of the “Community of
Christ” around Jan van Leyden?
Dr. Andreas Pietsch: "Jan van Leyden
is characterized by individualized
piety of the late Middle Ages. He
thought that the believer was an
instrument of God, who should live
according to the Bible and should
improve the world. In this sense Jan
van Leyden is part of the
Reformation, which had already
reached Münster. What makes him
different from other reformers like
Luther, however, is that he believed
himself to be a prophet of God. But if
we read the New Testament, we can
quickly find all of these demands: a
radical change in lifestyle, penance,
the imminent end of the world and
ultimately the return of Christ, who
would replace all the current worldly
powers - even the power of a
bishop."
The interpretation of the Bible was
extremely radicalised by the
Anabaptists. That led to a strict
regime terrorizing the inhabitants.
How could that happen? What were
the motivations?
Dr. Andreas Pietsch: "It is difficult to
identify the exact motivations.
Almost all reports about the time
were written after the events and
they stem from opponents of the
Anabaptists. So we have to use them
with caution, because they use wellknown
stereotypes of defamatory

stories about heretics. They reveal,
however, that it probably was a
gradual process which led to a rigid
and very radicalised rule in Münster
in the end, tolerating progressively
less counter-opinions."
Münster fought back. Who organised
the resistance, how was the city
reconquered?
Dr. Andreas Pietsch: "If you follow the
stories I mentioned, most were
written by defectors to the Episcopal
camp. There was a small opposition
in the city. But this opposition was
strongly supported by the bishop,
who tried to retake Münster by the
help of military means in order to
regain his power. The bishop, who
was also the secular leader of
Münster, was supported by other
princes of the Empire, who did not
tolerate such a rebellion. Today one
would probably call it "terrorist acts
of religious revolt”. The Anabaptists
therefore were generally threatened
with death by imperial law."
This was a terrible end. Can any
influences of the “Community of
Christ” be found in active religious
communities?
Dr. Andreas Pietsch: "The
Anabaptists as a Christian
community still exist today. But
historically most of them depend on
the generation after the events of
Münster. The Mennonites for
example, one of the major groups of
modern Anabaptists, name
themselves after the Dutchman
'Menno Simons' who lived in the
36
middle of the 16th century."
Medieval reign of terror by the
Roman Catholic Church versus reign
of terror by the Anabaptists – are
there any attempts in literature to
justify or rehabilitate the
“Community of Christ”, which often
used the same violent methods as
the Catholic Inquisition?
Dr. Andreas Pietsch: "It is noticeable
that strong sentiments about the
'terrors of Münster' are still
prevalent. Even in the Anabaptists
own historiography they are staying
well clear of it. Other historiography
in general embraced the negative
descriptions of events, unlike with
the evaluation of the Peasants'
Revolt of 1525, which has also been
seen as a positive development. Also
as a historian, I have problems with
the term “reign of terror”, but you
are right that it was basically was a
very violent century. Just think of the
retribution of episcopal power after
the reconquest of the city: the cages
at Saint Lamberti still testify to their
violence."
Taliban versus USA – even today
radicals murder in the name of God.
The United States try to establish a
new world order. Can the community
of the Anabaptists be understand as
a historical terrorist network?
Dr. Andreas Pietsch: "Just recently
historians worked a lot on
communication forms the
Anabaptists used among themselves.
Especially after the events of
Muenster they had to live in the

underground and constantly had to
protect themselves from persecution.
So they made use of letter networks
and the dissemination of writings
appeared in secret printing presses.
But terror network is certainly the
wrong word. We should not forget
that Christian pacifism received new
impetus from the Anabaptists and
from the Quakers. Not all Anabaptists
were violent, in fact even the most
strict of them refused any form of
violence."
Are there any aspects of this
historical event which particularly
fascinate you as a historian?
Dr. Andreas Pietsch: "It is this
tension-filled relationship between
religion and politics, which occupies
us here at Münster University
particularly: How fast and how
vehemently political systems can be
influenced and changed by religious
ideas.
Graf Franz von Waldeck
37
On the other hand, the viability and
strength of historical narratives - the
stories which make history - is
fascinating. The cages at Saint
Lamberti evoke a story even today
that let the viewer cringe. Hardly
anyone thinks of the essential
brutality of the episcopal side, but
rather of the deserved punishment of
the rioters. Some even think wrong
that the cages were hung up by the
Baptists' Kings themselves. So you
see: historical propaganda has
worked very well."
Dr. Andreas Pietsch
Dr. Andreas Pietsch is a research
fellow at the Exzellenzcluster
"Religion and politics" at Münster
University.
http://www.uni-muenster.de/Religionund-
Politik/personen/projekt/pietsch.html

Abstract
The Peace of Westphalia
The term Peace of Westphalia refers
to the two peace treaties of
Osnabrück and Münster, signed on
May 15 and October 24, 1648, which
ended both the Thirty Years' War in
Germany and the Eighty Years' War
between Spain and the Netherlands.
The treaties involved the Holy Roman
Emperor, Ferdinand III (Habsburg),
the Kingdoms of Spain, France and
Sweden, the Dutch Republic and
their allies among the princes of the
Holy Roman Empire.
Source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peace_of_
Westphalia, June 18, 2011
The Role of Münster
The Holy Roman Empire and Sweden
declared the preparations of Cologne
and the Treaty of Hamburg to be
preliminaries of an overall peace
agreement. This larger agreement
was to be negotiated in Westphalia,
in the neighbouring cities of Münster
and Osnabrück. Both cities were to
be maintained as neutral and
demilitarized zones for the
negotiations. Münster was, since its
re-catholicization in 1535, a strictly
mono-denominational community. It
housed the Chapter of the Prince-
Bishopric of Muenster. Only Roman
38
Catholic worship was permitted. No
places of worship were provided for
Calvinists and Lutherans.
Both cities strove for more
autonomy, aspiring to become Free
Imperial Cities, so they welcomed the
neutrality imposed by the peace
negotiations, and the prohibition of
all political influence by the warring
parties including their overlords, the
prince-bishops.
Since Lutheran Sweden preferred
Osnabrück as a conference venue, its
peace negotiations with the Empire,
including the allies of both sides,
took place in Osnabrück. The Empire
and its opponent France, including
the allies of each, as well as the
Republic of the Seven United
Netherlands and its opponent Spain
(and their respective allies)
negotiated in Münster.
Source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peace_of_
Westphalia, June 18, 2011
Multimedia
Podcast (Deutsche Welle -
Kalenderblatt)
http://www.podcast.de/episode/9052
60/24.10.1648%3A+Westfälischer+F
riede [German]

Hall of Peace – Der Friedenssaal in Münster
39

Bridges to Modern Times
40

Castles and Palaces of the Münster
Region
Hülshoff Castle
The water castle Hülshoff can be
seen in the beautiful landscape of
the Münsterland. It is one of the
typical water castles between
Münster and Havixbeck. In 1797 the
famous poet Annette von Droste-
Hülshoff was born there.
Already at the beginning of the 11th
century the water burg Hülshoff was
first mentioned in records as
Oberhoff „zum Huelshoff“. At first it
was just a house with thick walls
standing on land being surrounded
by water, like on an island. Only
between 1540 and 1545 the manor
house was extended and the castle
was fortified by order of Heinrich I
von Droste Hülshoff, because of the
dangerous times. His grandson had
to improve the defence lines further
more because of the 30-year-war and
other problems. Heinrich I also
ordered the extension of the pond
with a channel. In 1628 the current
avenue of lime trees was heaped up
and paved by the order of Heinrich II,
which is now the main entrance to
the castle. In the 16th and 17th
century it was rebuild and extended
in the style of the Baroque. The
marshy terrain in the south was
drained and the trenches were built
for more defence, by the order of
Clemens August II, the father of the
poetess, at the beginning of the 19th
century. But only since the seventies
41
of the 20th Century the front castle
had wide ditches. It looks like it
stands on an island. The chapel was
built in the 1870s.
Rüschhaus
Rüschhaus is a jewel of the late
Baroque architecture which also
keeps the memories of Annette von
Droste-Hülshoff, the most famous
German poetess of the 19th century.
Johann Conrad Schlaun (1695 –
1773), the famouis Baroque builder
of Westphalia, acquired Rüschhaus in
1743 and made it his own private
estate. Rüschhaus was bought by the
Droste-Hülshoff family September
18, 1825, and one year later they
moved in and lived there for 20 years
.
Annette of Droste-Hülshoff is
honoured by being depicted on the
last 20 Deutschmark banknote. A
picture of Annette can be seen on
the front with Meersburg castle in the
background and her quill can be
seen on the reverse side. The
background motif of the reverse side
refers to her most famous work: "Die
Judenbuche“ which was written in
Rüschhaus manor.
The banknote circulated only for few
years and was replaced by the Euro
quite soon.
Source: www.rueschhaus.de

Hülshoff Castle by Christos
42

Industry in Münster
1850
Near the River Werse
Man, Machine, Münsterland
While Münster is not much of an
industrial town, it has developed its
own industrial sector starting in
1850.
43
1879 – August Winkhaus
One of the first industrial enterprises
was Winkhaus, a locks and keys
factory which was founded in 1879.
The print and press industry has also
been very prominent in Muenster
with its biggest representatives
being the printing houses Fahle and
Aschendorff. The opening of the city

harbour with its connection to the
Dortmund-Ems-Canal was very
important for the foundation of
several industries; for example the
farm equipment factory “Stille”, the
wire weaving plant “Hupfer” and the
elevators firm “Tepper” should be
mentioned. At the beginning of the
20th century, Münster’s most
important industrial sectors were the
building industry and Oevermann
street paving business. The world
economic crisis in 1929 did not hit
the industry in Muenster as hard as
other industrial centres in Germany.
After 1933 when the National
Socialists took over, the industry was
solely kept alive by informal workers.
The majority of factories was
destroyed during the Second World
War. After that, the British only
allowed the vital production sectors
to continue operating. Following the
currency reform of the Deutsche
Mark, most of Münster's enterprises
experienced an economic boom
never seen before. Refugees, exiled
and GID expropriated people built
new businesses, mostly housed in
former army barracks. Structural
change came after the 60s which led
to the closing of long established
companies, food and beverage and
clothing industries. International
companies such as Armstrong,
Wyeth, BASF and Brillux settled in
Muenster and made it an important
centre for the chemical industry.
After the recession of the 80s,
Muenster started to promote
businesses having their main focus
44
on medicinal technology, biotech and
environmental technology. In today's
globalized world, businesses from
Münster are positioning themselves
worldwide.
1899 - The Dortmund–Ems-Canal
The Dortmund–Ems-Canal is a 269
km long canal in Germany between
the inland port of the city of
Dortmund and the seaport of
Emden. The canal was opened in
1899. The reason for the
construction of the canal was to
lighten the load on the railways,
which could not transport the
products of the Rhine-Ruhr area. The
canal was also supposed to make the
coal from the Ruhr area more
competitive, compared to the
imported English coal. Furthermore,
the steel industry in the eastern Ruhr
area needed ores from abroad. After
the second world war, the canal had
to be widened. The parts of the canal
that were elevated above ground
level could not easily be widened,
and therefore a new route was
constructed between Olfen and
Münster. These parts of the canal lie
parallel to the old route, and new
river crossings were also built, and
the old route was closed for shipping.
At the moment, the canal is being
widened again. This is done without
closing the canal for shipping.
Adapted and adopted from:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dortmun
d-Ems_Canal

Münster City Canal
45

Our Local Poet: A. von Droste-Hülshoff
46

Annette von Droste-Hülshoff
Annette von Droste-Hülshoff is still
one of the most important women in
the history of German literature. She
was one of the few women in the
pre-modern period, who actively
produced literature at a very high
level. Her work was received
exceptionally strong and she became
well accepted as a role model
especially for female writers. In
addition, Droste Hülshoff's work and
her life became subject of many
scientific and literary products.
Born in 1797 in Hülshoff Castle near
Muenster, she was the daughter of a
German noble family. She was born
prematurely and she was often sick.
As an aristocrat, she had the
privilege of being educated by a
scholar. Professor Anton Matthias
Sprickmann taught Annette von
Droste-Hulshoff from 1812-1819. He
recognized the linguistic talent of the
young woman, so he promoted and
encouraged her. Annette was also
supported by her family, to whom
she was connected closely all her
life. Thus supported and motivated,
Annette von Droste-Hülshoff focused
on her literary work and was aware
of her extraordinary abilities all life
long. To name just a few of her many
contacts, she was for example in
personal and written contact with
August Wilhelm Schlegel, the
Brothers Grimm and the family of
Schopenhauer.
After her father's death in 1826,
Annette von Droste-Hülshoff left
Hülshoff Castle together with her
47
mother and her sister, and moved
into the dower house Rüschaus
because her brother Werner von
Hülshoff had taken it over. Annette's
sister, Jenny von Droste-Hülshoff,
moved to Lake Constance into
Meersburg Castle together with her
husband Joseph von Laßberg.
A prominent role for Annette's career
were her encounters with Christoph
Bernhard Schlüter, a professor of
philosophy in Münster, and her
friendship with the journalist and
author Levin Schücking from
Meppen. After Schlüter had at first
refused to read some manuscripts
that Annette's mother had sent him,
he later realized her talent and
became her discoverer and mentor.
Schücking was the son of a female
friend of Annette's. When this friend
died early, Annette got Levin a job as
a librarian at Meersburg Castle on
Lake Constance, because she was
feeling associated to him very
closely. From 1841 onwards, Annette
lived over there most of her time and
understood Levin as a kind of
inspiration. But she kept a good
relationship with her mother and
went back to visit to Münster. In
1848, poetess Annette von Droste-
Hülshoff died at Meersburg Castle.
Annette von Droste-Hülshoff has left
a small but profound work. Her short
novel "Die Judenbuche" and her
poems and ballads ("The Boy in the
Bog") are known beyond the borders
of Germany and are still read and
taught at German schools.

Our Roman Heritage
A model of the Roman ceremonial face mask found at Kalkriese.
48

The Battle of the Teutoburg Forest
Towards the Battle of the
Teutoburg Forest
XVII, XVIII, XVIIII Roman Legions and
Germanic Tribes
Initial Situation
In 51 BC, the Romans conquered
Gaul and expanded the external
borders of the Empire to the Rhine.
The commander Julius Caesar
declared the Rhine as the new
border.
The conquest of Germania was not
interesting for the Romans. This is
explained by one the descriptions of
Germania by the chronicler Tacitius:
“Germania consists of eerie
woodlands, ghastly swamps and
rough mountains. The cows are
unsightly, their horses are neither
remarkable for beauty nor swiftness,
nor are they taught the various
evolutions practised with us. Gold
and silver cannot be found there
either.”
In reality, Germania was an
unimproved land. The Germans lived
in small tribes who had their
settlements amidst fields. Villages
consisted of 10 up to 30 houses.
There was no hierarchy, only
noblemen who raided the villages
and showed their superiority. War
and plunder was common in the
Germanic culture. The Germans often
raided villages in Roman territories
such as Gaul.
After Rome had conquered
49
Germania, they built fortresses,
roads and towns. Whole tribes were
resettled in other areas. To bribe the
noblemen, they simply offered
money and privileges. In other
words, they became Roman citizens
and had more rights like the prince of
the Cheruskian tribe Segimer. When
he received the toga, his son came in
contact with the Romans for the first
time. At this event he got his Roman
name, Gaius Julius Arminius. It was
custom to keep the children of
noblemen as hostages. There is a
good case to believe that Arminius
was raised in Rome and went to a
princely school. Another possibility is
that at the time when Christ was
born, there was a struggle for power
among the Cheruskians.
Subsequently, prince Segimer had to
flee with his whole kin to Rome and
Arminius was taught in Rome at the
age of 16. What is sure is that in 4
BC, Tiberius went back to Germania,
ended the power struggle and made
prince Segimer chief. This was when
Arminius became commander of the
auxiliary troops. Henceforth he and
Tiberius, who admired him, went to
war against the Marcomanni who
were under the reign of king Marbod.
The Romans lost and had to
negotiate. For the first time Arminius
saw that the Romans were vincible.
Consequently, more tribes revolted
and Tiberius consigned the command
over the Germanic Legion to his
friend and comrade Publius
Quinctillius Varus. Tiberius ordered
Arminius, who had proved to be a

good soldier and commander of the
ancillary troops, to serve at Varus's
side.
The occupation of Germania
generated reluctance in many tribes.
They did not want to live in towns,
nor did they want to be slaves of the
Romans. They hated the judiciary
system and the execution of the
death penalty which not even the
princes were allowed to execute in
the past. To be peaceful was
unacceptable to them, war was part
of their culture and highly regarded.
This conflict developed to an
uprising, which Arminius utilized for
his own purposes.
Escalation
These skirmishes and raids did not
provoke the Empire.
In 16 BC, a bigger group of Germans
invaded Gaul where one Legion was
put to flight and lost their legionary
eagle. This was the greatest disgrace
for a legion. Emperor Augustus had
to act, especially considering that he
had proclaimed a golden era of
50
peace and protection from all
enemies.
He ordered his stepson Drusus to
start a punitive action.
In 12 BC Drusus advanced to the
Elbe river. Many Germanic tribes
federated with the Romans
(Batavians, Frisians, Chauci), other
tribes allied and went into war
against Rome, which they lost. They
had to bow to the victors. In the end,
Germania was conquered by the
Romans under Tiberius's command
and the Roman victory was
acknowledged by a parade in Rome
in 7 BC.
The Roman Empire spread all over
Europe. Their traces can be found
everywhere and a lot of cities were
founded 2000 years ago. This is what
the countries in Europe have in
common - their Roman heritage.
Links:
Kalkriese Varusschlacht | DE | EN | NL
|http://www.kalkriesevarusschlacht.de

Spain
The group on the Roman Wall of Lugo (Photo: El Progreso)
51

Lugo
Roman Wall, Lugo
52

Teachers
José A. Armesto - Team Coordinator
María X. Rodríguez
Mª Jesús (Chus) Esteban
Antonio Bernárdez
Luz Mª Martínez
Carolina Pérez
From left to right, in Münster
(above): Vanesa, José, Ana, María,
Neftalí, Luisa, Chus and Leticia.
And in Athens (right): Jorge, José,
María, Ana, Neftalí, Luisa and
María X.
Antonio Bernárdez
The Spanish Team
53
Students
Ana Anllo
Mª Luisa Freire
Neftalí Platas
María Ceide
Jorge Pulpeiro
Vanesa de la Fuente
Leticia Mouriz
Luz Mª
Martínez
Carolina
Pérez (English
language
checking)

EPAPU Albeiros
“EPAPU Albeiros” is an institution
offering education for adult people. Our
students can get a a Compulsory
Education degree or an Upper Secondary
Education degree (a degree previous to
University studies or Professional
Education). Besides we also teach
ALFABETIZACIÓN or “Galician and
Spanish language for foreign people”.
The school was founded in 1980, and
currently 800 students are attending our
morning and evening school.
The Spanish School
54
We are placed in the city of Lugo (Galicia)
in the northwest of Spain.
In addition to their work and attendance
at our school, some of them work on the
topics of the "European Heritage Project"
in their spare time. All participants
involved, students and teachers,
experience the planning, design and
implementation of the topics' pages, and
especially enjoy the meetings with our
project partners from Germany, Greece
and the Netherlands.
www.edu.xunta.es/centros/epapualbeiros

Meeting 2011
Agenda
THURSDAY 13th October
The Lugo Project Meeting
Arrival in Santiago de Compostela,
Visiting the historical city of Santiago
(Unesco World Heritage), guided tour of
the city and the cathedral
FRIDAY 14th October
Visiting A Coruna: Harbour, Tower of
Hercules (Roman lighthouse), old part of
the city
SATURDAY 15th October
Visiting the Roman thermal baths, castle
of San Paio de Narla and paleochristian
temple of Santalla de Bóveda
SUNDAY 16th October
Visiting the north coast of Lugo, a local
fair in the village of Mondoñedo and the
Viladonga Hillfort (Castro de Viladonga)
MONDAY 17th October
Morning: Working session and visit to the
school.
Afternoon: Visiting the museums in the
city and the Roman Wall (Unesco World
Heritage):
55
Mithraeum
Interpretation centres of st. James Way
and the Roman Wall
Cathedral
TUESDAY 18th October
Morning: Working at school, evaluating
the project so far
Afternoon: Visiting Lugo
Downtown
Roman Wall
Porta Miñá museum
House of the Mosaics
WEDNESDAY 19th October
Morning: working session
Reception by the Mayor of Lugo in the
Town hall
Afternoon: Visiting the museum of Lugo,
Tapas: an aspect of popular culture of
Lugo
THURSDAY 20th October
Final working session at school.
Meeting December 2008
Media
Video made by Louis Schmidt from the
first Lugo visit in 2008:
animoto.com/play/uNbIhWSE3M6UcX7p
l3UjiA

Lugo Heritage
Interview to Adolfo de Abel Vilela
Interview made by the Spanish team
In november 2010 we decided to interview
the person who best knows our city (Lugo)
from a historical point of view. His
contribution was essential for linking our
city with the Camiño de Santiago and the
medieval lyrics. In fact, these topics can
hardly be understood without knowing
how Lugo was in the medieval times
talking about it´s urban structure, the
lifestyle, the leisure, etc.
Adolfo de Abel Vilela (Lugo, 1946) is a
doctor in Geography and History, an
especialist in Modern and Contemporary
Art, a profound researcher of the history of
the city of Lugo to which he has dedicated
several books, we have a special interest in
quoting La ciudad de Lugo en los siglos
XII a XIV. Urbanismo y sociedad (2009).
1. How was people in the medieval
Lugo. Which was its population?
What did they do? How did they
earn their lives?
The human being is exactly the same as it
always was, the only thing that changes is
the technology. In the 12th to 15th
centuries rich people lived in the Campo
Square, but in the 18th they used to lived
in Miño street. They were the merchants,
many of them certainly Jews, because
even though there aren´t any traces of a
Jewish comunity in Lugo, there are names
like Salomón, Adán, Jordán that show this
origin.
The economic basis of the city were the
monthly fair and market; there were also
yearly fairs that lasted several days.
56
The number and variety of artisans was
important which is certified by the names
of the streets and the documents: knife
makers street, blacksmiths, candy shops...
there were tailors, tanners, shoemakers,
etc. too. There also existed people
dedicated to the construction, in fact, the
public construction was an important
force (this is the case of the Cathedral
which was started around 1129). The
people who lived on trading had their
houses in the Campo Square.
There were servants too, for example the
members of the cathedral government had
people working for them, some of them
were clergymen and other were called “o
home do deán”.

In the same way, the bishop and, for
example, the Lemos Count were lords and
were accompanied by military men.
It´s very difficult to know the number of
inhabitants, because there isn´t any
documentation about it; in the 17th and
18th there were about 2000 inhabitants
and surely the medieval population had a
similar number. Talking about the
structure of the city we can say that from
the medieval age there still exist some
houses with a medieval typology, in the
Campo square and surroundings, more or
less modified and some of them had
Gothic elements like in the case of the
building that hosts the Centro de
Interpretación do Camiño Primitivo
which conserves a window with that style.
The tower-house typology, like this one,
were the houses of the economically
powerful families. They were made on
stone and had some floors.
The market was celebrated in the Campo,
the fair in the Carballal (corresponding
with the actual Saint Marcos and Ferrol
Square). For this latter a well or a fountain
were needed and they had always to be
near a church or another ecclesiastical
building. The convents (in our case Saint
Domingo and Saint Francisco) were
placed wherever the fair was situated
because they collected the taxes in kind
and took advantage of the transactions in
that place to collect money.
In the medieval Lugo there were three
convents and a high number of
government, so we can think that many
inhabitants were religious people.
We can difference these parts in the city:
-Old burg: around the cathedral
-New burg: Saint Pedro area and the castle
-Saint Román Cortiñas, present-day Main
square, between the two burgs.
-The rest of the intramural space were
formed by the Tinería (the tanners street)
placed in the suburbs to avoid bad smells;
even farther was the Carril dos Fornos
57
(baker´s street) to avoid the fires. The rest
of the space were houses and farmlands.
-Other preserved buildings from that age,
apart from the houses mentioned before,
are the convent of Saint Francisco, which
have medieval rests; one piece of the Saint
María a Nova in the diocesan museum of
the cathedral; the cathedral itself and the
path of the streets in the old burg. In the
19th century the conceal decided to
demolish the arcade because they wanted
to enlarge the width of the streets.
2. In the medieval Lugo, what kind
of locals what is it known about
their cultural activities and
amusements?
We only have constance of the leisure
activities in the “coengos”, but we can
assume that the same or similar playful
practises were realized by other social
groups. There was a game, called “o
pelete”, quite similar to the football;
people enjoyed going to the baths or to the
spa and going for picnics by the river. In
winter they usually played cards or dice or
chess; in summer they used to go to the
bullfights. The usually meal which they
would eat at that moment were eggs
cooked wrapped in humid cloths.
3. Was there prostitution?
We don´t have data in the documents
about their existence or the location of the
locals, but it´s presumably their existence.
As a curiosity the access to the fountains
(situated outside of the wall) was
regulated in the “Rules of the good
government” (1547) to avoid the encounter
of men and women.
4. How did the health care work in
that age? Were there care centres?
Where were they placed?
There were many hospitals, but they
worked more like asylums than for a
healing function. We know these:

- Santa Catalina (S. Pedro gate)
- S. Bartolomeu (Main square)
- Hostel in the Pinguela well
- S. Miguel (Miñá gate)
- S. Lázaro
The lobby had it´s own physical or doctor;
the barbers did health works too but they
have to be graduated. The bleedings were
common.
5. How was the Wall in those years?
Currently the Wall have flats left, so only a
third part is conserved. The doors have
had variations between the medieval age
and now. The Miñá is the only one faithful
to the Roman and medieval typology
whereas the Santiago, San Pedro e A Falsa
gates have been modified.
6. What do we know about the
cultural level of the people?
Most of the people were illiterate,
including the upper classes; even there
were kings that didn´t know how to read
or write. The people that studied usually
were those who were to join the ranks of
the clergy; obviously, the merchants had
enough knowledge for doing the
accounting of their business.
7. Have we got data about the
number of pilgrims who passed
through the city of Lugo?
There was a hospital for pilgrims before
the 11th century and the hospitals in the
Town Hall of Lugo, built in the old
“Cortiñas de San Román”
You can see a map with the places cited
in the web: goo.gl/maps/ISGy4
58
city marked the route of the road, so the
number had to be high (because the
number of hospitals was elevated for such
a small city), but we haven´t got data.
A small book printed in Strasbourg in
1496 informed us of Herman Künig von
Vach, who was in Lugo like a pilgrim. I
only found one reference about the
pilgrims in the “Dead list of S. Pedro”; it
talks about a Swiss (Jacobo Jacquet) that
died here the 5th of october 1788 near the
A Ponte houses and was placed on record
that he was a pilgrim. We can suppose that
there were many more from that
European areas.
8. What can you tell to us about the
cultural value of the Road to
Santiago?
There were detected immigrants from
Central Europe and some clergy with a
French origin can be found.
A lot of building models have a Central
European origin, for example the irons in
the north door of the cathedral, in the
monastery of Meira and in the Vilar de
Donas one are all identical to ones in St.
Ulrich of Ratisbona (Regensburg). This
implies that they most likely were made by
blacksmiths with those origins.
Obviously many techniques and news
came through this pilgrimage route.

Medieval Galician Lyrics
Introduction to Medieval Galician Lyrics
María X. Rodríguez Valcárcel
“The Road to Santiago brought not only
pilgrims, but trade and culture, including
Provençal courtly love songs. These were
imitated and developed in Galician-
Portuguese, which was the language of
poetry throughout most of the peninsula”.
Dunne, J. Anthology of Galician
literature (1196-1981), Xerais-Galaxia,
Vigo, 2010.
Between the twelfth and fourteenth
centuries, there was a poetic movement in
the Galician language throughout the west
of the Iberian Peninsula. These
compositions (a number of 1679) arrived
to us in the form of the “Cancioneiros”.
Medieval Galician lyrics was written in the
kingdoms of Galicia (before and after the
independence of Portugal), Leon and
Castile. From the fifteenth century
onwards there was a period of decadence
in Galician language and literature due to
political and sociolinguistic circumstances.
Medieval Galician Lyrics grew out of
Provençal poetry, but it was not a simple
imitation and in fact it maintains a distinct
personality of its own.
This literature lasted from the late twelfth
century until 1354, the year of the death of
D. Pedro, Count of Barcelos, and the last
patron of this type of poetry.
We can distinguish three different types of
Galician medieval verse:
59
- Songs of Women in love/ Songs of a
friend (Cantigas de amigo)
- Songs of men in love/ Songs of love
(Cantigas de amor)
- Songs of ridicule/ Songs of mockery and
vilification (Cantigas de escarnio e
maldicir)
The Cantigas de amigo have love as their
theme and are placed in the mouth of a
woman in love, even though they were
written by men. These are the most
indigenous of the forms of secular Galician
verse and have strong influence from
popular verse. But they were created in
Court under rigorous formal criteria.
The Cantigas de amor have also love as
their theme but here the subject is
masculine; in this case there is a strong
influence from Provençal verse.
The Cantigas de escarnio e maldicir have
a satirical theme; in the case of escarnio
the author uses hidden meanings; in the
case of maldicir he uses a much more
open form of criticism.
Religious verse stems from an imitation of
secular love poetry, and is represented by
four hundred and twenty-seven
compositions written by King Alfonso X,
The Wise. These compositions are
dedicated to Virgin Mary.
RODRIGUEZ GONZÁLEZ, L. (2010) “A short
introduction to Galician Literature” en Toro
Santos (editor) Breogan’s lighthouse. An
anthology of Galician Literature, Francis
Boutle Publishers, London.

Influence of the Provençal lyrics from Occitania
on Medieval European poetry
María X. Rodríguez Valcárcel
The Occitan troubadours were frequent
visitors to the Spanish, English and
German courts after the first decade of the
13th century as a result of the Diaspora
which was caused by the Albigensian
Crusade. In that way, their poetic models
spread and laid the basis of national
schools as the “troveri”, “Minnesänger”,
the Galician-Portuguese and the Sicilians.
The relationship between Galician-
Portuguese and Provençal poetry has been
studied many times, both from the point
of view of the personal contact between
the Occitan troubadours and the Spanish
court and from the assumption of some
elements with troubadour roots by the
Galician-Portuguese poets.
Some experts (like Díaz and Lapa) share
the opinion that we can only find a pale
reflection of Provençal influence on our
lyric poetry. Recent studies raise doubts
about these conclusions because of the
literary similarities of texts from both
origins.
We can differentiate between two
historical periods which show the
influence of the Provençal poetry on the
European one. The first period (from the
end of 11th century to the end of the 12th
century), in which this spread was quite
limited, and a second period (13th
century) of highest irradiation with the
Diaspora that followed the Albigensian
tragedy, during which nearly all the main
figures of the Provençal poetry emigrated
in pursuit of a better life than they had in
their native country.
60
The courts that took them in where mainly
placed in Northern Italy and in Catalonia:
Few of them were received in France and
Castile. England and the Germanic courts
of Rhineland, Thuringia, Austria and
Bavaria only had some indirect contact
with this kind of poetry: England, through
her dominions in Poitou and Aquitaine;
Germany, on the occasion of the short
travels of Gaucelm Faidit (1185) and Peire
Vidal (1196) along Central Europe or as a
result of German poets staying in the
Dauphiné, Provence, Arles or Italy.
These itinerant poets found, in general, a
favourable environment for the spread of
their poetic activity, but the receptivity to
their ideological innovations was not the
same everywhere. Where the Occitan
language did not represent an obstacle
because there was some similarity with the
local language, the permeability was
highest and it could even happen that
native poets composed their texts in
Occitan language. This is the case of
Northern Italy and Catalonia, where
twenty or thirty poets from both origins
chose Occitan as their poetic code.
On the other hand, when the native
language of the country was very different,
the spread of the new models was more
difficult and the troubadour poetry was
translated to the local language. During
this period of adaptation, the troubadour
influence sometimes decreased because it
was imbued with local traditions which
gave rise to the “troveri”, the
“Minnesänger” and to the English poets.
Finally, in the case of distant areas, where
the troubadours (because of
communication difficulties and social and

political differences) did not have the
same acceptance, they could not exert
such a direct influence. These areas are the
Sicilian and Galician-Portuguese
periphery. In the case of Sicily, the
troubadour influence came from the High
Italian area, already partially rebuilt, and
it developed mainly in the court of
Frederick II in Palermo. The Galician-
Portuguese area received the troubadour
innovations through Barcelona, the main
way for all the cultural currents from
Occitan origin, later through Toledo,
which was the most active centre for
collecting, adapting and distributing the
ideological and formal elements of the
courtly poetry in the west of the Iberian
peninsula during nearly the whole 13th
century till the death of Alfonso X. Also in
Toledo, in the courts of the kings of Leon
and Castile (Fernando III and Alfonso X)
we can find the most important group of
Galician-Portuguese poets, for whom
those courts became the meeting point
with Provençal and French culture. The
presence of authors such as Guilhem de
Montanhagol, Bonifacio Calvo, Arnaut
Catalan, Guirot Riquier among others was
also frequent.
As a conclusion we can say that the origins
of the cultured poetry in the Galician-
Portuguese area are closely related to the
origins of Romanic poetry in general and
they can be traced back to the common
troubadour origins which is the dominant
element in the development of the lyric
poetry in all of Western Europe.
In our area the “songs of women in love or
songs of a friend” would move away from
this common root and, on the contrary,
would be related to the Mozabaric
“kharagats” with which there are both
analogies and differences in tone and
poetical substance.
Both of them would be manifestations of a
pre-courtly poetry which preceded them
but did not leave any traces.
TAVANI, G. A poesía lírica galegoportuguesa,
Galaxia, Vigo, 1986.
Models in the St. James' Way Interpretation
Centre, Lugo
61

Jorge Pulpeiro
Medieval Galician lyric poetry
Chronology: (from 1198 to 1354)
Secular Galician medieval verse lasted
from the late twelfth century until 1354,
the year of the death of Don Pedro, Count
of Barcelos, and the last patron of this type
of poetry. We must bear in mind that a
poetic tradition does not vanish overnight,
but rather requires a progressive process
of disapperance.
From a literary point of view we can divide
Galician medieval lyrics in four periods:
-1200-1225: originated in the Occitan
trobadour poetry.
-1225-1250: fixation of the three main
genres by the Galician and north Portugal
nobility, after the adoption and
reelaboration of the Occitan poetry.
-1250-1300 (splendor period): active
trobadour poetry generation by the royal
court of Alfonso X, Sancho IV of Castile,
Alfonso III and Denís of Portugal.
-1300-1354 (decadence period): an overuse
and depletion of the model starts a
creative decadence period which is
enhanced by the absence of a king for
encouraging it. Other socio-historical
problems affected it too, like the Black
Death and the lack of interest by the
aristocracy.
Geographical area:
The medieval Galician lyric poety was
born in the different kingdoms of the
Iberian Peninsula with the exception of
Catalonia. The court of Leon is the centre
where we can situate the influence that the
Occitan poets exercised on the Galician-
Portuguese ones. The main courts will be
those of Castile, Alfonso X, and Portugal,
D. Dinís.
Most of the poets are Galician and
Portuguese, but there are also some from
62
Provence, Aragon, Castile, and so on. The
Portuguese represent 50%, the Galicians
40%, the Castilians 5%, those from Leon,
Aragon and Seville 1%. From Provence we
know Picandon and Arnaut and from Italy
Bonifaz de Genua. All of them employed
the Galician-Portuguese language, in fact
this was the lyric code of the Peninsula in
this period excepting Catalonia. A writer
from the 15th century, called Marqués de
Santillana, said: “No far away every poet,
could it be from Castile, Andalucia,
Extremadura, all their songs were written
in Galician or Portuguese”.
Authors:
TROBADOR (troubadour)
This word comes from Provençal culture.
Galician medieval troubadours were not
always, like those from Provence, from
noble origin. So we have kings like Afonso
X or D. Dinís who practised the art for
their own pleasure and, once they have
composed the text, they bring it to a
“xograr” (jongleur) to be interpreted. They
could even have a jongleur at their own
service.
There was also a good number of them
who came from low social levels. Those
lived off that profession and they were
paid by the audience.
The troubadours were often the authors of
the songs, although they didn’t always
interpret them. When they did it, it used to
be in special scenes like courts or church
porches.
XOGRAR (jongleur)
We can distinguish two different kinds.
Some of them made their performances on
the streets of small towns and they were
paid for it by the audience; others worked
for the king’s or a nobleman’s court.

He used to be a companion of the
trobadour who interpreted, with music or
with his voice, the different songs
composed by the troubadour. But they
often were the composers too. Their social
origin used to be humble.
SEGREL
This artist is specific of the Galician lyric.
Some critics affirm that there was no
difference between them and troubadour
or jongleur but others think that this is an
intermediate figure between them. They
were people that earned money for their
job of singing and composing and they
belonged to the low nobility.
In the 14th and 15th centuries the “segrel”
was called “menestrel”. They were
responsible for the musical part of the
song.
SOLDADEIRAS
They were women that accompanied the
jongleurs and sang, danced or played
musical instruments. They usually had
bad reputation and were accused of
dubious morality. In the songs they were
mentioned in an obscene way, talking
about their sexual life and not about the
artistic quality of their performances. The
most famous one was María Pérez, known
by the nickname of “A Balteira”.
Genres and features
Main genres
CANTIGA DE AMIGO
(Song of a friend / song of women in love)
A girl voice (all the ditties are written by
men) expresses happiness or sadness
about her lover. The word "amigo" (friend)
is used to refer to him. This is the main
feature of this genre. This "friend" isn´t
always called directly. Very often the girl
can talk to an unknown listener or to the
natural elements. In other songs she can
63
talk with her mother or with a real friend.
We´ve got three themes:
-Panegyric: When she talks about
her own beauty or the great ability to
make poetry about her "friend".
-Requited or unrequited love:
The girl talks about her happiness or
sadness depending on how their
relationship is doing.
-Ban: It`s defined by the banning
of the lovers’ meeting. It can be because of
her mother or major causes like war or
nature.
About the poetic resources we´ve got:
-Refrain: one or two verses are repeated at
the end of each stanza.
-Parallelism: repeating stanzas in pairs
making little variations between them.
-"Leixaprén" (take and leave): it’s the
repetition of the second verse of the first
stanza in the first verse of the third stanza;
the second of the second in the first of the
fourth, and so on.
CANTIGA DE AMOR
(Song of love/ song of men in love)
It´s quite similar to the song of a friend
but it has a male voice. It has a Provençal
"cançó" origin. The man talks to his
beloved, using the term "senhor" (sir), or
to an unkown listener, friends, God or to
the feeling itself. He can ask for her love or
complain about her indifference.
The themes are:
-Praise of the lady: her beauty or
morals are praised.
-The poet’s love for the lady.
-The coldness of the lady: secrecy
of the relationship, the ban to talk to or to
see the lady, the rejection of or
indifference about the man.
-Pain of love: we can find
mourning, madness or death for love.
There are two types in this genre:
-Song with refrain, quite similar to the
song of a friend

-Master song: it doesn’t have a refrain,
there are stanzas with six or seven verses
and it has more poetic resources.
Poetic resources:
-"Dobre" (double): repeating a word or
group of words in symmetrical positions of
one stanza.
-"Mordobre": it comes from the previous,
it repeats in symmetrical positions the
same lexeme with diferent morphemes.
-"Finda": two or three verses at the end of
the poem used as a conclusion.
-"Cobras capcaudadas": the first verse of
the second stanza repeats the rhyme of the
last verse of the first stanza.
-"Cobras capfinidas": when the first verse
of the second stanza takes a word or group
of words from the last verse of the
previous.
-"Cobras capdenais": when two or more
"cobras" have verses starting with the
same word.
CANTIGAS DE ESCARNIO E MALDICIR
(Song of mockery and vilification / song of
ridicule)
In this genre the troubadours want to hurt
somebody. They have many ways: the
cowardice of the noble in the war, their
vices and manners, attacks between
poets.... We can divide them in:
-"Aldraxe": it can be affront, dispute and
raffle, punishment...
-Food: it ridicules misery and greed.
-Social controversy: it involves all sectors
and social groups.
-Obscene: it talks about erotic practices
and sexual organs.
They are classified in political satire,
moral satire, social and personal satire
and literary satire.
The poetic resources are:
-"Equivoco" (ambiguity): it uses double
meaning words to provoke laughter.
-Irony: it affirms the opposite of what you
´re thinking.
64
Minor genres
-The "pastorela": It describes the meeting
of a shepherdess and a knight. The
keyword is "pastor" (shepherd).
-The "pranto": They lament someone’s
death.
-The "tenzón": Dialogated ditty, almost
always satirical.
-The "cantiga de seguir" (following song):
ironic or parodic composition where one
poet starts and another has to complete it
following the previous form and rhyme.
- Religious songs: "Cantigas de Santa
María" written by King Afonso X, The
Wise (Songs of St. Mary/ Songs of Holy
Mary):
-Liric songs:
-"Loores": it praises the Virgin.
-"Festas" (festivals): they tell the story of
different points in the life of the Virgin
and Christ.
-"Maias" (Mays): it celebrates the coming
of the month of May.
All of these 427 songs are an adaptation of
the song of love to the divine. So the Virgin
is called "senhor" and all of it praises the
Virgin’s virtues.
Featured texts:
The majority of the conserved songs come
from three songbooks:
-Songbook of "Ajuda"
Manuscript from the 13th century, the
only one from the troubadours time.
Discovered in the Portuguese palace of
"Ajuda", it has 300 songs of love.
-Songbook of the Vatican Library
Manuscript from the beginnings of the
16th century, discovered in the Vatican
Library. It contains 1200 songs of the
three main genders with the authors’
names.
-Songbook of the National Library of
Lisbon
Copied in the 16th century, currently in
the library which gives it its name. It
contains 1600 songs of all the genres and a

valuable poetic treaty "Arte de Trovar"
(Troubadourism art), which explains the
techniques of song composition.
Other minor songbooks are the following
ones:
-Songbook of Berkeley
Discovered recently, it’s a copy of the
original Songbook of the Vatican Library
made in Italy at the end of the 15th
century or at the beginning of the 16th.
-”Pergamiño” Vindel
It contains the seven songs of women in
love by Martín Códax, six of them with
musical score.
-Fragment Sharrer
It’s a fragment of a songbook that is lost
(dated in the 13th century) which contains
seven songs of men in love, from the
Portuguese king D. Dinís with their
musical chords.
Musicians in a miniature of the “Cancioneiro da
Ajuda”
65

English texts from:
Medieval Galician songs
A bilingual selection (English-Galician)
Dunne, Jonathan (2010): Anthology of Galician
literature (1196-1981). Xerais-Galaxia- Xunta de
Galicia.
Toro Santos, Raúl de (2010): Breogán’s Lighthouse.
An anthology of Galician Literature. Francis Boutle
Publishers, London.
66

Mendinho ( 13th century)
Major Genres
Songs of a friend/songs of women in love
At simon`s chapel I took my seat and was
caught by the waves, how tall they seem.
I was waiting for my friend! Will he come?
At the chapel before the altar altar-stone I
was caught by the waves, they seem to
grow.
I was waiting for my friend! Will he come?
And was caught by the waves, how tall
they seem, I have no boatman to row for
me.
I was waiting for my friend! Will he come?
And was caught by the waves, the sea
bellow, I have no boatman, nor know how
to row.
I was waiting for my friend! Will he come?
I have no boatman to row for me, fair
maid I shall die on the open sea.
I was waiting for my friend! Will he come?
I have no boatman, nor know how to row,
fair maid I shall die on the sea bellow.
I was waiting for my friend! Will he come?
Dunne, p. 25
67
Sedia-m’ eu na ermida de San Simión
e cercaron-mi-as ondas que grandes son.
Eu atendend’ o meu amigu’! E verrá?
Estando na ermida, ant’ o altar,
cercaron-mi-as ondas grandes do mar.
Eu atenden[d’o meu amigu’! E verrá?]
E cercaron-mi-as ondas que grandes son:
non ei [i] barqueiro nen remador.
Eu [atendend’o meu amigu’! E verrá?]
E cercaron-mi-as ondas do alto mar:
non ei [i] barqueiro nen sei remar.
Eu aten[dend’o meu amigu’! E verrá?]
Non ei i barqueiro nen remador:
morrerei [eu], fremosa, no mar maior.
Eu aten[dend’o meu amigu’! E verrá?]
Non ei [i] barqueiro nen sei remar:
morrerei eu, fremosa, no alto mar.
Eu [atendend’o meu amigu’! E verrá?]

Martin Codax (13th century)
O waves of the sea of Vigo,
if only you´ve seen my lover,
and, oh God, if only he´d come soon!
O waves of the heaving sea,
if only you´ve seen my darling,
and, oh God, if only he´d come soon!
If only you´ve seen my lover,
the man for whom I´m singing,
and, oh God, if only he´d come soon!
If only you´ve seen my darling,
the man for whom I´m pining,
and, oh God, if only he´d come soon.
Toro Santos, p. 53
Ondas do mar de Vigo,
se vistes meu amigo?
¡e ai Deus!, se verra cedo!
Ondas do mar levado,
se vistes meu amado,
¡e ai Deus!, se verra cedo!
Se vistes meu amigo
o por que eu sospiro,
¡e ai Deus!, se verra cedo!
Se vistes meu amado,
por que ei gran coidado,
¡e ai Deus!, se verra cedo!
Songs of love/songs of men in love
Bernal de Bonaval (13th century)
That lady whom I love and is my mistress
dear:
show her to me, O God, if this should be your
will,
if not, put me to death.
That lady who´s the light of these my own
two eyes,
for whom they always weep, show her to me,
O God,
if not, put me to death.
That lady whom you made the very loveliest
lady I know, O God, show her, let me see her,
if not, put me to death.
O God, who made me love her more than my
own self,
reveal her to me now where I can speak to
her,
if not, put me to death.
68
A dona que eu am’ e tenho por senhor
Amostráde-mi-a, Deus, se vos en prazer for,
senón, dáde-mi a morte.
A que tenh’ eu por lume destes olhos meus,
e por que choran sempre, amostráde-miama,
Deus,
senón, dáde-mi a morte.
Essa que vós fezestes melhor parecer
de quantas sei, ¡ai Deus!, fázede-mi a veer,
senón, dáde-mi a morte.
¡Ai, Deus!, que mi a fezestes máis ca min
amar,
Mosrtráde-mi-a u possa con ela falar,
senón, dáde-mi a morte.
Toro Santos, p. 68

Dinis of Portugal (1261-1352)
I would like in the manner of Provençe,
to make a song of love without delay,
and in it shall praise my ladylove
who nothing lacks in merit or in beauty
or in goodness; and I shall tell you more:
God made her so complete in wondrous
things
she´s finer than all ladies in the world.
God chose to make my lady in such
manner,
when he made her, that he made her most
wise
in all goodness and of very great worth,
and nonetheless she is most sociable
when this is right, and he gave her good
sense,
and furthermore he did her no small good,
deciding no other should be her equal.
For in my lady God never put wrong,
but put there merit and beauty and praise
and very fine speech, and far better smiles
than any other; what´s more, she´s true,
and so on I know today no one who
can speak sufficiently of her distinction,
for there is nothing in her but distinction.
Martín Soárez (13th century)
Jongleur Lopo went one day
to sing at the house of a noble,
who sent down as a gift for him
three kicks in the gullet:
a paltry gift, it seems to me,
considering his singing.
The nobleman was niggardly
when distributing kicks,
sending to that jongleur Lopo
just three of them in the gullet:
that joker merits many more,
considering his singing.
Toro Santos, p.79
Quer'eu em maneira de proençal
fazer agora un cantar d'amor,
e querrei muit'i loar mia senhor
a que prez nen fremusura non fal,
nen bondade; e mais vos direi en:
tanto a fez Deus comprida de ben
que mais que todas las do mundo val.
Ca mia senhor quiso Deus fazer tal,
quando a faz, que a fez sabedor
de todo ben e de mui gran valor,
e con todo est'é mui comunal
ali u deve; er deu-lhi bon sen,
e des i non lhi fez pouco de ben,
quando non quis que lh'outra foss'igual.
Ca en mia senhor nunca Deus pôs mal,
mais pôs i prez e beldad'e loor
e falar mui ben, e riir melhor
que outra molher; des i é leal
muit', e por esto non sei oj'eu quen
possa compridamente no seu ben
falar, ca non á, tra-lo seu ben, al.
Toro Santos, p. 74
Songs of mockery and vilification
69
Foi um dia Lopo jograr
a casa duü infançon cantar,
e mandou-lhe ele por don dar
três couces na garganta,
e foi-lhe escasso, a meu cuidar,
segundo como el canta
Escasso foi o infançon
en seus couces partir' enton,
ca non deu a Lopo enton
mais de três na garganta,
e mais merece o jograron,
segundo como el canta.

Minor Genres: Pastorela
Johán Airas de Santiago (13th-14th century)
Up on Cresente Hill I saw
a young shepherdess who was roaming
far away from all other people,
and lifting up her voice to sing,
pulling her dress tightly around her
when the beam of the sun came out
on the banks of the River Star.
And the birds that were in the air
as light of day was dawning there
were all of them singing of love
among the branches all around,
and I don´t know if anyone
could have thought about anything
other than about love alone.
And there I stayed quite motionless,
I tried to speak but did not dare;
I managed, full of fear, to say:
“My lady ,I will speak to you
a little while, if you will hear,
but I shall not stay in this place,
will say, on finding you with me,
and I shall go when you command.”
“O Sir, for Holy Mary´s sake
please don´t remain here any more
but do continue on you way;
for that´s the prudent thing to do:
anyone coming to this place,
will say, on finding you with me,
that something else has come to be.”
Toro Santos, p. 89
70
Pelo souto de Crecente
ũa pastor vi andar
muit'alongada de gente,
alçando voz a cantar,
apertando-se na saia,
quando saía la raia
do sol, nas ribas do Sar.
E as aves que voavan,
quando saía l'alvor,
todas d'amores cantavan
pelos ramos d'arredor;
mais non sei tal qu'i'stevesse,
que en al cuidar podesse
senón todo en amor.
Alí 'stivi eu mui quedo,
quis falar e non ousei,
empero dix'a gran medo:
-Mia senhor, falar-vos-ei
un pouco, se mi ascuitardes,
e ir-m'-ei, quando mandardes,
mais aquí non'starei.
-Senhor, por Santa María,
non estedes máis aquí,
mais ide-vos vossa vía,
faredes mesura i;
ca os que aquí chegaren,
pois que vos aquí acharen,
ben dirán que máis houv'i.

Afonso X of Castile, the Wise 1221-1284
Song X
This is in praise of Holy Mary, telling how
beautiful and good she is and what great
power she has.
Rose of roses and Flower of flowers,
Noble of nobles, Lady of ladies.
Rose of beauty and of loveliness,
and Flower of gladness and of joy,
so Noble in her mercifulness,
Lady curing every grief and pain.
Rose of roses and Flower of flowers,
Noble of nobles, Lady of ladies.
All men should dearly love such a Lady,
who can protect them against all evil,
and forgive them the sins they commit
in this world through their evil desires.
Rose of roses and Flower of flowers,
Noble of nobles, Lady of ladies.
All of us should greatly love and serve her:
she strives to stop us from doing wrong,
then makes us repent of evil deeds
that we commit, being sinners all.
Rose of roses and Flower of flowers,
Noble of nobles, Lady of ladies.
This gentlewoman who is my Lady
and whose troubador I wish to be,
- if only I can secure her love,
I´ll send all other loves to the devil.
Rose of roses and Flower of flowers,
Noble of nobles, Lady of ladies.
Toro Santos, p. 96
Songs of St Mary
71
Canto X
Esta é de loor de Santa María, como é
fremosa e boa e ha gran poder
Rosas das rosas e Fror das frores,
Dona das donas, Señor das señores.
Rosa de beldad' e de parecer
e Fror d'alegria e de prazer,
Dona en mui piadosa seer,
Sennor en toller coitas e doores.
Rosas das rosas e Fror das frores,
Dona das donas, Sennor das sennores.
Atal Sennor dev' ome muit' amar,
que de todo mal o pode guardar;
e pode-ll' os pecados perdõar,
que faz no mundo per maos sabores.
Rosas das rosas e Fror das frores,
Dona das donas, Sennor das sennores.
Devemo-la muit' amar e servir,
ca puña de nos guardar de falir;
des i dos erros nos faz repentir,
que nós fazemos come pecadores.
Rosas das rosas e Fror das frores,
Dona das donas, Sennor das sennores.
Esta dona que teño por Señor
e de que quero seer trobador,
se eu per ren poss' aver seu amor,
dou ao demo os outros amores.
Rosas das rosas e Fror das frores,
Dona das donas, Sennor das sennores.

María X. Rodríguez Valcárcel
Lugo and the Medieval Lyrics
Lugo´s province, as it couldn´t be other
way, was present in the lives and poetical
outputs of our medieval poets, either
because it was their birth place or it was
their living residence or because it was
mentioned in some of their compositions.
Next, we are going to give details of this
relationship.
According to the Portuguese expert
Rodrigues Lapa, Lopo Lias, a poet from
the second half of the 13 th century, worked
among Lugo, Monforte de Lemos and O
Morrazo. Other authors assert that Lopo
Lias was born in Oleiros, In Coruña´s
province. He was attacked in a poem by
Xoán Romeu de Lugo about whom we´ll
talk about later on. Lopo Lias was the
author of twenty songs of mockery.
A dona fremosa de Soveral
ha de mí dinheiros per preit'atal
que veess'a mí, u non houvess'al,
un día talhado a cas de Don Corral;
e é perjurada,
ca non fez en nada
e baratou mal,
ca desta vegada
será penhorad'a
que dobr'o sinal.
Se m'ela crever, cuido-m'eu, dar-lh'-hei
o melhor conselho que hoj'eu sei:
dé-mi meu haver e gracir-lho-hei;
se mi o non der, penhorá-la-hei:
ca mi o ten forçado,
do corp'alongado,
non lho sofrerei;
mais, polo meu grado,
dar-mi-á ben dobrad'o
sinal que lh'eu dei.
72
The jongleur Lopo developed his literary
work in the second half of the 13th
century. Even though we don´t know his
birth place, Figueira Valverde found in the
Archives of the Cathedral of Lugo the
name of Lupus, which could refer to him.
In his compositions he mentioned a
festivity of Saint Leuter which can be
referred to Saint Eutelo of Santiago de
Mirada (Friol, Lugo) or to Saint Outelo of
Saint Esteban de Lagartons in A Estrada
(Pontevedra). He was also the author of
eleven songs of love and friend. Martin
Soares wrote the following song of
mockery about Lopo Lias:
Foi un dia Lopo jograr
á cas dun infançón cantar:
e mandou-lh’ele por odn dar
tres couces ena garganta;
e fui-lh’escass’, a meu cuidar,
segundo com’el canta.
Escasso foi o infançón
en seus couces partir entón,
ca non deu a Lopo entón
mais de tres ena garganta;
e mais merece o jograrón
segundo com’el canta.
Xoán de Requeixo was born at the
beginning of the 13th century in Requeixo
(Chantada) where there is a chapel
devoted to Santa María of Faro which is
mentioned in some of his poems. He
developed his literary activity between the
second and the fourth part of the 13th
century. He is the author of five songs of a
friend (songs of processions):
Fui eu, madr', en romaria a Faro con meu
amigo

e venho d' el namorada por quanto falou
comigo.
ca mi xurou que morria
por mi; tal ben mi quería!
Leda venho da ermida e d' esta vez leda
serei,
ca falei con meu amigo, que sempre
[muito] desexei,
ca mi xurou que morria
por mi; tal ben mi quería!
Du m' eu vi con meu amigo vin leda, se
Deus mi perdón,
ca nunca lhi cuid' a mentir por quanto
m'ele diss' enton,
ca mi xurou que morria
por mi; tal ben mi quería!
Alvaro (ou Afonso Gomes) was a jongleur
born in Sarria. He developed his literary
work in the second half of the 13th
century. He is the author of a song of
mockery, which we certainly know it is his,
addresed to Martin Moxa:
Martín Moxa, a mia alma se perca
polo foder, se vós pecado havedes,
nen por bõos filhos que fazedes;
mais havedes pecado pola herva
que comestes, que vos faz viver
tan gran tempo, que podedes saber
mui ben quando naceu Adán e Eva.
Nen outrossí dos filhos barvados
non vos acho i por gran pecador,
senón dos tempos grandes traspassados,
que acordades, e sodes pastor.
Dized'ora, se vejades prazer:
de que tempo podiades seer,
quand'estragou alí o Almançor?
De profaçar a gente sandía
non havedes por que vos embargar
nen por que filhardes én vós pesar,
ca o non dizen senón con perfía.
Dizede-m'ora, se Deus vos perdón,
73
quando nacestes vós? Ant'a sazón
que encarnou Deus en Santa María?
Xoan Lopes de Ulloa, whose ancestry is
supposed to be from Lugo, as the scholar
José Joaquin Nunes affirms. He bases his
conclusion in the origin of the surname. In
fact the Ulloas dominions spread along the
Monterroso region between Santiago de
Compostela and Lugo. There are eighteen
songs of a friend and love preserved. He
worked from the 30's to the 80's of the
13th century:
Sempr'eu, senhor, roguei a Deus por mí
que me desse de vós ben, e non quer.
Mais quero-lh'al rogar e, pois souber
que lh'al rogo, al me dara logu'i,
ca lhe rogu'eu que nunca me dé ben
de vós, e cuido que mi o dé por én.
E per aquesto quero eu provar
Deus, ca muit'ha que lhe por al roguei
de vós, senhor; mais ora veerei
se me ten prol de o assí rogar,
ca lhe rogu'eu que nunca me dé ben
de vós, e cuido que mi o dé por én!
Pois assí é que m'el sempre deu al,
e al desej'eu no meu coraçón,
rogar-lh'-ei est', e cuidará que non
será meu ben, e dara-mi-o por mal,
ca lhe rogu'eu que nunca me dé ben
de vós, e cuido que mi o dé por én!
Xoán Romeo de Lugo mentioned the town
in the only song which can be attributed to
him. We know that he was a Galician
troubadour, a nobleman, who precisely
made fun of Lopo Lias in his only song
preserved, so we can place him at the
fourth part of the 13th century. The name
Johan Romeu of Lugo is found in some
documents of theMonastery of Vilar de
Donas:
Loavan un día, en Lugo, Elvira

Pérez, a filha d'Elvira Padrõa;
todos dizían que era mui bõa
e non tenh'eu que dizían mentira,
ante tenho que dizían razón;
e Don Lopo Lías diss'i entón,
per bõa fe, que ja x'el melhor vira.
Ficou ja a dona mui ben andante,
ca a loaron quantos alí siían;
e todos dela muito ben dizían;
mais Lopo Lías estede constante:
como foi sempre un gran jogador,
disse que el vira outra vez melhor,
quand'era moça, en cas da Ifante.
Amor Meilan (19th century), an historian
from Lugo, asserted that the troubadour
Pero de Veer was born in our town. Some
authors placed him in S. Vicente de Ver, at
the south of Bóveda, in the Lemos region,
others argue that his birth place is
irrelevant as we hardly know anything
about him . We suppose that he worked in
the middle of the 13th century. There are
six songs of a friend and two songs of love
preserved:
Ai Deus, que doo que eu de mi ei,
por que se foi meu amigu’ e fiquei
pequena e d’el namorada.
Quando s’el ouve de Julhan a ir,
fiquei, fremosa, por vos non mentir,
pequena e d’el namorada.
Ali ouv’eu de mia morte pavor
u eu fiquei mui coitada pastor,
pequena e d’el namorada.
Fernando Esquio was one of our most
important medieval poets. We know that
his ancestry was from Lugo and that he
was of noble lineage. Some scholars place
him in Compostela and others in the Neda
and Xubia region. He developed his
activity at the end of the 13th century.
There are nine songs by him preserved
74
(four songs of a friend, two of love and
three of mockery). Lugo is mentioned in
the following song of a friend:
Que adubastes, amigo, alá en Lug'u
andastesou qual é essa fremosa de que
vós vos namorastes?
-Direi-vo-lo eu, senhora, pois me tan ben
preguntastes:
o amor que eu levei de Santiago a Lugo,
esse m'aduss'e esse mi adugo.
-Que adubastes, amigo, u tardastes
noutro día, ou qual é essa fremosa que
vos tan ben parecía?
-Direi-vo-lo eu, senhora, pois i tomastes
perfía: o amor que eu levei de Santiago a
Lugo, esse m'aduss'e esse mi adugo.
-Que adubastes, amigo, lá u havedes
tardado ou qual é essa fremosa de que
sodes namorado?
-Direi-vo-lo eu, senhora, pois m'havedes
preguntado, o amor que eu levei de
Santiago a Lugo, esse m'aduss'e esse mi
adugo.
In the only religious group of songs we
keep, “Cantigas de Santa María” from
Alfonso X the Wise, our town is mentioned
in the song number 77 and in that song the
Wise King mentioned a church in our
town in which a miracle took place, a
woman was cured of her illness “she had
the hands and the feet shrank”:
Esta é como Santa Maria sãou na sa
ygreja en lugo ha moller contreita dos
pees e das mãos.
Da que Deus mamou o leite do seu peito,
non é maravilla de sãar contreito.
Desto fez Santa Maria miragre fremoso

ena sa ygrej' en Lugo, grand' e piadoso,
por ha moller que avia tolleito
o mais de seu corp' e de mal encolleito.
Da que Deus mamou o leite do seu peito...
Que amba-las suas mãos assi s'
encolleran,
que ben per cabo dos onbros todas se
meteran,
e os calcannares ben en seu dereito
se meteron todos no corpo maltreito.
Da que Deus mamou o leite do seu peito...
Pois viu que lle non prestava nulla
meezinna,
tornou-ss' a Santa Maria, a nobre
Reynna,
rogando-lle que non catasse despeyto
se ll' ela fezera, mais a seu proveito
Da que Deus mamou o leite do seu peito...
Parasse mentes en guisa que a
guareçesse,
se non, que fezess' assi per que çedo
morresse;
e logo se fezo levar en un leito
ant' a sa ygreja, pequen' e estreito.
Da que Deus mamou o leite do seu peito...
E ela ali jazendo fez mui bõa vida
trões que ll' ouve merçee a Sennor
conprida
eno mes d' agosto, no dia 'scolleito,
na sa festa grande, como vos retreito
Da que Deus mamou o leite do seu peito...
Será agora per min. Ca en aquele dia
se fez meter na ygreja de Santa Maria;
mais a Santa Virgen non alongou preyto,
mas tornou-ll' o corpo todo escorreyto.
Da que Deus mamou o leite do seu peito...
Pero avo-ll' atal que ali u sãava,
cada un nembro per si mui de rig'
estalava,
ben come madeira mui seca de teito,
75
quando ss' estendia o nervio odeito.
Da que Deus mamou o leite do seu peito...
O bispo e toda a gente deant' estando,
veend' aquest' e oynd' e de rijo chorando,
viron que miragre foi e non trasgeito;
porende loaron a Virgen afeito.
Da que Deus mamou o leite do seu peito...
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
-Brea, M. (coordinadora): Lírica profana
galego-portuguesa. Corpus completo das
cantigas medievais, con estudio
biográfico, análise retórica e bibliografía
específica. Santiago de Compostela, Xunta
de Galicia, 1996.
-Matalobos Cerceda, M. C. Lugo e a
Lírica Medieval Galego-Portuguesa,
Concello de Lugo, Lugo, 1985.

The Way to Santiago
Plate in the floor in front of the Chartres cathedral, France
76

María X. Rodríguez Valcárcel
The Codex Calixtinus or “Códice
Calixtino”, which is kept in the archives of
the cathedral of Santiago de Compostela,
is a manuscript in Carolingian letter
written in Latin in the first part of the 12th
century. It is a kind of guide for the
pilgrims who made the Way of St. James
with advice, descriptions of the route, of
the works of art that existed and of the
customs of the people they could come
across. It also contains sermons, miracles
and liturgical texts related to the apostle.
Although sometimes it is called “Liber
Sancti Iacobi” we should distinguish both
concepts. “Liber Sancti Iacobi” represents
the content of the book, from which
several manuscripts were created, the
most remarkable of which is the “Codex
Calixtinus”.
The “Codex Calixtinus”
The “Codex Calixtinus” is made up of five
books and two appendices with a total of
225 pages of parchment written on both
sides with a size of 295 x 214 mm. With
some exceptions, the text is always a
column with 34 lines by page. The first
book is of liturgical character, the second
hagiographic, the third and fourth are of
historical nature and the fifth, the most
popular one, is a kind of guide for the
pilgrims that presents the places they have
to visit along the route and warns the
travellers against the dangers they can
encounter on their way. It also describes
the city of Santiago and the cathedral in
detail.
In the year 2010 Xosé López Díaz
presented the first complete translation of
the work into Galician language. There are
also translations into Spanish (1951),
French (2003) and Italian (2008), and
translations of partial texts in other
languages, like English.
Cover of the “Codex Calixtinus”
77

Pilgrims to Santiago: Yesterday and today
José A. Armesto
The pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela
begins very early after the “discovery” of
the Apostle tomb. The first news are about
Alfonso II, king of Galicia, Asturias and
León in the 9th century (791-842),
because it was during his kingdom, in 814,
when that discover was known. The route
from Oviedo, where he was at that
moment, to Santiago, via Lugo, is known
today as “Camiño Primitivo”, the Primitive
Way.
Soon, the pilgrimage began from other
places in the Iberian Peninsula, which was
partially occupied by North African and
Arabian Muslims in those times, and that
fact gave Santiago an important role as an
unifying force of the lands under rule of
christian kings. It was also very important
the arrival of pilgrims from other parts of
Europe. So, it is said that in Santiago
begins the idea of Europe as a unity.
In order to illustrate this idea, we expose
the stories of three pilgrims from Greece,
Germany and the Netherlands, two of
them from the past and one from
nowadays.
There is not much information about
Greek pilgrims, but in some papers from
11th and 12th centuries (Crónica de
Castilla, Historia seminense, Libro del
Mío Cid, Liber Sancti Iacobi-Codex
Calixtinus) it is mentioned a presumed
Greek bishop named in different ways:
Stephanus, Astiano, Ostiano, Ostyano,
Estiano, and he was an intentional
protagonist of a “miracle” by Santiago
Apostle.
According to these chronicles, during
Coimbra's siege (in actual Portugal) by the
army of King Fernando I in 1063, this
78
bishop was in Santiago as a pilgrim. There
he listened to some people talking about
Santiago as a “knight” and they also asked
him to help the Christian armies in their
fight against muslims. Then Stephanus
told them that Santiago was not a knight
but a “fisherman”. But, a bit later, while he
was sleeping, Santiago himself
materialized during his dream to quarrel
him because he hadn't believed in himself
as a warrior. Santiago gave him the day
and the time of Coimbra's capture.
Stephanus told this information to the
authorities of Compostela and they
notified it to king Fernando and when the
information was confirmed it was taken as
an evidence of Santiago's help in the fight
against the “infidels”. This story must be
understood as a propaganda to encourage
the people and the army for a long period
of fights.
One of the most known German pilgrims
was Hermannus Künig von Vach. He was a
monk in the Servite community in Vach, a
small town on the Hesse/Thuringia border
now called Vacha-an-der-Werra. His
guidebook of the road to Santiago, Die
Walfart und Straß zu sant Jacob (next
page, image of the cover), was published
in 1495. It became popular and went
through several editions, including a
translation in 1518 into Low German De
overen und meddelen Straten van
Brunswygk tho Sunte Jacob in Galicien
tho Compostella. In 1899 Konrad Haebler
produced a new edition under the title
Das Wallfahrtsbuch des Hermannus
Künig von Vach und die Pilgerreisen der
Deutschen nach Santiago de Compostela
(next page, image of the cover). His own
pilgrimage probably began in Vacha, but
the book describes a route from Einsiedeln

via Toulouse - which he called the
“Oberstrasse”, upper road - and back via
Paris and Brussels to Aachen - the
“Niederstrasse” or lower road. It seems
that the reason for the names had nothing
to do with the contours, but it was simply
because the maps of the time had south at
the top, so the Einsiedeln route was the
'upper road' and the Aachen one the 'lower
road'. He seems to have disliked climbing,
as he recommends using lower-level roads
to bypass the two highpoints on the
“Camiño Francés”, the Cruz de Ferro and
O Cebreiro.
We have not much information about
Dutch pilgrimage to Santiago in the
Middle Ages, but we have some data that
can confirm it. For instance,
79
“Lodewijkskerk” or church of St. Louis, in
Leiden. It was built as a hospice chapel as
a stopping place on the medieval
pilgrimage route to Santiago de
Compostela (“St. Jacobs Gasthuis”). The
hospice, finisehd in 1538, was run by the
“St. Jacobs Broederschap”, consisting of
people who had returned from a
pilgrimage to Santiago.
Related to this “St. Jacobs Gasthuis” it is
the painting belonging to the School of
Leiden, painted in 1530, The Return of the
Pilgrim: A Scene from a Miracle of Saint
James the Greater (image).
This painting illustrates in three panels an
episode from a miracle by Saint James: on
his way to Santiago de Compostela a
young pilgrim was greeted by the devil
disguised as Saint James. The devil
convinced him that he would achieve
everlasting salvation by killing himself; the
young man did so and thereby committed
a mortal sin, a suicide. But he was saved
from that fate by the intervention of Saint

James, who also restored him to life. The
painting belongs to a private collector.
Representing the pilgrimage history from
the Netherlands, we are going to report
the answers given by a Dutch pilgrim from
nowadays to some questions about his
pilgrimage to Santiago. The pilgrim is Jan
Melkert from Alkmaar:
When did you do the pilgrimage and
from where? How long did you take
in it?
I made the “Camino” in 2004 with a
friend. We started in a village in France
near Bordeaux. We walked in total 1100
kilometres in about 35 days.
What places did you stay in: free
hostel, private hostel, hotel,
campingsites ...?
We stayed in hostels. In some places we
slept in sleeping places belonging to a
cloister (monastery). And 2 or 3 times we
slept in a hotel.
How hospitable were the people
from the villages and the other
pilgrims in the Way?
The people in the villages were very
friendly, very hospitable. It was in 2004
not yet so busy as nowadays on the
“Camino”. Pilgrims on the “Camino” have
the same goal. They walk the same route,
they see each other in the evening in the
hostels/refugios. The atmosphere amongst
the pilgrims is very friendly. They help
each other, they talk about the camino and
they advise each other about the route.
Did you meet anybody with whom
you are still in contact?
Until few years ago. We had contact with
two pilgrims from South Africa.
In your opinion, what is the most
remarkable of the Way related to
landscape, art, etc.?
80
The mountains in France (Pyrenees) and
the mountains in Spain in the last two
weeks of our walk. In fact the landscape
was very beautiful. Hills, mountains, flat
routes, villages, long straight walks,
silence, rain, sunshine, muddy paths.
Art: especially the interior of the churches
e.g. the altar pieces in the churches of
Burgos, Leon and of course Santiago itself.
What kind of pilgrims did you meet:
from what countries, their
motivations, ...?
From all countries: we met pilgrims from
France, Italy, Holland, South Africa. There
were also pilgrims from USA and Brazil.
Their motivations: some pilgrims used the
“Camino” to reflect over their lives. Some
pilgrims had experienced important
changes in their life and used the walk to
think things over. Other stopped working
(retired) and wanted to use this walking
for planning their future.
How did the idea of making the Way
of St. James emerge? Which was the
main motivation to make it?
Our motivation (I walked with a friend)
was a mix of sportive challenge and
thinking things over. My friend was just
retired from work. It was an old wish to do
the “Camino”. Also a mixture of slowing
down escaping from the busy life for a few
weeks.
Would you make the Way if you
knew that the body of St. James is
not there?
Yes, we would make the walk, even if the
body is not present in Santiago
What did you learn while you made
the Way?
We learned to be patient, to slow down by
walking and to hurry, to enjoy the
landscape and also to get wet by the rain
and still walking.

Did the experience of
the Way influence
your daily life in any
way?
I cannot say that walking
to Santiago had a
particular influence on
me. It inspired us to do
some other walks e.g. to
Rome (2007) and perhaps
in the autumn the
beginning of my walk to
Jerusalem.
Is there any moment
or place from the Way
that you remind in a
special way?
A few nights in a “refugio”
led by an English
brotherhood at 1100 metres high. It had a
special atmosphere during dinner there
singing and singing with the other
pilgrims. And also some visits to the Holy
Mass in a few churches. One night a very
beautiful mass with a choir of old women.
What was the most remarkable of
the experience in general?
The arrival of course in Santiago was a
remarkable event and then to the
cathedral and to embrace the statue of “St.
Jacob” and to touch the pillar in the
entrance. And our names were mentioned
during the mass in the cathedral.
81
Jan Merkelt arriving in Santiago
More information at (in Spanish):
www.satrapa1.com/articulos/media/santiago/s
antiago.htm
e-spanialivres.revues.org/256
revistas.um.es/medievalismo/article/download
/51101/49231
www.christies.com/lotfinder/lot_details.aspx?
intObjectID=5159324

Interview to the Person in Charge of the Pilgrim´s
Hostel in Lugo
In March 2011, three students (Mónica
Neira, Verónica Moldes and Noelia
Sangiao) of the last course of Secondary
Education for Adults interviewed the
person in charge of the pilgrim’s hostel in
our city, José Antonio Otero.
The questions were made in order to know
the average profile of the pilgrims that
visited Lugo and the services offered in the
hostel.
During a year, what's the season
with more pilgrims?
In summertime, between end of April and
October. Also in Holy Years, although in
these years it's more about tourism than
pilgrimage.
Where do they come from?
50% of the pilgrims are from Spain
(specially from Catalonia, Valencia and
Madrid) and the other 50% are from
abroad, specially from France and
Germany.
What kind of pilgrims is the most
frequent?
Men are 65% or 70% of the people that
visit us. They are usually between 35 and
50 years old. In 2010 from a total of 5664
pilgrims, 3739 were men and 1925,
women. Most of them (97%) made the way
walking and the rest riding.
The amount of pilgrims that visited the
city is higher than this, around 12.000
people during 2010. When we don’t have
free places we send them to sport centers
or hotels.
How do people usually make the
Way: with their family, with friends,
on their own?
82
People don’t usually make the Way with
their family. When they do it they don’t
use hostels. Bigger groups formed by 20 or
30 persons usually use another kind of
places to have a rest, like sport centers.
Do pilgrims tell you the motivations
that led them to make the Way?
Sometimes they do tell me about that, but
it depends on the person if they are more
or less friendly. The main motivations are
to know Galicia and our gastronomy.
Religious reasons are less frequent. For
some people, the Way seems like a kind of
alternative cheap holidays.
I’ve seen people of what I could never
imagine they would make the Way. Many
times they come because they have made a
vow because of an illness. I can remember
a man from Asturias that arrived with his
feet ruined. He was a miner that came
directly from the mine because he had
promised his mother that if she came out
the operating theatre alive he would make
the Way and that is what he did at the
same moment he knew the good news.
We have some important
monuments in Lugo. Do pilgrims
have information about the city
before arriving or do they ask for it
in the hostel?
Most of the pilgrims are amazed when
they visit Lugo because really we don’t
really give publicity of our city. We make
them a gift with 1700 years of history: a
walk by the Roman wall. We explain them
the most important places: the Roman
wall, the cathedral (the only one where it
is permanently exposed the Blessed
Sacrament since 15th century) and the two
Interpretation Offices (the one of the

Roman Wall and the other of Saint James'
Way). Of course we suggest them they
should go to the city centre to enjoy wines
and “tapas”.
We suppose there should be some
pilgrims you haven’t forgotten. Can
you tell us any anecdote about it?
I’m in touch with some of them. I can
remember one man who came from
Prague with two broken ribs and I helped
him. Five days after leaving the hostel I
watched him on TV and he talked about
me. One year later he came back and
offered me the “paella” he had promised
me.
Sometimes we are as a kind of
psychologists, specially in winter. I can
remember a young man from Euskadi
(Basque Country) who told me his
problems and at the end we became close
friends.
There is another pilgrim with
psychological problems that visits us every
year. I always remember him to take his
treatment.
How many Ways does they cross
Lugo?
Nowadays the only way that comes into
Lugo is the Primitive Way. Almost surely,
there was a connection of the North Way
in the past. On the other hand, the French
Way had a detour that came into Lugo
across San Roque Street and San Pedro
gate or Toledan gate, called in this way
because it was the last one to be closed in
the city.
There are some towns where the
hostel is difficult to find. In the case
of Lugo, is it easy to find it?
The pilgrims don’t have any problem to
find the hostel. They come into the city
across Castelo, A Chanca, Carril das Flores
and San Pedro gate.
83
What kind of services are offered in
the hostel?
We offer a bed, a hot shower and
disposable sheets. Some time ago, we used
to offer objects to cook and blankets but
we had to give them up.
Which one are the coexistence rules
in the hostel? How do you make
them know? Are they well accepted
by the pilgrims?
The rules are easy to know and to
summarize: respect should prevail over
everything; for example, cleaning the
kitchen when they use it and so on.
The rules are placed on the door of the
hostel; the worst accepted is the one
related to timetables because they dislike
the closing time at night. Pilgrims use to
arrive between 13.00 and 14.30.
They usually leave the hostel before 8.00
a.m. and even earlier, between 5.00 and
6.00 to take advantage of the low
temperature to walk and to find place in
the next hostel. The next hostel is to 20 or
35 km, it depends if they go to S. Román
da Retorta or to Hospital.
We have 42 places, twenty in each floor
and two reserved to handicapped.
They can occupy the hostel according to
the following order: first, the pilgrims that
make the Primitive way by foot; second,
those who make it riding. Those ones that
are not in any of these two groups must
wait for place until 20.00 hours in order to
know if there is a free place. Sometimes
handicapped places are free. In these cases
we let the two older pilgrims occupy them.
What are the more frequent
problems?
The most frequent is the one I have just
commented about the timetables. We used
to cure them of wounds but we don’t do
that anymore and we suggest them that
they should go to the health centre.

Thefts are not frequent; only once one
pilgrim robbed all the others. Incivility is
not frequent at all.
Talking about communication problems,
the more problematic people are French
people because they never change their
language; on the other hand, it’s very easy
the communication with German and
British people because they try to make
you understand them.
We suppose the relation with the
pilgrims will depend on the time
they are in the hostel. How long do
they usually stay? Is there any rule
that set up the time they can stay?
In the hostels they can only stay
one night; and another one in
case of illness or injury. In this
case they must rest. We have to
take these measures in order to
have place for everybody.
When we do the check-in in
a hotel we have to fill in
some documents. Must the
pilgrims do the same? Must
Entrance at the Pilgrim's hostel
in Lugo
84
you inform to city Council, Police …
about the people that is in the
hostel ?
The documents they have to show us are
the Passport or the Identity Card and the
“Credencial de Peregrino”.
We send the information about the
pilgrims to the police. Our hostel was the
first one to do this.
Some years ago, a police inspector came
looking for information about a young
man (more or less twenty years old) from
Sicily, Italy. There was a searching order
of Europol because his family hadn’t had
news from him for a month. At the end we
found him in S. Roman hostel.

Ana Anllo Carreira
The Iberian Peninsula forms part,
according to some old texts, of the lands
where St. James preached Christianity.
After being beheaded in Palestine in the
year 44 AD, his disciples, keeping up the
tradition, took his corpse to Galicia by
boat.
Difficult times and depopulation in the
north of the Peninsula provoked that the
place where his body was buried
disappeared into oblivion, but in the year
820 some human remains were found that
the ecclesiastical authorities considered to
be James the Greater. This happened in a
lost forest and it led to the birth of the
current city Santiago de Compostela
The discovery of St. James’ supposed
remains between the end of the 8th
century and the 9th century was the
beginning of a pilgrimage to the tomb of
Christ’s sole disciple, along with St. Peter
in Rome, who is buried in European soil;
due to this fact thousands of people turned
out to Compostela to contemplate and
venerate the saint’s remains.
All around the Compostela sanctuary
many shops spread justified precisely by
this pilgrimage business as it is shown by
the names like “Praza das Praterías” or
“Praza das Acibecherías”. Years later, the
apostolic nature of this church and the
accumulated wealth thanks to the pilgrims
would allow an enterprising bishop, Diego
Xelmírez, to turn his see into
Archbishopric
The pilgrims who arrived to Santiago came
from everywhere guided by the Milky
Way; following “O camino das estrelas”
they arrived to “O campo das estrelas” (i.e.
Compostela) where James the Greater
rests.
The Ways to Santiago
85
There’s no doubt that the road to Santiago,
in that period, was not only a religious
pilgrimage route but the way for the
culture and Art tendencies throughout
Europe to get into. Galicia posses a great
richness from both Romanesque (art
which arrived in the 11th century) and
Gothic styles.
Everything seems to point out that in the
beginning there should have been several
ways for the pilgrims to arrive to
Compostela. When they arrived, they met
the Cathedral of Santiago, which was
started to being built in 1075 and it was
finished in 1124, evolving from its
Romanesque origin through a lot of
different styles, mainly Baroque, which
achieved its fulfilment with the façade of
the “Obradoiro” (1738-1750).
Nowadays, while visiting the cathedral, the
pilgrims use to practice a ritual in the lady
chapel of the high altar to give the
traditional embrace to the apostle
Santiago (Romanesque style sculpture)
and then they go down to the crypt where
his remains are preserved (eighty-five
bones, twenty-five of them completed) in a
wooden box lined with velvet inside a
silver urn engraved in the altar.

Another part of the ritual consists in
visiting the Pórtico da Gloria, Mestre
Mateo’s masterpiece, who placed Christ
the King surrounded by the four
evangelists. One of the most surprising
aspects in this portico is the great variety
of musical instruments the twenty-four
ancients of the Apocalypse are holding in
their hands, which are sculpted in the first
archivolt of the central stretch.
The ritual ends attending the Mass of the
pilgrim, where it is usual to see how the
“botafumeiro” works, which flies from the
nave of the crossing.
When the pilgrim arrived to Compostela,
he used to go straight to the cathedral
following the light of the lamp in its roof.
Nowadays, this lamp is lit only during the
Holy Years.
The streets were built so that the pilgrim
could arrive to the cathedral wherever they
would come. The reason why they were
obliged to visit this place as soon as they
arrived was that these men and women
had been walking for months in unhealthy
hygienic conditions.
In the decks of the roof we can find the
“Pilón da Cruz dos Farrapos” where the
pilgrim could be given new clothes as long
as they burnt the dirty old ones, that’s to
say, the rags they wore throughout the
trip. This not only made happy the pilgrim
but, thanks to this burning, there wasn’t
diseases transmission inside the city.
Nowadays, these decks are made of
granite but in the old times they were
covered by slates.
In this picture we can see the highest part
of the cathedral, “a tribuna” where the
pilgrims were allowed to attend the mass
and spend the night after the long trip.
Currently the periods of a massive influx
of pilgrims coincide with the Holy Years
which are celebrated every six, five, six,
eleven years. During this period the “Porta
Santa” is opened while it’s closed
throughout the rest of the time. This door
86
was built in the year 1611 in the
Romanesque wall in the “Praza da
Quintana” to make a passage to the
Mosteiro de San Paio, in whose altarpiece
we can see the twenty-four figures of the
saints from Mestre Mateo’s original choir.
After being in the cathedral, the pilgrim
can ask for the “Compostela” which is a
document certifying the pilgrimage given
by the cathedral chapter. In order to
obtain this, the pilgrim has to show the
Pilgrim’s document with the stamps
(“Credencial”) which prove the pilgrim has
walked through the several villages of the
road. These stamps belong to
Brotherhoods and Friends of the Road
associations.
Due to the great variety of origins of the
pilgrims, six main routes of arrival from
Europe were designed:
-Camiño primitivo or de Fonsagrada
(Primitive Way) and Camiño norte (North
Way): they were important during the first
times of the pilgrimage. They have two
main courses which get into Galicia
through Asturias, coming from Euskadi
and Cantabria.
-Camiño Francés (The French Way): It’s
the most important and crowded. It gets
into Spain through the Pyrenees and into
Galicia through O Cebreiro.
In France we can point up four main ways
which cross religious places like Chartres
and Tours. These are:
-Turonense way: It sets off from
Paris and goes through Tours and Poitiers.
-Lemovicense way: It sets off
from Vezelay and goes through Limoges
and Perigueux.
-Podiense way: It sets off from
Le-Puy-en-Velay and goes through
Moissac and Conques; there it meets Via
Gebennensis which starts in Geneva.
-Tolosana way: It sets off in Arles
and goes through Montpellier and
Toulouse.

These ways finish in Saint Jean Pie-de-
Port (Roncesvalles) or Urdos (Somport) in
the Pyrenees. In Spain the road starts in
Somport (via Tolosana) and in
Roncesvalles (Navarra).
-A Vía da Prata (The Southeast Way):
(from the Roman age): used by pilgrims
from the centre and the south of the
peninsula. They followed the way named
after the road between Merida and
Astorga and it kept going through the
lands of Ourense to Compostela.
-O Camiño Portugués (The Portuguese
way): used by the pilgrims from the
neighbouring country. It got into Galicia
by southwest.
-O Camiño Inglés (The English way): this
is the one followed by the pilgrims from
María Ceide Cancio
The Primitive Way
This way, whose main origin point is the
city of Oviedo, was the one taken by the
King Alphonse II, the Chaste in 9th
century when the Apostle’s tomb was
discovered. In times of this Asturian king,
news of this discovery that happened in
the Libredon mountain arrived to the
court and he was the first person who
made the Way.
This way was followed by pilgrims from
the north of Spain and Europe; it was a
safe and highly travelled road until the
consolidation of the French Way.
The Asturian road to Compostela was a
relevant alternative, especially because of
the spiritual value that some pilgrims
granted to the relics’ collection of San
Salvador of Oviedo and the cathedal of
Lugo, which exhibits permanently the
Holy Sacrament.
The North and East Ways
87
the north of Europe or UK who arrived at
harbours like A Coruña or Ferrol.
The following are also considered Santiago
routes:
-Ruta do Mar de Arousa e Río Ulla (The
Route of the Sea of Arousa and River
Ulla): it recalls the itinerary through
which, according to tradition, the apostle’s
mortal remains arrived in Galicia by ship.
-Ruta Fisterra-Muxía (The Way of
Fisterra- Muxía): used by certain Middle
Age pilgrims who, after staying in
Santiago, they kept on with their trip to
the western farthest point of the so far
known land.
A general map of these ways can be seen at the
web: goo.gl/maps/rFIii
In Asturias the Primitive Way has the
following stages: Oviedo – Grado – Salas
– Tineo – Borres - Peñaseita (with an
alternative route Borres-Berducedo) - La
Mesa - Grandas de Salime - Alto do Acevo.
The entrance in Galicia is made through
the mountain pass of O Acevo. If we go on
through the spectacular mountain
landscape, the Way soon arrives to the
first Galician village of Fonfría, that was
the site of a hospital belonging to the
encomienda of Saint John of Portomarín.
Not far from Fonfría, after passing
Barbeitos, the traveller comes to the
village of Paradanova, from where the
route divides into two.
The first leads directly to A Fonsagrada
and it soon arrives to the town of
Montouto; the second route takes the
pilgrim from Paradanova to A Pobra de
Burón where the pilgrim heads towards
Xestoso and the nearby hospital of
Montouto, where the two routes converge
once again.

From Montouto, the Primitive Way
continues through these lands, famous for
their slate mines, to Paradavella. The Way
then descends towards the town of O
Cádavo, capital of the municipality of
Baleira. It’s the second most important
town the pilgrims will pass through on the
Galician section of the Primitive Way. This
pilgrimage route continues towards the
West across the elevation of A Vaqueriza,
before arriving to Vilabade, that is very
close to Castroverde, the capital of the
same name. After Castroverde the pilgrim
will find many references of the Way. Near
the road we can emphasize the villages
known as Soutomerille, Carballido, Fazai
and Santiago de Castelo that show the
entrance of the Way in the city of Lugo.
The Primitive Way enters the ancient
Lucus Augusti across the neighborhoods
of Castelo and A Chanca. It goes through
the Rato river across a medieval bridge
reconstructed in 1570, follows by the
Carril das Flores and it enters by the Gate
of San Pedro into the Wall (image). From
88
the ancient “Cortiñas de San Román” (now
the Main Square) the pilgrim can go into
the cathedral crossing the north gate. In
the buiding we can point up the Chapel of
Santiago, one of the five absidals chapels
of the 15th century, that is the origin of the
legend that tells that the apostle was and
preached in the city in the 37 B.C. The
same legend attributed the foundation of
the Cathedral to San Capitón, a disciple of
Santiago, that was the first bishop.
Close to San Pedro Gate was Santa
Catarina hospital; other buildings for
pilgrims were the one of S. Bartolomé (for
the poor ones) and the one of S. Miguel in
the Porta Miñá, place by where the pilgrim
left the city.
After leaving Lugo through the “Porta
Miñá” or “Porta do Carme”, the oldest gate
of the wall, the Primitive Way heads
towards the old Roman bridge and the
neighborhood of San Lázaro. On leaving
the city, travellers will pass through
another small town, San Vicente do Burgo,
which was the site of a pilgrim hospital
and has an interesting Baroque church as
well as the mysterious temple of Santalla
de Bóveda, standing just three kilometres
off the Way.
Back on the Jacobean route, the traveller
soon reaches the village of Bacurín and its
Romanesque church consecrated to Saint
Michael. Later, the Way enters the
municipality of Guntín. From here, the
Way follows ancient paths that are still
very used and connect an endless number
of small rural villages. The route enters the
province of A Coruña through the council
of Toques. It then goes to the historic
pilgrimage town of Melide. The Primitive
Way ends in this town, where it joins up
with the French Way. Then we arrive to
Arzúa, known for its cheese.
A Rúa is the last village before arriving to
Santiago. In this municipality the pilgim
reaches the town of Lavacolla. After
leaving this village, the Way approaches

the Monte do Gozo, from which the
pilgrim was able to see the towers of the
Cathedral of Santiago in the distance.
The French Way
The French Way is the most traditional of
all the pilgrims’ ways to Santiago and the
best known internationally.
The French Way begins in Roncesvalles
and goes by the north of the Iberian
Peninsula to Santiago. In France it has
four main routes described in the “Codex
Calixtinus”. Three of these routes (París-
Tours, Vézelay-Limoges, and Le Puy-
Conques) go in Spain after crossing the
Pyrenees through Roncesvalles, in
Navarra, while the fourth route (Arlés-
Toulouse) crosses the border over the
Somport pass and continues on to Jaca, in
the region of Aragón. The Roncesvalles
route, which goes through the city of
Pamplona, joins the Aragonese route in
Puente la Reina (Navarra).
From Puente la Reina onwards, the
French Way follows a single route passing
through some important cities and towns
in the north of Spain such as Estella,
Logroño, Santo Domingo de la Calzada,
Burgos, Castrojeriz, Frómista, Carrión de
los Condes, Sahagún, León, Astorga,
Ponferrada and Villafranca del Bierzo.
The French Way comes into Galicia after
leaving Ferrerías, across the places called
La Faba and Laguna de Castilla, until it
reaches the mountain pass of O Cebreiro,
located in the province of Lugo. From
here, continuing through the mountains,
we arrive to Hospital da Condesa (image,
church of Liñares, between O Cebreiro and
Hospital). From the mountain pass of O
Poio the route begins a gentle descent
towards Fonfría, and it arrives to the
village called Triacastela, after crossing
villages such as O Biduedo, Fillobal,
Pasantes and Ramil.
89
On leaving Triacastela the Way forks. It is
possible to continue directly on to Sarria,
passing through a succession of old
villages with a long-standing pilgrimage
tradition -A Balsa, San Xil, Montán,
Pintín, Calvor and San Mamede do
Camiño- and a rural landscape with
unusual examples of local flora. Other
pilgrims, however, prefer to head south.
The stretch leading to the town of Samos
offers not only the opportunity to admire
the ancient monastery, but also the
spectacular landscapes bathed by the
Sarria river and villages such as San
Cristovo, Renche and San Martiño.
The pilgrim leaves Sarria by crossing the
old bridge of A Áspera, on the way to the
church of Santiago de Barbadelo.
Travelling through a continuous mass of
trees, meadows, and farmlands, the Way
enters in the municipality of Paradela.
Near the village of Ferreiros we can find
the Romanesque Church of Santa María.
In an opened and nice landscape, the
route goes down towards the banks of the

Miño river, where for the first and only
time on the French Way in Galicia the
traveller can catch a glimpse of vineyards.
To access to the town of Portomarín it is
necessary to cross the bridge built in the
early 1960’s over the Belesar reservoir.
When the water levels let, in the distance
it is possible to see the arches –still intact-
of the old bridge over the Miño river. Also
visible are the ruins of the old town of
Portomarín.
Passing through the village of Gonzar, the
Way continues on to Castromaior. Just a
short distance away, the Way enters the
municipality of Palas de Rei passing near
the church of Vilar de Donas. The
Ligonde-Palas de Rei strecht was under
the protection of the knights of the Order
of Saint James.
The next town on the Way is Palas de Rei,
whose name comes from a supposed royal
palace built in the surrounding area.
The French Way leaves Palas de Rei and
heads towards Campo dos Romeiros, a
tradicional meeting point for pilgrims.
Takink a small detour, the traveller arrives
to the fortress of Pambre.
Back on the route, the Way now enters the
province of A Coruña, heading towards the
village of Leboreiro. Between Leboreiro
and Melide, one of the most beautiful
stretches along the Way, the traveller
crosses over the village of Furelos.
In Melide, considered the geographical
heart of Galicia, the French Way becomes
an urban route and it receives the pilgrims
of the primitive Way.
The next stops along the Way after Melide
are Boente, with its church of Santiago,
and Castañeda. Farther on, the pilgrim
crosses the Iso river over a small medieval
bridge which leads to another important
centre of assistance: the hospital of
Ribadiso.
In the city of Arzúa the French Way
converges with the North Way. In Arzúa
the native Galician vegetation, which is
90
omnipresent, becomes less prominent.
This section of the Way takes the traveller
inland passing through meadows, oaks
and eucalyptus trees that surround the
small villages, some of which have names
that echo their historical connections with
the pilgrims’ way: Calzada, Calle,
Ferreiros, A Salceda, A Brea, Santa Irene
and A Rúa, located at the gates of Arca, the
last one before Santiago.
Once in the municipality of Santiago the
pilgrim reaches the town of A Lavacolla.
Here the pilgrims of yesterday, keeping a
traditional hygienic habit, washed their
bodies in the river. Near Lavacolla is the
Monte do Gozo.
The North Way
This is a medieval route that takes
pilgrims to the sanctuaries of Oviedo and
Santiago de Compostela. These pilgrims
came on foot from France, or by sea from
Atlantic nations. Then they walked
towards the sanctuary of San Salvador of
Oviedo and the cathedral of Santiago.
In Galicia this way comes from Ribadeo to
Santiago. The town of Ribadeo is one of
the most important strategic and tourist
enclaves on the northern coast and has
long-standing connections with the
Pilgrims’ Way to Santiago. Its noble past
has left a considerable number of
architectual and historical monuments
dating from both the late Middle Ages and
the Modern Era. One of the most
outstanding monuments is the parish
church of Santa María do Campo.
The route out of Ribadeo follows “the
Ancient Road of Lourenzá”. On leaving
this coastal town, the route leads us to
Ove, which still preserves a stretch of the
medieval way, and then heads towards the
parish of Covelas, passing through the
villages of Valín and Pastoriza.
The North Way then heads towards Vilela,
passing not far from Cedofeita and

continues on to Lourenzá, going through a
number of small places that are rich in
history and tradition.
On the stretch from Ribadeo to Vilanova
de Lourenzá there is an alternative route,
which was used by a large numbers of
pilgrims to Santiago during the history. It
is the route that travels across the
lowlands of the river Eo through the
regions of Asturias and Galicia, passing
the Asturian municipalities of Castropol,
Vegadeo and Santiago de Abres and the
municipality of Trabada in the province of
Lugo. The Way runs through the valley,
passing through the villages of As
Lóngaras, O Porto do Malle, San Esteban
and Trapa, where it joins up with the
ancient Lourenzá Road before reaching
the chapel of San Marcos da Cadeira, just
outside Vilanova de Lourenzá.
After leaving Vilanova de Lourenzá, the
ancient pilgrimage route crosses the valley
of Lourenzá and passes through the small
villages of Arroxo, Ogrobe, San Pedro da
Torre, Reguengo and San Paio. The
pilgrim can visit interesting chapels, like
the one consecrated
to the Virgin Mary
of Guadalupe, in
Ogrobe. Along this
stretch, the North
Way continues to
follow the medieval
“brea”, a route from
Asturias that takes
the traveller
towards Lugo and Parga, entering
Mondoñedo through the San Lázaro
neighborhood, passing the chapel of the
same name.
The city of Mondoñedo is one of the
Galician Episcopal Sees and its wealth of
historical and cultural treasures makes it
one of the most fascinating cities in
Galicia.
This late medieval route leaves
Mondoñedo across Fonte Vella and
91
Rigueira streets and continues uphill
towards the small towns of San Caetano
via Valiñadares and Maariz
The medieval way follows its way through
the valley washed by the Valiñadares river,
passing through the villages of Valiña,
Pacios and Lousada. It then continues to
Gontán, before reaching the town of
Abadín.
From Abadín, the Way travels through the
Terra Chá area crossing the parishes of
Castromaior and Goiriz. It first arrives to
Ponterroxal, then crosses the Arnela River
over a medieval bridge, reaching
Castromaior and then goes over the
magnificent medieval bridge of Pontevella.
The Way continues through Santiago de
Goiriz and As Chouzas, before coming to
Vilalba, in the heart of the Terra Chá.
From Vilalba, the Way continues on to
Baamonde and Sobrado dos Monxes,
connecting up with several royal ways that
were well-documented in the 17th century,
and that probably were used in the
Middle-Age (image, medieval bridge of S.
Alberte, between Baamonde and Sobrado).
After leaving the hospitality and the safety
of Sobrado, the route continues on
through the villages of Vilarchao, Peruxil
and Carelle, where the pilgrim can visit the
church of San Lourenzo de Carelle. It then
reaches Corredoiras and goes over
crossroads before heading towards
Boimorto.
The Northern Way finally meets up with
the French Way in the town of Arzúa.

Neftalí Platas García
The Southeast Way: Vía da Prata
This is the longest of all the ways in
Galicia. It crosses nature reserves of great
beauty, with a wealth of cultural and
ecological heritage. Due to its length, this
itinerary offers alternatives and a number
of accesses into Galicia from Northeast
Portugal and through the basin of the Sil
river that come together in the city of
Ourense. The Southeast Way is an
extension of the Roman road known with
the same name, which connected Emerita
Augusta (Mérida) with Asturica Augusta
(Astorga).
We’ll begin the explanation of the different
alternatives of the Southeast way with the
small section A Canda - A Gudiña where
we can enjoy very beautiful landscapes
and the churches dedicated to Santa María
da Cabeza and San Martiño.
The next section is the one from A Gudiña
to Laza. Leaving behind A Gudiña we can
travel across the spectacular landscapes of
A Serra Seca. The mountain range finishes
in the parish of Santiago de Campo
Becerros. We can deviate from the route in
A Mourisca to visit the Marian Shrine of
Pena Tallada and after that we can climb
to the summit of the Serra de San Mamede
to see the Cistercian monastery of
Montederramo (16-17th centuries).
The next important stop is the Marian
shrine of Os Milagres de Monte Medo
(next image).
After crossing Eiras we go into the town of
Laza and there we link with the pilgrimage
route from Chaves (Portugal) and pass
through Feces de Abaixo. Laza is famous
for its popular carnival festivities and for
the church of San Xoán de Laza (1701).
The South Ways
92
Once in the municipality of Verin, the way
continues on to Tamaguelos, the city
centre of the town and the Castle of
Monterrei. Later, in Mixós, we can visit
the famous 9th century Pre-romanesque
church.
The following section we are going to talk
about is Laza - Vilar do Barrio - Xunqueira
de Ambía.
The first stop in this part should be the
parish church of A Albergaría from the
17th century. In the village of Santa María
de Bóveda we found the stately home of
the Marquis of Bóveda de Limia, knight of
Santiago and a chapel founded by this
nobleman.
Xunqueira de Ambía is one of the high
points along the Southeast Way. It is, in
fact, a spiritual centre dating back to
medieval times. There is a splendid
Romanesque church, a cloister with
attached outbuildings and, in the past, the

complex had a pilgrim hospital. When it
was first built (9th century) it housed both
monks and nuns. The Romanesque church
of Xunqueira de Ambía was begun in 1164.
Adjacent to the church it was built in the
16th century a splendid cloister in the late
Gothic style and with Portuguese
influence.
In the section from Xunqueira de Ambía
to Ourense we found the chapel of A Virxe
do Camiño, the church of Santa Mariña de
Augas Santas (taking a deviation) and the
church of San Mamede de Cantoña. We
should point up the place called Vilanova
with houses that bear coats of arms with
the crosses of military orders and the
scallop shells of Saint James.
Other alternative route is A Gudiña –
Verín - Monterrei.
On leaving A Gudiña and crossing
different small villages we arrive to As
Vendas da Barreira, where we can visit the
chapel of San Mauro.
The town of Verin is a crossroads for
several pilgrim’s ways. It boasts a Baroque
church belonging to the convent, several
manor houses of interest, namely the
“Casa do Asistente”, that today has been
converted into a pilgrim’s hostel.
The way continues on to Monterrei, with
the Fortress that dominates the area. This
castle still preserves its medieval walls, the
13th century church, the 15th century keep
and the 16th century Count’s Palace.
The following section goes from Monterrei
to Ourense crossing the villages of
Trasmirás, Xinzo de Limia and Allariz.
Leaving Monterrei behind and after
crossing some villages we reach Xinzo de
Limia whose church of Santa Maria has a
column with a capital bearing a scallop
shell. The way continues on to Vilar de
Sandiás where we can point up the parish
church of Santo Estevo (16th century).
Penedós is located in a place of great
93
natural beauty and there we can visit the
Romanesque image of the crucified Christ
found in its church.
In the town of Allariz we should point up
the Romanesque churches of San Pedro,
Santiago, Santo Estevo and San Xoán de
Vilanova. The pilgrim continues on to
Augas Santas where we can visit the
hillfort of Armeá and the church of Santa
Mariña. The way, before going into
Ourense city centre, crosses San Breixo de
Seixalbo where we can find an interesting
Baroque church, a medieval chapel and a
wayside cross (“cruceiro”).
The way takes the pilgrim into the city
centre of Ourense to visit the cathedral
and its chapel of the Holy Christ, the
fountain of As Burgas, the streets, squares
and the bridges over the Miño river. This
town boasts a considerable historic and
artistic heritage: a Roman bridge (1st
century), the convent church of San
Francisco and its 14th century cloister, the
church of A Trindade (16th century),
manor houses built between the 16th and
18th centuries, Baroque churches with
excellent alterpieces and sculptures and
the group of buildings belonging to the
cathedral with its Romanesque church
(12th century). Different ways to arrive to
Santiago join in this city.
Ourense, in the way that takes us to Cea,
we found a manor house-castle near the
place called Sobreira. After crossing the
picturesque villages of Faramontaos,
Biduedo and Casas Novas we arrive to San
Cristovo de Cea, that boasts a noteworthy
ethnographic group of traditional houses,
community ovens, raised granaries and
sheds; from medieval times we can find in
the vicinity of the village the Romanesque
church of San Facundo built after 1206.
On leaving Cea we can deviate a little bit to
visit the monastery of Oseira, a Cistercian
monastery traditionally known for its
hospitality to pilgrims. Worthy of noting is
its 12th century church, one of the best

examples of Galician Romanesque style.
After this visit we can rejoin the route
until Castro de Dozón and the nearby
village called Mosteiro with its monastery
church of San Pedro de Vilanova de Dozón
(12th century). The way reaches the hillock
of San Domingos where we can find a
chapel dedicated to this saint.
The city of Lalín still conserves
the Romanesque church of San
Martiño that was part of a
monastery founded in the 10th
century. In the way to Silleda
we can stop to visit the
Romanesque churches of
Fiestras and Ansemil. In the
village we can take a detour to
see the sanctuary of A Saleta
and the ruins of the monastery
of Carboeiro.
In the final section of the way
(Silleda-Santiago) we should
visit the church dedicated to
San Cibrao in Chapa, the
ancient hillfort and the chapel
of Santa Mariña in Castrovite
and the Romanesque church of
Santa María de Loimil. In the
parish called Santo Estevo de Oca we can
stop to see the “Pazo de Oca” (manor
house) with its harmonious architectural,
ponds and gardens. In Ponte Ulla we can
point up the Romanesque church and
some manor houses. Near the elevation
called Pico Sacro, with very good views, we
can see the chapel of San Sebastián (10th
century).
Leaving Rubial and Deseiro de Arriba, the
way reaches the municipality of Santiago.
The Portuguese Way
The pilgrimage from Portugal to Santiago
has been existed from the Late Middle
Ages.
Tui, in the Galician bank of the Miño river,
may be considered the starting point of
94
this way (image, view of Valença
(Portugal) from Tui). Here we should visit
the old part of the city, specially the
cathedral of Santa Maria, the Diocesan
Museum of Tui-Vigo, the Convent “das
encerradas”, the church of San Domingos
and the Romanesque church of San
Bartolomé de Rebordáns.
In the section from Tui to Redondela we
will find some interesting places like the
chapel of the Virxe do Camiño, a bridge
known as the “Ponte das Febres”, the
chapel A Virxe da Guía and the chapel of
Santiaguiño de Antas.
In Redondela we should visit the church of
Santiago, with a beautiful star-shaped
ceiling. Going out the village we’ll find the
chapel of As Angustias or Santa Mariña
and then, after crossing a forest, we arrive
to the historic site of Ponte Sampaio,
where, during the War of Independence,
the army of Napoleon suffered one of its
greatest defeats in Galicia at the hands of
the armed populace.
After crossing the places called Balteiro, A
Carballa and Lusquiños we arrive to the
town of Pontevedra. It’s a city of 80,000
inhabitants where we should visit

monuments like the Sanctuary of the Virxe
Peregrina (18th century), the ruins of the
Convent of San Domingos (14-15th
centuries), the Museum of Pontevedra
(this visit is a must for the pilgrim), the
Basilica of Santa María a Grande and the
convent church of San Francisco (14th
century). In this last church there are
several tombs of members of the local
nobility dating from the Early Middle
Ages. One of the most important is the one
of Paio Gómez Chariño, one eminent poet
of the 13th century, that make a reference
in one of his poems to the Apostle Saint
James:
Ai, Sant’Iago, padrom sabido
vós mi adugades o meu amigo!
sobre mar vem quem frores d’amor tem:
mirarei, madre, as torres de Geen.
Ai, Sant’Iago, padrom provado
vós mi adugades o meu amado!
sobre mar vem quem frores d’amor tem:
mirarei, madre, as torres de Geen
From Pontevedra we go to the north. The
first place of interest is the church and
rectory of Santa María. From Ponte
Balbón the route travels along smoothly.
Also of note along this stretch is the
church of San Martín de Agudelo (13th
century).
The lovely village of Tibo, with its
fountain, stone cross and public washing
Neftalí Platas García
The Way of Fisterra-Muxía
The pilgrimage usually finishes in the city
of Santiago de Compostela, but many
people, continuing an old tradition, are
not satisfied with this and they continue
on towards Fisterra and Muxía, in the
“Costa da Morte”, the most western end of
The West Ways to Santiago
95
place brings the pilgrim to Caldas de Reis.
Here we found the interesting church of
Santa María de Caldas (13th century) and,
in the old town, the church of Saint
Thomas Becket, the only Galician church
consecrated to the Holy Archbishop of
Canterbury and the great Chancellor of
England, assassinated in his cathedral by
the royal attendants of King Henry II of
England. Later we will find the Bermaña
Bridge, an enchanting medieval structure.
The Way makes its way gently uphill until
it reaches the group of buildings of Santa
Mariña de Carracedo. In Ponte Cesures we
find a medieval bridge. After crossing it we
go until Padrón , the most important town
we find until reaching Santiago. Here we
should point up the church of Santiago de
Padrón, the Convent of O Carme and, at
the foot of this building, the fountain with
the same name. Other interesting
monument is the Baroque palace of the
Bishop of Quito.
Going out the town the Way comes to the
Collegiate Church of Iria, surrounded by
the cemetery of Adina.
In the last section of the Way we can visit
the Marian Sanctuary of A Escravitude,
the picturesque village of Angueira de
Suso. In the forest close to Rúa de Francos
we will find the mysterious, abandoned
ruins of the hillfort Castro Lupario.
Galicia which was thought to be the most
western end of the world in the past. It
was a place connected with many pagan
believes and ceremonies.
We are going to talk about the most
important places in this route. In Ames
there is a small bridge from medieval
times and the Baroque church of
Trasmonte. Later we’ll find Ponte Maceira
(image next page).

The way from Negreira to Hospital take us
along high plateau areas from where we
can see Negreira and Mazaricos. One of
the most important characteristics of this
section is the popular architecture
represented by “hórreos” (raised granary):
buildings to preserve farming products.
If we climb up to Monte Aro we can see
the beautiful landscape of the area called
“Terra de Xallas”. After crossing Ponte
Olveira from the 16th century we can see
more examples of popular architecture.
From Hospital the way bifurcates and the
pilgrim should decide to go either to
Fisterra or to Muxía.
If our decission is to go to Fisterra in the
way we’ll see the Sanctuary of Nosa Señora
das Neves with a “saint fountain” and the
hermitage of San Pedro Mártir with other
fountain to cure illnesses miraculously.
Cee is the first town where the pilgrim
arrives. Here we should point up O Pazo
de Cotón (a beautiful manor house), the
building of the Fernando Blanco
Foundation (from the 19th century) and
the Gothic church of Xunqueira.
Near Cee is the village called Corcubión,
whose old part has been declared a
historical heritage site, and where the
pilgrim can visit the Gothic church of San
Marcos.
When we arrive to Fisterra we should stop
to visit the Church of Santa María das
96
Areas and the Baroque chapel of Santo
Cristo. It’s very important to reach the
lighthouse of Fisterra to see the immensity
of the sea and the sunset.
The way from Fisterra to Muxía crosses
villages, fields dedicated to agriculture and
forests, all of them near the sea. In this
area we can find many different kind of
birds. We should also point up that in this
route we’ll find many examples of
traditional rural architecture and very
beautiful churches.
Before arriving to Muxía we should climb
to a hill to have a wide view of the area.
Punta da Barca is the last part of the way.
Here we should visit “a Pedra dos Cadrís”
(the legend tells that this stone is the ship
used by the Virgin when she came to help
Saint-James) and the church of Santa
María de Muxía.
If we choose the route from Hospital to
Muxía, in San Martin de Ozón we should
point up one of the biggest raised granary
in Galicia and the remainders of the
monastery of San Xulián de Moraime: a
Romanesque church with three naves and
Gothic pictures.

The Route of the Sea of Arousa and
River Ulla
This marine-fluvial route through the Ría
de Arousa and the river Ulla
commemorates the arrival in Galicia, by
sea, of the body of Apostle James the
Major, after his martyrdom in Jerusalem.
Ancient Christian traditions tell that after
his martyrdom, some disciples of Saint
James gathered his decapitated body and
moved it across the whole Mediterranean
and the Athlantic Iberian coast up to Iria
Flavia, in the proximities of the current
village of Padrón.
The annual commemoration of the
“Translatio” across the Ría de Arousa
takes place at the end of July or beginning
of August with some adorned ships and
many people.
In the coasts of the Ría de Arousa we can
enjoy beautiful landscapes rich in cultural
heritage. On both sides we can see
beaches, coves, capes and creeks and, at
the same time, industrial and fishing
villages and places dedicated to wine
production and cattle raising.
This way has some different routes. If we
begin at the South we can visit the small
village called Sanxenxo with important
monuments from Roman times and from
Medieval centuries. Here we should point
up the beach called A Lanzada and, to the
west, the Ons and Onza Islands, declared
as natural space.
The O Grove peninsula and A Toxa isle are
two of the most well-known tourist places
of the area.
In the west part of O Barbanza peninsula
we found the village called Ribeira,
populated since ancient times as we can
learn because of the megalithic
remainders (Dolmen of Axeitos) and
“castrexos”.
The small town called A Pobra do
Caramiñal shelters an important cultural
and historical heritage with churches and
97
manor houses like the Tower of
Xunqueiras (15th century), the Tower
Bermudez (16th century), the Big House of
Aguiar (18th century), the Manor House of
Coton (18th century) and the churches
Santa María a Antiga do Caramiñal (16th
century) and Santiago da Pobra de Deán
(Gothic church from the 15th century,
image by Antonio Alba).
In the eastern part of the Barbanza
Peninsula we found the village called
Meaño with its parish church of Simes. If
we go to the north we’ll arrive to
Cambados, with a very important artistic
heritage where we should point up the
square of Fefiñáns, a fantastic place from
the 17th century, the church of San Bieito
de Fefiñans, the House-Museum of the
poet Ramón Cabanillas, some manor
houses from the 17-18th centuries and
other churches like Santa Mariña Dozo.

The following important stop is Vilanova
de Arousa where we can visit some manor
houses and the House of Valle Inclán, an
important Spanish writer who was born in
the village.
A bridge joins Vilanova de Arousa and the
Isle of Arousa. This last one is a very
important place from the ecological point
of view, very well preserved in the natural
park of Carreirón.
The next important town is Vilagarcía de
Arousa, where we can visit the church of
San Martiño de Sobrán (13th century), the
church of Santiago de Carril (16-17th
centuries) and the manor house-convent
of Vista Alegre (17th century).
In the opposite side of Arousa we can
found some “castrexos” places between
Boiro and Rianxo. One of the most
important Galician writers, Castelao, was
born in this last town where we can point
up the church of Santa Comba (16th
century), the church of Santa María de
Leiro (17th century) and the Baroque
sanctuary of the Virxe de Guadalupe.
After crossing Bamio with its petroglyphs
from the Bronze Age we arrive to Catoira,
a small town that was assaulted by the
Vikings many times during the Medieval
Age and, later, by the Almoravid pirates.
The Towers of West, the chapel of the
castle, the Cross of the King Afonso III are
the remains of those times.
At the east side of the Ría de Arousa, in
Valga, we find some Romanesque
churches from the 12th century. In Dodro,
at the west side, we can see the Baroque
parish church of Santa María, manor
houses like the ones called Pazo da Ermida
(17th century) and Pazo de Lestrove (18th
century).
From here this way joins the Portuguese
Way.
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The English Way
The pilgrimage way to Compostela
enjoyed widespread fame throughout
medieval Europe. In fact, land and sea
alike were furrowed with routes rich in
spirituality leading to Compostela.
Pilgrims from Scandinavia, Flanders,
England, Scotland and Ireland employed
the ways of the sea to arrive to Ribadeo,
Viveiro, Ferrol or A Coruña. These two
cities, due to their strategic location, are
the starting points of the two alternatives
of the English Way.
The pilgrimages from Scandinavia and the
British Islands began in the 12th century.
Signals of this are the ceramic pieces and
English coins and also the offerings made
to the apostle (the most outstanding is the
famous portable alabaster altarpiece
which was donated in 1456 to the
cathedral of Santiago de Compostela).
We can begin the English Way in Ferrol or
in A Coruña. Both ways are different until
the small town of Bruma.
Starting in Ferrol, the English Way begins
at the docks of Curuxeiras, in the suburb
that occupies the site of the medieval port.
Leaving the Paseo da Mariña behind, the
route takes to the church of San Francisco.
One of the most significant buildings as far
as the pilgrimages are concerned is the
Hospital da Caridade (today a Cultural
Centre), built in 1780 to help the sick, the
poor and the pilgrims. The most important
church is the Concathedral of S. Xián, the
church of Virxe das Dores on the Amboage
Square and the church of As Angustias. In
the way from Ferrol to Neda we find the
monastery of San Martiño of Xubia (image
next page).
In Neda, we can visit the church of Santa
María and the pilgrims hospital, the
remains of which are affixed to the Town
Hall. The Way takes us down Rúa Real,
flanked by the arcades of the buildings

dating from the 17th and 18th centuries to
the church of San Nicolás (14th century).
We leave Neda and go through Fene and O
Val to arrive to Cabanas where we find the
church of San Martiño do Porto and the
Madalena beach.
In Pontedeume we can visit the convent of
Santo Agostiño, the chapel of As Virtudes,
the Keep of the Andrade castle (14th
century), the church of Santiago (18th
century) and the Tower Hall, afixed to the
Ulloa Tower (17th century).
After leaving Pontedeume we can take the
turn-off to visit the Romanesque church of
San Miguel of Breamo (late 12th century).
The way takes pilgrims to Barro, As
Pedridas, Cermuzo, A Xesta, Buiña
passing through the villages of Viadeiro
and Bañobre.
After leaving the small town of Miño we
will see a bridge (“Ponte do Porco” from
the 14th century). In the way to Betanzos
we can visit the Pazo of Montecelo, the
church of San Pantaleón das Viñas, the
Romanesque church of San Martiño de
Tiobre and the Renaissance Sanctuary of
Nosa Señora do Camiño.
Betanzos offers one of the most interesting
groups of historical and artistic buildings
99
in Galicia. The most outstanding civil
buildings are the Bendaña Palace (15-18th
centuries) and the Town Hall (18th
century). The Gothic churches of this
small city are very interesting: the Church
of Santiago (15th century), the Convent of
San Francisco (14th centuty) and
the church of Santa María do
Azougue (14th century).
In García Naveira brothers' square
we can find the fountain of Diana,
the church of San Domingos (17th
century) and its Baroque bell tower,
the Archives of the Kingdom of
Galicia and the Municipal Library
(17th century).
In the way to Bruma we can enjoy a
calm trip and find the churches of
San Estevo de Cos and Santiago de
Meangos.
Another route to arrive to Bruma
begins in A Coruña. This city has
many interesting places like the Tower of
Hercules (2nd century), the Castle of San
Antón, the maritime walk ...
Our itinerary begins at the Church of
Santiago (12-13th centuries), continues to
the Porta Real, not far from María Pita
square and from here to Avenida da
Mariña, with its arcades and emblematic
verandas (19th century).
The way we should go until Bruma is very
quiet. We can visit the Romanesque
church of Santiago de Sigrás, the church of
Saint María de Cambre and the Manor
House of Anceis (17th century). We go out
of the small town until Sigüeiro; on the
way we can stop to visit the churches of
San Paio de Buscas and San Xián de
Poulo. Sigüeiro is a small town of medieval
origin (12th century). After crossing the
Medieval Sigüeiro bridge over the River
Tambre the pilgrim will be in the
municipality of Santiago.

The Science of Al-Andalus
100

Mª Luisa Freire Lodeiro
The Arabs in their policy of expansionism,
arrived in Tunisia converting many
Berbers to Islam, and entered in Morocco
in 700 eliminating all resistance and
establishing their sovereignty.
They came to the peninsula due to the fact
of the wealth reports given by the exile
Jewish, but mainly because the kingdom
of Visigothic was involved in a civil war
between two sides, those who supported
Rodrigo against the supporters of Vitiza’s
son, who asked help to Muslims. This was
the reason why Muza, governor of
Morocco, sent an army into the hands of
Tariq to cross the strait. After the battle in
the river Guadalete, and after beating
Rodrigo, they would begin its rapid
expansion. Only 40 years later, the
Muslims had dominated the peninsula.
The reasons of their quick expansionism
were the superior military power of the
Muslims against the Visigoths. They found
resistance only in the areas where Rodrigo
was supported. The rest of the Visigoth
nobles decided to capitulate or agree their
submission, which meant that they had to
pay high taxes, to maintain their property
and authority. On the other hand, there
were also Visigoths that fled to the north,
leaving their lands. When the Muslims
arrived, they found land for enjoyment, as
a result many of them changed their style
life, from military class to a landlord class.
The existence of the old Roman roads also
allowed its rapid expansion and control of
communications. Muslims were in a hurry
to get to Toledo, which was the Visigothic
capital, where they hoped to find the
treasures of the Gothic kings.
These new conquerors made an attempt to
follow their path through the North trying
to invade France, but they found a great
The Birth of Al-Andalus
101
resistance with Charlemagne, who
defeated them on several occasions, and
even took some of the territory of the
peninsula from them, creating the
Hispanic Mark. The weather factor was
also important as these Muslims were
used to a hot, dry weather, and they found
a harsh, long winter, so they had to put up
with the peninsula.
Contact with the population was done
without complications. In fact a feature of
the al-Andalus society would be its ethnic
variety, consisted of Arabs, Berbers,
Muladís, Mozarabic, Jews, Slavs and
Hispanicgoths.
When sharing out the land the Muslims
occupied the most fertile lands of the
valley of the Guadalquivir and Ebro to
Arabs, and the plateau area and north of
the peninsula to the Berbers, who worked
as shepherds, while the Arabs occupied
positions of power. These social and
economic differences in time would bring
problems. The Berbers rebelled in 741,
who abandoned the North to escape to the
South. This fact made the resistance easier
for Christian groups who were in the
north, to recover land, making a larger
border in dispute with Muslims.
In areas dominated by Muslims, they were
more leaning to strengthen the cities,
rather than the rural settlement, typical of
the Visigothic period, and northern Spain.
As years passed there will be population
movements, from the villages to the cities.
It was due to the arrival of new Berbers, a
release of many slaves, and to the same
Mozarabic population, that felt attraction
to the Arab culture and its customs.
This new appreciation for the cities meant
that they had to extend the old cities and
build new ones. This fact also contributed
to the growth of a strong economy, thanks

to the monopoly that the Arabs had with
gold and the agricultural technical
improvements. This brought a major
production that would be sold in the
market together with crafts, and an
increase in the services sector.
With the Umayyad monarchy rural life
still existed, but there was also a
recuperation in the industry and trade,
and the need to supply the needs of urban
life. All this increased consumption. It
caused the breakdown of self-sufficiency
economy Visigoth, which changed to an
economy directed for cities. All this
marked a sharp contrast between the
Christian world (which kept on with a
rural economy) and the Muslim world,
that lived an urban and comercial
renaissance.
This flowering of cities would enable
minted coins, gold dinars and silver
dirhemes in addition to the bronze feluses.
It also appeared textile industry skilled,
dedicated to cater the needs of citizens
dress, and a specialized luxury fabrics
which were concentrated in certain cities
We can differentiate two types of trading,
one inland with a relationship citycountryside
where trade was made in
eventual or permanent markets which
were near the mosque, and the
international trade, that arose in the 9th
century, thanks to the business between
the mainland and the rest of the Muslim
world. But they would also have contact
with the rest of the Muslim world to
obtain luxury items.
The cities were divided into districts,
consisting of people with the same religion
or ethnic group, these areas were really
small cities within the same city. In the
middle of the city there was the mosque,
the main trade and “alcaicería”. The
houses were a refuge, their lives revolved
around patios, the windows overlooking to
outside had lattice, in order to keep their
privacy and because of fear of strangers.
102
Political problems
During the first three centuries, the
Muslim government was characterized by
its continued tensions with the northern
Christian kingdoms, as well as internal
problems of Muslim government. These
internal rivalries weakened their own
power. Then Christians took advantage of
the situation so as to avoid paying their
taxes. This would force the rulers of the
Umayyad to make a major effort to
establish a unified state.
In 756, Abd al-Rahman I, an Umayyad
prince who fled for his life from
Damascus, was proclaimed emir of al-
Andalus, creating an independent Muslim
state politically and militarily, but not
religious. The possession of this title gave
him absolute power. It would be a
centrally manage state. Seven Emirs
followed him and this was a period
culturally rich.
But this new state will found with
opposition, including the Shiites, that
supported the bereberes, and the Spanish
Muladís. This problem shows us a lack of a
doctrinal uniformity, which meant a
danger to the new regime. Then the emir
would try to impose a single official
doctrine. He had problems with the
Hispanic population, with the Francs with
their continuous incursions into his
territory, and with its own internal
problems too.
To solve it he used the power of the force
that would bring a period of relative peace
with Abd-al-Rahman II, thanks to
economic development and trade. But he
couldn’t get political unity. He would
remain in power through military force.
Stage of the Caliphate of Córdoba
The apparent peace and prosperity that
until then seemed to show the previous
government, disappeared due to the

imposition by the force of privilege on
behalf of the Arab minority, resulting in a
strong social and economic difference to
the Muslim majority Hispanicgoth. The
impossibility of reconciling the interests of
a centralized state with the interests of an
aristocratic minority Arabic, and finally
the economic crisis caused by pestilence
and famine brought up many problems
which lasted 60 years.
The problems with the Spanish Muslims
began at the border, through contact with
the Visigothic tradition and their strong
desire of independence, the Amir had it
difficult to control these outbreaks of
insurrection.
This period was also characterized by
economic recovery, social diversity, thanks
to an emergence of a middle class, and
strengthening the army, all of this
contributed to dominate the political
power of al-Andalus
This strength allowed the Abd al-Rahman
III the borders to extend his control on the
borders not only in the peninsula but also
in Africa. But he had to face a new enemy,
the Fatimid Qayrawan, who claimed his
power because they were direct
descendants of Muhammad, so only them
had divine support. To this new threat he
needed a new strategy Abd-al-RahmanIII
himself proclaimed caliph in 929. In this
way his reign would be completely
independent, because he became the
supreme leader allowing Abd al-Rahman
III to extend his control over political,
military and religious. So between 930 and
980, the Caliphate of Cordoba reached the
height of his power and prestige (image,
the Mosque of Cordoba).
To strengthen his caliphate, Abd al-
Rahman III increased its army
strengthened by new troops which formed
a mixed group that included Slavs, to cope
with the progress of the Northern
Christians who increasingly would wider
their border. As a result he sought a
103
political strategy to control the military
power and eliminate Christians from the
border of the Duero river. In this work we
can highlite an important ruler, Mansur,
who passed to be an administrator to a
dictator (the Caliph during this time was a
figurehead, and the power was in the
hands of Al-Mansur). This strength would
be based on a military power. Thanks to
his victories he could have the control.
These victories also bring some economic
benefits, due to the plundering of the
Christians. However, the lack of unity
among the soldiers, the heavy burden of
maintaining the army, the inequalities, by
the strength of local authorities, kept
threatening centralizing policy.
Mansur was able to maintain power until
his death, and even his son Abd-al Makil
retained it until 1008. But in 1031, the
Caliphate fell, and his power was
fragmented resulting in the appearance of
different Taifa kingdoms.
The year 1008 will mark the end of the
Islamic politics. During the years 1009 to

1090 it was the first period of the Taifa
kingdoms. There were thirty Taifas, and
there are three major groups, the Berbers,
Slavs, dominated by the former army of
Mansur and al-Andalus, which includes all
Arab Muslims and Hispanics, this group
would be the most powerful. All these
different kingdoms would try to preserve
their power and independence, leading to
clashes over again in a continuing civil
war. As a result they would lose power
gradually. To sustain this fragile situation,
they created an army of mercenaries, and
at the same time they built fortresses with
the idea of ensuring some protection.
Because of all this instability, the Muslims
were forced to enter into a pariah regime,
which means that they had to buy the
peace to Christians paying expensive
charges.
But the rapid advance of the Reconquest,
which in 1085 achieved the recovery of
Toledo, made them ask help to the
Almoravids.
Between 1090 and 1145 the period of
domination Almoravids began, whose
state of power was in Morocco. This
condition was characterized by literally
observation of the Koranic text, which in
turn would return to the idea of
expansionism. Although both were
successful at the junction of the Taifa
kingdoms and the conquest of some
104
Christian territories, it wasn’t enough to
maintain their power. And some problems
of the past aroused, because of popular
discontent and opposition, so there were
new uprisings. So between 1144 and 1145
appeared the second Taifa.
With the advance of Christians a new
dynasty arose in the Maghrib, the
Almohad.
The domination of the Almohad meant
greater strength and power of the Berbers.
Its rise was due to dissatisfaction with the
Almoravids, who became very extreme.
However, the lack of popular support, will
make it very difficult for Almohad to rule,
who had problems in defending the
territories that were in Christians power.
This weakness will be seen mainly in the
victory of Las Navas de Tolosa by
Christians in 1212, this was the beginning
of the end of their domain, and thus the
beginning the third Taifa.
These third taifa lasted only for a short
period due to the conquests of Fernando
III of Castile and Jaume I of Aragon.
Eventually they reduced the Islamic
territory to the kingdom of Granada in
1238. This kingdom kept on existing due
to internal problems in Castile, and the
diplomacy of the founder of the Kingdom
of Granada al-Nasr Ibn Alhmar, until the
expulsion of the Moors in 1492 by the the
Catholic Kings (image of the Alhambra).

Scientific and cultural heritage
The Muslim world was a step forward in
literature, art, and even science, through
the establishment of private schools, the
learning of reading and writing, and the
creation of libraries.
In particular this cultural development
was held from 8th century with Abd al-
Rahman II, and kept in different Taifa
kingdoms.
This enlightenment is conducted through
Arabic, although the population of al-
Andalus used mostly Romance languages
(in fact we can find in the 10th century
lyrical compositions), Arabic is the
language of culture. The fact that many
people were converted to Islam, (not by
imposition, they searched economic
benefits, because to accept Islam meant to
be equal and not to have to pay tax),
undoubtedly favoured the new state,
which would now have to seek unity and
the political and ideological consensus. To
do so they would use private schools,
whose main subject would be learning the
Koran and the principles of Islam. For
this, the new members of Islam don’t have
only to know the theory, but also show
that they were walking in the path or
sunna of Muhammad.
That is why the Islamic jurists-theologians
created schools that were guarding the
purity of orthodox religion, and cultural
creations of their own.
Education and knowledge had an
important place in the Muslim kingdom,
in fact the emirs and caliphs themselves
contributed to the promotion of education,
making education accessible to everyone.
For example they ordered to translate the
works of ancient Greek philosophers, and
created important libraries, mosques and
madrassas where to teach science as well
as religion or jurisprudence.
It will be especially during the reign of
Abd al-Rahman II, when the Arabic poetry
105
was fully developed. They found
inspiration from oriental literature. But in
the 10th Century a new kind of folk poetry
would emerge, the muwassaha and zéjel,
written in vernacular language, and with a
variety of rhymes. The popularity of these
compositions shows us a mixed and
bilingual society.
If we talk about prose, we can say that it
had a prominent place in their
philosophical thought.
The most influential philosopher was
Averroes. Also the historical, geographic
work would have a great importance.
We cannot forget the contribution that
Islam made to science, which caused a
revolution in the knowledge. These
scholars were mathematicians,
astronomers, physicians, botanists,
agronomists, etc. The most prosperous
science would be mathematics and
astronomy. We owe to Muslims the Arabic
numbering system and trigonometry.
We have several prominent scientists as
Ibn Taimiya, specializes in astronomy and
medicine. Averroes and the brothers
Harami, who practiced medicine in the
reign of al-Hakam II, and the agronomist
Ibn a-Awan, who wrote a treatise on
agriculture. All these men of science
influenced Europe at their time and even
after. Until the 17th century, they were the
models of other important men in science
like Miguel Servet, Copernicus and Galileo
Architecture
In the architectural styles, we must
emphasize the great influence of other
cultures as Persian, Chinese or Visigoth in
Islamic art, but certainly the decorative
motifs and structures have their own
Muslim origin. Proof of this is the rather
ornate decoration of floral and geometric
figures. In this art we won’t find
representations of human figures or
animals because of religious reasons. The

great use of this decoration camouflages
the structures. Another architectural
feature is the stalactite, which will consist
of alveoli overlayed.
The most emblematic buildings of the
Muslim culture were the mosques,
religious places. They possessed a minaret
from which they were called to pray, and a
courtyard where the ablution fountain is.
The mosques are always oriented to
Mecca. We also find mausoleums where
kings were buried.
Other buildings of note are the madrasas,
buildings and school.
In cities we find the fortresses, which were
fortifications built to defend the cities.
And talking about residential architecture
we can’t forget the Alhambra, named for
its reddish appearance. This beautiful
palace, built around the 9th century in
Granada, didn’t have its brilliance up to
the 13th Century with the reign of
Mohamed Ben-al-Hamar. On the other
hand we have the palace of Madinat al-
Zahra, which is about 8 km from Cordoba.
Built by order of Abd al-Rahman III to
demonstrate its political superiority and to
compete with other caliphs.
Muslims stood out for his work with gold,
creating beautiful pieces, as well as fabrics
in silk or beautiful bindings of books.
References
-García de Cortázar, J. Historia de España. La
Época Medieval. Alianza Editorial.1985
-García de Cortázar, J. A. , Sesma Muñoz, J. A.
Historia de la Edad Media. Una síntesis
interpretativa. Alianza Editorial. 2001
-www.wikipedia.org
-www.juntadeandalucía.es
-www.historiasiglo20.org
Statue of Maimónides in Cordoba, an al-
Andalus jewish, rabbi, physician and philosopher
106

Luz Mª Martínez Arias
Mª Luisa Freire Lodeiro
MASLAMA
Maslama Ibn Ahmad al-Mayriti was born
in Madrid (Mayriti means “from Madrid”)
and died in Cordoba in 398/1007-1008.
Eminent polygrapher, mathematic and
astronomer, he was one of the most
important scientifics in Cordoba during
the Caliphate and he was a pupil of the
geometer Abd al-Gâfir ibn Muhammad1.
His scientific work was linked to the
palace-residence of Madinat al-Zahara,
that it was, then, an important center of
knowledge. Theological and koranic
studies were taught in that place and the
scientific knowledge was organized around
two groups: mathematical-astronomical
and physical-botanical-medical. Maslama
was the greatest exponent of the former
and Abulcasis of the latter.
Thus, Maslama ruled the school of
astronomy founded by the caliph al-
Hakam II in the 10th century. He took to
Cordoba a famous encyclopaedia that
contained all the science of those times:
Letters from the Purity Brothers, written
by a political-religious secret society from
Basora and whose evolutives theories had
a great influence from the 10th to 12th
centuries.
Maslama adapted the astronomical tables
of al-Jwarizmi (830)2 to the Cordoba
meridian, and put the “Arin Dome” (center
of the world) in Cordoba, as reference for
all the astrological calculations and
released in the Christian Europe, besides
of adding new tables3. Sa’id al-Andalusi
told like that: “He was interested in the
astronomical table of Muhammad b. Musà
al-Juwarizmi and, changing the era of the
Persian by the one of the Arabs, he fixed in
Scientist of al-Andalus
107
this (table) the average longitudes of the
stars for the beginning of the era of the
Hegira”.
This text, according to Juan Vernet, has
materials Indo-Iranian, Greek-Arabian
and Spanish. “The Spanish material is
represented by the mention of the sofar or
sufr era, that it begins in 38 BC, when,
according to tradition, Romans pacified
and conquered all the Iberian Peninsula”4
This review of the Tables was later
translated by Robert de Chester, who
among others adapted, in the 12th
century, Maslama's tables to London
coordinates and introduced the latin word
sinus into trigonometry. He also turned
the Persian calendar to Arabic dates using
the Hegira for the calculations. It was a
great step for the evolution of the
Andalusian scientific culture. Because of
this adaptation, these tables are often
called “al-Jwarizmi-Maslama tables”.
According to Julio Samsó, it's very difficult
to know from the analysis of the most
preserved text existing (the Latin
translation by Abelard of Bath, 1116-1142),
what part was made by al-Jwarizmi and
what by Maslama and his collaborators.
As it was said, Maslama and his
collaborators had to introduce changes in
the ziy ( al-Jwarizmi-Maslama tables).
According to Hogendijk, Maslama tables
mean an improvement regarding the al-
Jwarizmi's ones because their use is easier
obtaining exact results where al-
Jwarizmi's tables only gave
approximations.
“The work made by Maslama with al-
Jwarizmi ziy must had been substantial
and it involved, on the part of our
astronomer, a notable maturity because he
was able to assimilate the theory laying
under these astronomical tables, to adapt
them to his own geographical-cultural

coordinates and to introduce novelties in
them”5
Maslama was also the author of a treatise
about the astrolabe, an astronomical
instrument whose invention is attributed,
among others, to the Greek Hipparchus ca.
200 BC. It is made of a graven disc with
marks for the degrees, the lines and
circles. A metallic net with points
representing the brilliantest stars rotated
on it to represent the daily movement of
the sky, and at the same time a rotating
bar was used to measure the altitude of the
stars with reference to the horizon.
The astrolabe was the calculation
instrument more used by the astronomers
and the astrologers, allowing to solve
graphically, in an easy way, problems
related to the movement of the Sun and
the fixed stars, so as problems of spherical
astrology.
This treatise about the astrolabe is
preserved in El Escorial Monastery library.
It's a translation into Latin made in Toledo
by Juan Hispalense in the 12th century. In
this treatise, Maslama includes, besides
the uses of the astrolabe, the
topographical Arabic method of the
triangulation, that allows the measure of
altitudes and distances using right
triangles. This method had a quick
dissemination in the North of the
Peninsula, above all in Catalonia, and its
introduction in al-Andalus was one of the
main scientific contributions of Maslama.
According to Julio Samsó, Maslama was
the first Andalusian astronomer whom we
certainly know that made astronomical
observations. So, Azarquiel writes in his
Treatise about the movement of the fixed
stars, that Maslama determined, in
369/979, the celestial longitude of the star
“Qalb al-Asad (Calbalazada)”, nowadays
known as Regulus, in 135º40', with an
error of only 2'. We can find the same
calculation in the table of stars that
enclosed his notes about the Planisphere
108
of Ptolemy but here referred to the year
367/977.
This knowledge will arrive later to the
Christian kingdoms, and was used to built
the first astrolabes there.
He translated the Planisphere of Ptolemy.
Both the Arabic version of Maslama and
the classical are lost, although Maslama's
one gave origin to a Latin translation of
Hermann the Dalmatian (1143), and to
another Hebraic, both known today. This
is a piece with a theorithecal nature in
what Ptolemy studies the basis of the
stereographic projection of a sphere on a
plane and it's the base of the astrolabe
that, besides being an instrument of
observation, it's also an analogical
computer.
Furthermore, Maslama wrote some
comments to the Planisphere of Ptolemy
to add new procedures. Three of them to
divide the ecliptic of the astrolabe; other
three to divide the projection of the
horizon and three more to project in the
astrolabe the fixed stars of the spider (a
part of the astrolabe), using ecliptic,
equatorial and horizontal coordinates.6
Thus, his astronomical work will be used
as basis to the “alfonsies” tables and
astronomy books and his books will have a
great influence over Christian Europe in
his later Latin translations.
He was the author of some books of
practical maths, and he became an
authority in the litigations about partition
of inheritances and valuation of estates.
His Book of Practical Arithmetic is a
summary of commercial transactions. In
his treatises of commercial arithmetics,
Theory about the perfection of the
numeral sciences and Commercial
calculation, he uses algebraic, arithmetic
and geometric operations.
Maslama, besides, wrote books about
magic, witchcraft and alchemy, using
concepts as metals transmutation, elixirs,
combining them with experimental

operations of laboratory, and for the first
time in history, formally organized:
mercury oxidation, etc. In his book The
distinction of the wise man, he gives
instructions to the purification of precious
metals and proved the principle of the
conservation of the mass, rediscovered by
Lavoisier eight centuries later. In this
treatise it's described as well for the first
time the mercuric oxide, a fundamental
substance in the future.
Maslama was also an astrological
counselor of Almanzor, telling him the
best moments for his campaigns and
announcing the falling of the Caliphate, as
it happened. Maslama saw the solar
eclipse in 1004, the coming of a comet in
1006 and he knew about the conjunction
of Jupiter with Saturn in the Virgo sign.
Because of that he deducted that a civil
war would blow up.
He had a lot of pupils interested in maths
and astronomy and he founded a school in
Madrid about those subjects. The later
geographical dissemination of all of them
let us see that the work of Maslama was
spread quickly for al-Andalus and his
school meant the beginning of science as
an organized activity there.
In the mathematical-astronomical culture
of al-Andalus, Maslama means the
beginning of a new stage after the works of
assimilation and translation of the 9th
century and before the splendor stage of
the 11th century. So, until 10th century
only some evidences of an Andalusian
astronomy are found, and with no original
contributions. But this changes radically
with Maslama. He, with his pupils Ibn al-
Saffar and Ibn al Samh, took the
Andalusian astronomy to a comparable
level to the Middle East astronomy. They
kept the news about phenomena from sky,
like sunspots, northern lights, etc. very
clearly.
Most of his works were known in the
Christian world by Latin translations.
109
IBN-AL-SAMH
Abu I-Qasim Asbag Ibn Muhammad b al-
Samh al-Mahri (dead in 1035) was a pupil
of Maslama in Cordoba.
After going from Cordoba to Granada,
under the protection of Habu b. Maksan,
he opened in this city his own school of
maths and astronomy. It was the time of
the “taifas” (kingdoms), in the beginnings
of 11th century, and those kingdoms tried
to imitate the Umayyad of Cordoba, and
that fact would have a positive influence in
the scientific and cultural life of al-
Andalus.
He knew very well Ptolemy's books and he
was famous for his astronomical
observations, even Alfonso X used his
notes and books for his astronomy works.
There are not many references about the
study of the arithmetic and geometry by
Ibn al-Samh. He's the author of some
comments on Euclides' Elements, a
treatise of geometry about the straight,
curved and zigzag lines and about the
nature of the numbers.7
He's also the author of some astronomical
tables based on the Sindhind which are
not preserved8 and the author of a
treatise, today lost, about the building of
an astrolabe, in which Ibn al-Samh used
the right ascension of the mediation of the
star together with its declination.
Besides, he's the author of a treatise, with
130 chapters, about the use of the
astrolabe9, that it is of a great interest, not
only because it's, probably, the most
complete treatise about that topic written
in al-Andalus and in the Christian Spain
during the Middle Ages, but above all
because it treats about some matters not
very common related with this instrument
as the use of astrolabe in relationship with
the Moon (determination of latitude and
longitude, of the degree of the ecliptic, of
the vision of the new Moon, etc.)10

Ibn al-Samh says that these chapters were
written by Hanas, according to Julio
Samsó he would be the Middle East
astronomer Habas al-Hasib, one of the
most important Arab astronomers of the
9th century. So, these quotations of Ibn al-
Samh are the first known evidence of the
spreading in al-Andalus of his works.
The book by Ibn al-Samh was known by
the collaborators of Alfonso X because it's
the source of the book written by him
about the spherical astrolabe, an
instrument of three dimensions. The flat
astrolabe is an instrument of only two
dimensions.
Ibn al-Samh is, also, the author of a
treatise about the building of an
equatorium, Book of the paintings of the
seven planets in 1025.
The equatoria are rares astronomical
instruments used to calculate the
longitude of a planet without calculations.
About the equatoria there are not many
written descriptions and even less models.
It seems that this instrument could be an
al-Andalus invention. So, according Juan
Vernet, all the known equatoria, except
Kasi's one (1416), are European, and the
oldest three are from an al-Andalus
author: Ibn al Samh (1025), Azarquiel
(1100) and Abu Salt (1110). However,
although Ibn al-Samh's equatorium is the
first known, according to Julio Samsó, it
could be from Middle East.11
The equatoria of Ibn al-Samh and
Azarquiel are described in the Books of
the knowledge of the astronomy, Spanish
translation by the translators of the
Alfonso X kingdom, with the title
previously told Book of the paintings of
the seven planets. In it it's shown first Ibn
al-Samh's system (one page for each
planet with an outer circle representing
the ecliptic) and then Azarquiel's one (one
page for all the planets).
It seems that in the translation of the
Alfonsies books about the knowledge of
110
Astronomy, a recopilation of 16 treatises of
books translated from the Arab to Alfonso
X request (made in the second third of
13th century), some mistakes were made
which led to wrong conclusions.
According to Julio Samsó, Ibn al-Samh's
equatorium is an hybrid instrument, an
astrolabe-equatorium. Ibn al-Samh,
besides of describing the equatorium in
detail, gives the numerical parameters in
order to built it derived from Ptolemy's
ones.
AVENZOAR
Abu Marwan Ibn Zuh, Andalusian doctor
and philosopher, born in 1092 in Peñaflor,
near Isbiliya (the Muslim Sevilla) and died
in Sevilla in 1161-1162, was known in the
Medieval Europe with the latinized name
of Avenzoar.
Thus, Avenzoar lived in a convulsed time,
the 12th century, during what two enemy
dinasties ruled alternatively al-Andalus,
the Almoravids and the Almohads.
His ancestors were devoted to the practice
and study of medicine in al-Andalus for
near a century.
At the beginning he had a lucky life near
the court, but, finally he fell from grace
and he was imprisoned in Marrakech, the
Almoravid capital, where he spent more
than 10 years, although he could work as a
doctor. Thanks to these severe conditions
he could study diseases and epidemics
which he didn't know yet. Finally
Avenzoar is released, because of the
capture of Marrakech by the Almohads in
1147. He went to the court of the Almohad
calipha 'Abd al-Mu'min and he was
favored by the Almohad governors until
his death.
Avenzoar came back to Sevilla with the
Almohads in al-Andalus and he worked all
his life teaching and practicing medicine.
He was an original doctor and collected in
his works a big amount of his own

personal experiences. He's one of the most
studied doctors in the Medieval Europe
and he had a considerable influence in the
Renaissance medicine.
Avenzoar didn't totally accept the
prevailing ideas about medicine and he
argued the ideas of Galen (Galenus) and
Avicena. He had very wise ideas about
philosophy, pathology and anatomy in a
time when magic and obscurantism
reigned.
As a doctor, he wrote a lot of books but
only some of them are known today:
The Book of the Middle Course
concerning the Reformation of Souls and
the Bodies, Kitab al-Iqtisad, (presented to
the governor of al-Andalus, Ibrahim ibn
Yusuf, in 1121) is a treatise of general
medicine with seven chapters. It's a
divulgation book and it talks about
diseases, therapies, prophylaxis, hygiene
measures and cosmetic. In it he describes
the body organs, the possible diseases and
their healing. The last part includes topics
as hygiene, perfumes, contraceptives, etc.
So, Julio Samsó tells us about him: ”It's ...
a youth work and it has a divulgative
character and it's, in great part, a cosmetic
treatise (zina), a word that includes all the
knowledge referred to the conservation
and embellishment of the external parts of
the body, talking about cosmetics of
course, but also about surgery and
aesthetic medicine (nasal rectifications,
teeth growth regulation, perforation of the
ear lobe in order to take ornaments, etc),
about hygiene and, particularly, sexual
hygiene (…). At this part it's added the
medical part itself, a kind of handbook for
the doctors formed in the galenichippocratic
theories”.12
The Book of foods and drugs, the Kitab
al-agdiya or dietetics treatise (devoted to
the Almohad sultan 'Abd al-Mu'min) has
two parts: a description of the properties
and faults of foods and a treatise of
prophylaxis where Avenzoar advises about
111
the right care of the body in order to avoid
diseases. He talks, so, about diets, drinks,
condiments, food preparations and rules
of hygiene.
Averroes, his pupil and friend, lauded his
practical nature. So, his methodological
criterium has an empiric direction. In this
sense, Averroes says about Avenzoar's
science that it's not a theoretical science
but a way of healing. Juan Vernet says the
same: “His fame as practical man was
extraordinary and Averroes himself at the
end of his Colliget, sends to the Taysir for
all related to therapeutic”.13
His main book was the Taysir... (Book of
the simplification of the therapeutic and
the diet), a big treatise of general medicine
and dietetic (published several times in
Latin in the following centuries), where he
shows his great knowledge of therapeutic,
emphasizing the value of the experience,
making a description of the diseases and
their treatment. Here he summarizes the
knowledge and experiences of his life. This
work was thought as a teaching handbook.
He is interested in the alimentary regime
of patients, the medical instrument, the
preparation of the food. He also talks
about the kidney diseases and the bladder
stones.
In this book it's described by first time the
tracheotomy, the pericardium abscesses
and inflammation, the artificial feeding by
the esophagus or the rectum. This is his
more original work and thanks to it he can
be consider as one of the biggest names in
the medicine history. It was translated to
Latin by Paravicini (1280).
It seems that Avenzoar tried this book to
be an average between a theoretical and a
practical medicine, but an inspector
disapproved it because he thought that
book only could be useful for who had
medical knowledge. Thus, Avenzoar began
to write his work al-Yami, in what, simply,
he wrote all what a patient and his family
must know. Ibn Sur wanted to provide to

the doctors a good practical treatise of
therapeutic behind which there were a
good theoretical formation of a man that,
like him, knew perfectly the work of
Hippocrates and Galen (…). The visit of
the inspector broke his expectations and
the result was the writing of the Yami.
Both books are, then, linked in their origin
and the medieval European tradition
considered the Kitab al-Yami
(“Antidotarium”) as a kind of appendix of
the Taysir and, in fact, the modern critical
edition of this last book also includes the
Yami. 14
Thus, the Taysir is a great handbook for a
practical doctor and it has a medical
content much higher that the Kitab al-
Yami, that it's, above all, a medicaments
list.
He also discovered the cause of the
scabies, a skin disease caused by a parasite
mite, the itch mite (Sarcoptes scabiei) that
it was discovered by him.
Other medical contributions were: the
development of the practical of the
tracheotomy, the application of dissection
methods, first in animals and then in
humans, the proof of the presence of the
blood in the body. He was also the first in
establishing the scientific basis of otitis.
He did, besides, suitable descriptions
about meningitis, intracranial
thrombophlebitis and about some tumors
and he treated topics like stomach ulcers,
malaria, uterus physiology... Likewise he
used anesthesia by inhalation.
His papers, soon translated to Latin, had
an immediate dissemination and a great
permanence in time because his work was
used until 18th century.
AVERROES
Abu al Walid Muhammad Ibn Rusd,
known in the Latin world as Averroes, was
born in Cordoba in 520/1126 during the
Almoravid Andalusian time in a family of
112
judges. His father, “cadí” of Cordoba,
taught him Muslim jurisprudence. He was
“cadí” in Sevilla and he came back years
later to Córdoba because he was named
doctor of the caliph of Córdoba and later
he was named Main Judge of Córdoba.
He was the doctor of the Almohad caliph
of Marrocco and the Muslim Spain after
the invasion of the Almohads but in the
last years of his life he lost the support of
the caliph and was exiled to Lucena, the
old Jewish city of al-Andalus, near
Córdoba and his philosophy books were
burnt because an edict denounced them as
dangerous for Islam (Averroes thought
that reason has priority over religion).
Because of this many of his works have
been lost forever and we can only know
them through translations into Hebrew
and Latin.
He died after being restored and after the
time the caliph let him come back from the
exile in Marrocco in 595/1198.
He was interested in all the fields of
knowledge such as philosophy, theology,
mathematics, physics, astronomy, law,
medicine, poetry, and he had a deep
knowledge of the ancient Greek thought.
The most important part of his work are
explanations, comments and critiques of
interpretations of previous philosophers,
applying the rules of the Middle East wise
of the end of the 10th century and
begining of 11th century Ibn al-Haytam,
that he thought that it was necessary to
analyse the texts from every point of view,
and not to have previous ideas in favour or
against the things we can read. In this
sense Juan Vernet says “he had enough
intelligence and audacity for not following
blindly and without reasons to anybody,
neither to Aristotle himself. In this we can
not share the affirmation of Ibn Sab'in
who had told that if Aristotle had affirmed
that an individual can stand and seat at
the same time, Averroes also had
sustained it”15.

It tackled the philosophy through the
juridical sciences, and he was interested in
the divergences that exists between
different juridical-religious schools.
His thought, although Muslim, is based on
the Organon from Aristotle. He wrote
comments on the work of this philosopher.
It treats about the harmony between
religion and philosophy, trying to define
clearly the relationship between them. In
his work Destructio destructionis
(Tahafut al-tahafut) he attacks al-Gazali,
who thought that philosophy is in
contradiction with religion and in this way
philosophy is against the Muslim religion
principles, by what would be, like this, an
affront to the teachings of the Muslim
religion. His ideas, not always well
understood, gave origin to a collection of
tales that made him the prototype of the
incredolous and of the atheistic. This
happens with the explanations that he
gives about the education of the
philosophy. This can not be the same for
the illiterates and for the instructed, since
each group understands the truths in a
different way. So, to the question 'Where is
God?', the illiterates would answer that in
heaven; those that had some studies, that
in every place, and the wise persons, that
in any place. Anecdotes like this
contributed to give a false image of a
believer man that tried to conciliate the
reason with the faith...16
His ideas had big influence in the thought
of Thomas Aquinas, and his comments
about Aristotle had big echo in the
medieval Europe, being recognised like an
authentic philosopher, although the
French Ernest Renan, in the 19th century,
rejected the originality of his thought.
In the field of medicine, Muslim science by
excellence, considered a highly technical
discipline and one of which required long
study and training, Averroes also stood
out in his time, being one of the biggest
doctors of the period, although his medical
113
work has been almost forgotten because of
his fame like a philosopher.
He studied with Avenzoar, and he is the
author of treatises that had a big diffusion
until the Renaissance and of which
different versions were made to the
Hebrew and to the Latin. The medical
texts of Averroes are of two types:
-Original medical works of himself: he
alludes in them to all the subjects on
medicine that had been treated by the
most prestigious Arab doctors. Through
the medical writings of Averroes we can
know better the pieces of information
extracted from Aristotle and Galenus,
since they are presented more
schematised and orderly that in the own
originals.
We know fifteen texts in this group,
amongst other: About the conservation of
the health, Assertion about the different
temperaments or the Book of the
Generalities in Medicine, Kulliyyat fi-Itibb,
written between 1162-1169. This last
work, that consists of seven volumes,
consecrated to anatomy, physiology,
pathology, semeiotic, therapeutic, hygiene
and medication, was very used like text
book in Christian universities like Paris,
Oxford, Rome, Leuven and so on. The last
part, about Medication, concludes with a
glorious praise of the Taysir of Avenzoar.
The Generalities in Medicine was
reviewed by Averroes ...in his second stage
of dedication to the subject, to 1194: the
first of these two versions seems to be the
one that is preserved in the Arabic text of
the work, whereas the second would be
represented by the Latin translation
(Colliget)17
-Texts made to comment Aristotle,
Avicenna and Galenus: there are nine
titles related to the temperaments,
elements, medicines, fevers, natural
faculties and so on, by Galenus and a
comment about the medicine of Avicenna.

In summary, his works are a compendium
of the Arabic knowledges in physiology,
pathology, diagnosis, medical matter and,
even, anatomy, branch of the medicine
that had lower impulse, since the Muslim
religion did not allow the dissection of
corpses.
He was the first one to explain the
function of the retina and in realising that
an attack of viruela causes immunity.
Related to his works in medicine Ibn Abi
Usaybia in his History of the doctors of
Occident says that he was an excellent
author and that he had deep knowledges
about medicine.
Averroes is also author of several booklets
about ethics, politics, mathematics and
astronomy. He formulated the dogma,
suggested already by Aristotle and
reiterated later by Descartes in the 18th
century, that any algebraic curve can be
rectified in an exact way.
Averroes treats to refuse, when studying
the aristotelian thought, every platonic
corruption, and this comports the
rejection of the ideas of the Arabic
philosophers of the Middle East, especially
Avicenna, since they suppose platonic
approaches. This had strong consequences
in sciences as well as in philosophy.
In astronomy he rectifies very important
ptolemaic concepts (Ptolemy based his
astronomical theories in a platonic idea of
the world) like the ones of the eccentric
and the epicycles. This critique of Averroes
to the ptolemaic system had a very
important influence in Copernicus, the
one who, centuries afterwards, is going to
cause a revolution in astronomy.
IBRAHIM IBN SAHLI
Sahli was born in Toledo in the 11th
century. He lived in Valencia and then he
settled permanently in al-Andalus.
In 1607 he built an astrolabe which is still
preserved in the Archaeological Museum
114
in Madrid. This instrument, made of
brass, is used to calculate the position of
the Sun and the stars, and also to find the
latitude and the coordinate. It will be
useful and very used in navigation,
astrology and agronomy as well as to
measure the time. It was a great invention
of the time, and the instrument most
famous in the Middle Ages and in the
Renaissance.
Ibrahim Ibn Sahli also built another
astrolabe, which is conserved in the
Museum of History of Science in Oxford.
ARZACHEL
Arzachel, whose full name was Abu Ishaq
ibn Yahya al-Zarqalliel, was born in
Cordoba in 1029 and died in Toledo in
1087.
He worked as a blacksmith, creating
instruments that others entrusted him, but
thanks to have maintained a close contact
with the scholars of his time and to his
great intelligence, and despite being
illiterate he could create highly accurate
instruments and to acquire a great
astronomical knowledge, although he was
self-taught. This did not prevent him
becoming the greatest astronomer of the
Islamic West.
Between 1061 and 1080 he became part of
a team of astronomers, who together
created the “toledanas” tables, with which
they could determine phenomena such as
lunar phases, among others. These tables
were translated into Latin and had much
influence in the medieval European
astronomy.
His influence in other scientists was such
that in 1149, Robert of Chester adapted
these tables to the London coordinates. He
also led trigonometry to England and
introduced the word sinus in scientific
language.
Another great invention was the
fabrication of a clepsydra (two water

clocks that measured time and calculated
the phases of the Moon).
IBN AL AFLAH
This author, also known by his Latin name
Geber, lived in Sevilla between 1100 and
1160. We don’t know other details about
his life.
Although he wasn’t one of the greatest
mathematicians, he was one of the most
popular because his works were translated
and thus became well known to European
mathematicians.
One of his most famous works it's his
criticism of the work of Ptolemy, in a
manuscript knowing as Correction of
Almagest.
He gave his name to a theorem of
spherical trigonometry, as well as he was
the creator of the torquetum, an
instrument designed to take and convert
measurements from the horizon and the
equatorial ecliptic.
IBN KHALAF AL MURADI
Ibn Khalaf was a known engineer and
inventor, who lived in Andalucía in the
early 11th century.
His main legacy is the Book of secrets, a
watches and clepsydras treatise.
He has been compared to Leonardo da
Vinci because of his many inventions such
as: a bicycle, a flying equipment, some war
machines and a diving suit.
ABUL QASIM AL ZAHRAWI
Abulcasis was born in 936 in Zahara,
Córdoba. It is considered the father of
modern surgery. He was one of the most
famous and influential physicians of his
time and later centuries. In fact, many
medicine students went to him to learn, as
his medical procedures would become the
basis of modern surgery.
115
His greatest contribution is al-Tasrif, an
encyclopedia with thirty volumes, which
collect medical and pharmaceutical
knowledge. Of particular interest are the
volumes dealing with cautery, used not
only in operations but also in internal
diseases. This work is also the first
describing the hemophilia and its familiar
origin.
He also created a number of surgical
instruments, such as the gestatoria chair.
It was the first in using silk thread in the
operations.
He was also an expert dentist, able to
straighten teeth, repair parts and replace
them.
Abulcasis was not only exceptional in
medicine as a doctor, but he also applied
the ethics to his job. For example, he took
care of individual patients to provide them
better diagnosis and treatment and he did
not hesitate to criticize his colleagues for
their poor scruples to treat their patients,
as some of them were mere pretenders,
charlatans whose only interest was the
fame or the money rather than the
patient's welfare.
AL-GAFIQUI
He was born in Belalcázar in the 12th
century. He studied medicine with Arab
doctors and he was a follower of the the
works of Hippocrates.
He is the author of the manuscript
Oculist's guide. He was an expert in
ointments, creams and eye drops for
ophthalmological use.
He also wrote a medical-botanical
encyclopedia The book of simple
medicaments. In this work we noticed
how important it was for al-Gafiqui to take
direct knowledge of the minerals and
plants for the making of simple medicines.

ABBAS IBN FIRNAS
Firnas was born in Ronda (Málaga) and he
was well known for his experiments and
inventions. He created a water clock,
developed the technique of cutting of the
rock crystal and made an armillary sphere
to represent the movements of the stars.
He was so educated and versed in many
sciences that he built a planetarium in his
own home. But perhaps the most
extravagant thing he did, it was to build a
flying machine that had a wing covered
with feathers and silk. The experiment
cost him multiple fractures and
consequences that would accompany him
the rest of his life. But thanks to this
adventure he became the precursor of
aviation, serving as inspiration for future
generations.
He was a master in the art of music
because he had a great knowledge in
singing and musical techniques, but above
all he highlighted in poetry.
His reputation as a highly educated and
wise man would allow be part of the circle
of Abd-al-Rahmnan II and the emir
Muhammad.
He died in the year 887
References
-www.qantera-med.org
-www.galenusrevista.com
-www.arabespañol.org
-www.encyclopedia.com
-www.educasturprincastur.es
-www.wikipedia.com
-www.sarpanet.info
Bibliography (only Spanish)
-Arié, R., España musulmana (siglos VIII-XV), in
Muñón de Lara, M. (dir.), Historia de España, vol. III,
Ed. Labor, Barcelona, 1984.
-Boyer, C. B., Historia de la matemática, Ed. Alianza
Universidad Textos, Madrid, 1986.
-Sa’id al-Andalusi, Historia de la Filosofía y de las
Ciencias o libro de las categorías de las naciones, Ed.
Trotta, Madrid, 2000.
116
-Vernet, J., El Islam en España, Ed. MAPFRE,
Madrid, 1993.
-“ “ , Lo que Europa debe al Islam de España, Ed.
Acantilado, Barcelona, 2006.
-Samsó, J., Las ciencias de los antiguos en al-Andalus,
Ed. MAPFRE, Madrid, 1992.
-Gracia, D. El desajuste medieval, in La ciencia en
España, Historia 16, Nº 11, March 1977.
Notes
1.Abu Ayyub ‘Abd al-Gafir b. Muhammad, one of best
experts about arithmetic. Maslama was one of his
pupils. Sa’id al-Andalusi, Historia de la Filosofía y de
las Ciencias o libro de las categorías de las naciones,
Ed. Trotta, Madrid 2000, 166.
2.The astronomical tables made by this author, with a
deeply ptolemaic mentality, are the basis and the start
of the next astronomical tables written in Spain in the
medieval Spain. Gracia, D. El desajuste medieval, en
La ciencia en España, Historia 16, Nº 11, marzo 1977,
p. 73.
3.Ibid, 169
4.Vernet, J. El Islam en España, Ed.. MAPFRE,
Madrid, 1993, p. 71.
5. Samsó, J., Las ciencias de los antiguos en al-
Andalus, Ed. MAPFRE, Madrid, 1992, p. 91.
6. Samsó, J., Op. cit., p. 94.
7. Ibn al-Samh (…), knew very well arithmetics and
geometry (…) he wrote excelent works, among them:
“Introduction book to Geometry” (…), that it's a
comment about Euclides' book; “Book about
commercial Arithmetics known as “al-mu’amalat””
(…); “Book about the nature of numbers” (…); his great
book of geometry, in which he deepened about the
parts of this science related to straight, curved and
inclined lines … Sa’id al-Andalusí, Op. cit., 170.
8… and an astronomical table, made as the Sindhind
system, that it's a big book divided in two parts: one of
them has the tables and the other the comments of
these ones. Ibid., 170.
9. Ibn al-Samh is the author of …two books about the
astrolabe, in one of them –divided in two sections- it is
shown how this intruments can be built while in the
other, divided in 130 chapters, is shown how they are
used and how to take advantage of them…Ibid., 170.
10. Samsó, J., Op. cit., p. 97.
11. Samsó, J., Op. cit., pp. 109-110.
12. Samsó, J., Op. cit., p. 373.
13. Vernet, J., Lo que Europa debe al Islam de España
(What Europe owes to the Spanish Islam), Ed.
Acantilado, Barcelona 2006, p. 76.
14. Samsó, J., Op. cit., pp.374-375
15. Vernet, J., Lo que Europa debe…, Op. cit., p. 79
16. Ibid., p. 79
17. Samsó, J., Op. cit., p. 376.

Gallaecian-Roman Lugo
117

Interview with Antonio Rodríguez Colmenero,
archaeologist
Interview made by
A. Bernárdez and María X. Rodríguez
Antonio Rodríguez Colmenero (Lucenza-
Ourense, 1936) is an archaeologist, writer
and lecturer. He has working in the
Universities of Valladolid, Alacante,
Oviedo, Deusto and Santiago de
Compostela (in these two last as a
professor). He wrote many articles and
books related to his speciality subjects,
made archaeological excavations in Lugo
(square of San Domingos and Square of
Ferrol), Chaves, in the roman camp Aquis
Querquernis and in other sites. He was
responsible of many investigation projects
and nowadays he supervises the
archaeological group "Larouco" and the
magazine of the same name, and he is a
member of some associations as the
Academy of History and the Galician
Academy of Fine Arts and honorary
professor of the University of Santiago de
Compostela.
There are three theories about the
founding of Lugo: a fort (castro), a
holy place or sanctuary and a
military camp. Which is the correct
one?
We can reject the idea of a fort because
there aren’t archaeological remains. It was
a holy place, but this doesn’t exclude it
was a camp. We have numismatic
arguments to defend the idea of a camp
(caetra) but we lack conclusive
archaelogical proofs of a camp for one or
two legions (for example, moats). It was
here, at least, a complete legion from 25 to
15 B.C. (VI Victrix). Lugo was a smaller
camp from the 1st century A.D. in which a
118
detachment of the VI legion would be
stationed to direct the works in the city
(carried out by military engineers) in the
current area of the Virxe dos Ollos
Grandes hospital. Two gravestones with
the legend Legio VI have been found
inside the city.
Relating to the idea of a holy place, the
meaning of Lugo would be “clearing in the
forest” and it could have been an
indigenous naturalistic sanctuary, later
assimilated by Augustus. Lucus Augusti

would be an official reply of the
indigenous one.
You have defended that Lugo was
included in a civitas named Copori.
Which one was the territory of this
people? Which one are the basis to
confirm this?
The copori occupied a horizontal strip of
territory from Meira until Iria Flavia. In
the north they would go around the A
Mariña area. It was an interior territory
that would arrive near the ocean and with
one river port in Iria. Ptolemy, in the 2nd
century, wrote that the copori had to
cities: Lucus Augusti and Iria Flavia.
You have made some original
interpretation regarding the
Cantabrian Wars as the moment of
incorporation of the Gallaecia to the
Roman world. How can you
summarize your contribution?
Which one are your sources?
Basically my interpretation differs from
other authors and in fact I have been
requested to public again my classical
book (Augusto e Hispania. Conquista y
organización del norte peninsular)
following nowadays parameters. I
maintain that Cantabria would be the
whole north strip from Irún to Fisterra,
limited in the interior by the Cantabrian
range. The Astur would live in the area of
Astorga. The innovation of my theory lies
in the demarcation of the geographical
space, as it’s shown by the classical
sources proofs. Even more, it has been
found recently in an archaeological
excavation in Turkey an epigraphic
reference to the people in the West that
mentioned the “galaicos” and not the
“cántabros”. This fact, linked to the
Medulio incident, makes us think that the
resistance group was “galaico” although
“cántabro” at that time.
119
What was the role of Lucus Augusti
as city in the urban hierarchy of the
Roman world? Can it be considered
“provincial capital” as some
archaeologists have stated during
these last years?
It can be considered provincial capital of
the Hispania Superior Gallaecia as it
proved an inscription found in Italy. This
province would last aproximately only
twenty years in the 3rd century. But
almost always Lucus was capital of a
conventus iuridicus.
Which were the constructive stages
of Lucus Augusti? Why the
differences in the city from the Early
Empire to the Late Empire? Why the
urban space was moved to the west?
The Roman wall conditioned the
constructive stages. What remained
outside, it was destroyed and, on the
contrary, what remained inside, it was
preserved. The urban space moved to the
west because of defensive reasons. The
area of Recatelo, specially the access to
this area by the NW was very difficult to
defend because it will need a very big wall
and the same happened with the area of O
Carme. They actually built the Wall where
it was easier to defend the city.
Which were the motivations to build
the Roman wall?
Fear to invasions, what does not mean
they really happened. Fear to sea
invasions and that once the coast line
would have been conquered the invasors
would continue to the interior. The people
that arrived to the coast from the 5th
century onword were the Franks, the
Saxons and the Vandals from Carthage. In
the Middle Age, they were the Normans. I
investigated that in an essay about the sea
life related to the Tower of Hercules in A
Coruña.

How did Lucus Augusti look like?
Which ones were the points of
reference in the city?
It was mostly an administrative city, but
there was a middle-class population. We
can emphasize the big oficial buildings
and the forum (one of the biggest ones in
Hispania), mansions, houses with
thermae, Roman thermae in the interior of
the city, near the Cathedral, sanctuaries
ans so on. There would be important
urban centers in Recatelo and in the
decumanus (area of Porta Miñá gate). The
heart was in the current neighbourhood
near the cathedral, well, really, the heart
was the forum, between the current
Progreso and Raíña streets.
What are the main archaeological
referents of Lucus Augusti? What its
importance to the study of the
Hispanic Northwest?
The foundational milestone, the forum,
the mithreo and the acrostic of Odoarius.
Lugo is a reference like capital of the
120
extreme Finisterrae
(Conventus Lucensis).
What are the future
research lines for
the study of the
Roman Lugo? Do
you think are there
yet important
aspects to discover?
We should go into the
excavation of sites but
we haven’t advanced
due to economic
problems. There are
still temples, mansions
and part of the forum
to discover.
How do you
summarize and
value the former two decades of
archaeological works in Lugo to
clarify the reality of Lucus Augusti?
Do you think people from Lugo are
conscious of the patrimonial wealth
of the city?
There were really three decades and they
served to define the city and now this
knowledge is being completed. Lugo
passed from a “wall without city” to a”city
with wall”. People are being conscious of
this wealth, and this contrast with the
situation in the eighties when nobody was
interested. The esteem is much bigger as
it’s proved by the Arde Lucus festival, that,
although popular and adulterated, it’s an
indicator.
Do you want to add anything more?
Lugo is not only the city, but also the
capital of a bigger conventus iuridicus. We
should take into account the area that
covered till the river Verdugo
(Pontevedra) that was the conventus limit.

The Roman legacy in the city of Lugo
Mª Jesús Esteban Quiñoá
Photo: Mª Luisa Freire Lodeiro
The monument of Santalla de Bóveda
(former Santa Eulalia de Bóveda) was
discovered in 1914 by the priest D. José
María Penado Rodríguez, in the times of
bishop Basulto, but it was not the latter,
but his successor, Bishop Rei Lemos, who
presented it to the Comission of Historical
Artistic Monuments in Lugo in 1926. It
was declared National Monument in 1931
and Cultural Interest Heritage in 1998.
It can be considered one of the most
uncommon buildings. In fact, after its
discovery, many researchers studied it
from different points of view:
architectural, archaeological, artistic and
symbolic, without reaching an agreement
either about its purpose or its chronology.
Sometimes, it can be said that each of
them gives a subjective vision which
satisfies everybody. Scholars have
interpreted it to be from a type of baths,
"nymph's cave", a temple dedicated to the
goddess Cibeles, a temple to some oriental
gods, a serapeum, a funeral room, to a
temple devoted to Priscilianus following
the Roma rite of the goddess Cibeles, or
even the very tomb of Priscilianus. This is
to a great extent due to the few previous
references, to the artistic samples, unique
in the whole peninsula and, sadly, to the
not very appropriate restorations and
preservation works from its discovery.
In a document dating from the 8th
century there is a reference to the church
of Santalla, and it says it is a double floor
building. There are other reports in the
18th century telling about the damage in
Santalla de Bóveda
121
the lower vault when a new church was
being built on the ruins of the upper floor.
Both the techniques and the materials,
shapes and decoration can be related to
the Roman, paleo Christian or High
Medieval world.
After its discovery, one of the people who
showed an interest in the study of Santalla
was López Martí (1934), who found
parallelisms with the paleo Christian art of
the Roman catacombs, and who dates it as
late-Roman, between the 4th and the 5th
centuries, with a Christian predominance.
In 1935, German Helmunt Schulnk makes
a complete study of the monument and
relates it to the Oriental sepulchral
monuments, such as sarcophagus, having
the building been later transformed with
different purposes, supposing they could
have disappeared to be substituted and
used again, “something quite common in
the early decades of the Medieval Age”. He
also considers that the arcades, the
reconstruction of the vault and the
pictures are part of the transformation of
the building into a Christian temple in the
9th century. He maintained this theory
until 1952. Chamoso discovers the pool.
After this, Helmunt Schulnk changes his
theory and takes back the date of the
inside reform of the building to the Roman
times, and thus considering it to be a
medicinal sanctuary.
According to Angel del Castillo (1932), it
was a temple devoted to the nymphs
dating back to the 4th century. According
to Gómez-Montero (1949), the decoration
is Roman, with some influences from the
Oriental world and he dates it back to the
3rd century, claiming it was used as a
nympheus. Chamoso Lamas coincides

with him in the latter, and he also says the
transformation of the building was done in
the Visigoth times, where the arcades and
the pool are added.
Núñez (1970) relates the architectural
characteristics of the first stages of the
monument to the castro culture, and he
dates the transformation of the building
into a Christian temple in the 8th century.
Rodríguez Colmenero coincides with
Helmunt Schulck in that the building has
its origin in the Oriental religious cults
and he finds two stages in the building: a
pagan and a Christian one (second half of
the 4th century).
According to Vidal Caeiro (2003 and
2006) there are 5 building stages: a
Roman building with a rectangular area, a
Visigoth building (between the last years
of the 5th century and the 7th century), a
pre-Romanesque building from the 8th
century, a pre-Romanesque building from
the 9th and a stage where the
contemporary restorations would have
taken place.
Description of the Monument
The archaeological site of Santalla was not
half buried, as it is nowadays. The position
of the building draws attention, as it is the
opposite of the typical High Medieval
churches. It had two floors, although just
122
the lower one has been preserved, and the
middle part of the vault, which was
damaged during the demolition of the old
Christian chapel which used to be on the
upper floor. From this chapel, only the
part of the wall at the beginning of the
vault remains.
It is a rectangular area under the atrium of
the current parish church, with an apse at
the end of the nave which is also
rectangular and has two floors. The crypt
is a square of 12 m from side surrounded
by two perimeter walls, an inside one that
holds the vault of the central room and an
exterior one which provided fresh air to
the site. It only has a façade to the outside,
with an entrance horseshoe arch door
flanked by two windows that provide light
to the room, where there is a little pool 70
cm deep (which backs the hypothesis that
it was a sacred or magical place). The
room is divided into three naves by
columns and arches without an apparent
mechanical purpose, which makes you
think of a later reconstruction. At the end,
a winding staircase used to link the lower
and the upper floor.
Outside there is a little atrium with two
columns “in antis” (the portico only has
two columns and two pilasters in the
corners) which are placed in front of the
façade, where there is a horseshoe arch

door (later used by the Visigoths) made
with bricks placed around it. It is the
oldest in the Spanish architecture used as
a structural element. On both sides of the
portico there are four bas-reliefs in a
prominent position, so that is the first
thing the visitor sees of the building. These
are the only ones that keep symmetry both
to the architecture in this area of the
building and between them. They are two
groups of “dancers” and two human
figures (male and female). These four basreliefs
are the most elaborated and
framed. The isolated figures are between
two columns which hold a lintel; their
arms are raised and hold a garland. On top
of them the “dancers” are placed. They are
5 figures, also framed. The other four
reliefs that can be seen are randomly
placed and without any apparent
relationship. There two very significant
ones: one where a bird is resting on a tree
and is hiding its head under its wings and
another one called “relief of the crippled”,
where two human figures show their
malformations (which may involve a
curative and medicinal value of the
waters).
However, the most singular point in the
site is the pictures of the vault, covered
with stucco, where geometrical, animal
and vegetable shapes appear and where
the colours red, orange, blue, green and
black are used. The decoration is divided
into squares which are turned 45º and
surrounded by colourful checked borders.
In these squares, we can see cocks, hens,
doves facing each other, swans and some
pheasants. The pictures of birds are not
faithful to their characteristics either in
the shape or the gesture. Evidently, the
intention was to represent differences in
size, as it can be seen, for instance in the
peacocks, that picture occupies fully the
square it is in, and even goes out of it, but
123
in the case of the doves or partridges, they
are in couples and with a lot of room
around, except in some triangles where
individual figures appear.
These topics were common in tombs but,
contrary to other monuments compared
with this one, no tombs were found
(unless we agree with Hemunt when he
claims the theory that they could have
been emptied and reused in the medieval
ages). This decoration is of utmost
importance owing to two facts: the good
state of preservation they were found in
and because there are no other examples
of ancient wall painting like this in Galicia.
No remains in situ are kept from the upper
part of the vault. Some big pieces with
remains of paint appeared that are known
thanks to the photographs and the
drawings of Hanson and Berenguer. The
central part of the vault consisted of
octagons made of squares flanked on each
side and irregular hexagons. Inside these
geometrical shapes, circles and flowers
appear, a very common topic in the
decorations of mosaics from the High
Empire Roman times.
Bibliography
-ARIAS VILA, Felipe/de ABEL VILELA, Adolfo
(1975): Guía romana de Lugo y su provincia.
Lugo
-ARIAS VILA, Felipe: Bóveda. Monumento de
Santaballa de Gran Enciclopedia Gallega.
Tomo IV (px 93-94). Lugo-Pontevedra
-GARCÍA IGLESIAS, X.M (1989). : Pinturas
murais de Galicia. Santiago de Compostela.
-MONTENEGRO RÚA, E.J (2005) : El
descubrimiento y las actuaciones
arqueológicas en Sta. Eulalia de
Bóveda.Excmo. Concello de Lugo
-RODRÍGUEZ COLMENERO, ANTONIO
(1992) : Culto a las aguas y divinidades
orientales en el Lugo romano: los posibles
santuarios de San Roque y Bóveda. Espacio,
Tiempo y Forma, Serie II (Historia Antigua)

Mª Jesús Esteban Quiñoá
The city of Lucus Augusti was the
administrative centre of the Conventus
Lucensis, one of the three created on the
NW of Hispania, in the inland or
Tarraconense province, as a result of the
land division done by emperor Augustus
few years before Christ. It was situated in
a flat area of the left bank of the river
Miño, near the thermal springs. The city of
Lucus Augusti was created from a military
camp probably used by the Legio VI
during the Cantabrian wars. The military
presence would last for a decade, until
Augustus decides that the camp should be
the most important urban civil settlement
of the northwest of the peninsula.
The city of Lugo was crossed by two vias:
the XIX, from Bracara to Iria, from which
place it turned to the east and got to Lucus
Augusti crossing the Old Bridge on the
Miño river and it ended up in Asturica;
and the via XX, also called per loca
maritima, which probably crossed the
Miño through the old Ombreiro bridge.
The Old Bridge, or Roman bridge of Lugo
that can be seen today is the result of
many repairs, extensions and
reconstructions, and very little indeed
remains from the original one. In the
summer of 1995, several remains of the
via XIX coming from Ourense were
found. Taking advantage of the low water
The Old Bridge
124
level of that season and the deflection of
the river to build a main sewer, these
works made it possible to identify the
Roman origin of the bases of the three
pillars of the bridge and to make a more
thorough study of it. The Roman remains
discovered on the bases of the 2nd, 3rd
and 4th pillars are made of blocks of
granite with the same measure:
115x56x44cms, put together with ropes
and firebrands. The thickness of the pillars
(4.60 m) and the width of the vaults (5.00
m) and the span (10.49 m) are the
standard measures of a Roman bridge.
The design of the old Roman pillars was
rectangular. According to Dr. Manuel
Durán Fuentes, the bridge may have
originally had 6 arches of semicircular
vaults and similar spans (10.40 m), and
the pillars may have also had similar
widths (4.60 m) and a horizontal slope.
The gap that used to be between the left
bank and the slope was probably solved
with a similarly long entrance ramp (like
the one on the left bank of the Roman
bridge in Mérida). This was the area with a
deeper impact, as it was on this side where
the river overflowed, for example in 1898.
The present day bridge has 8 arches (none
of which comes from the Roman times) of
different shapes built with slabs and
granite. If we start counting the arches
looking from the side where the waters
flow, on the left side, , we can see that the
first two are a little pointed and built in

locks of granite, the 3rd and the 4th are
semicircular and the 5th and the 6th are
pointed, like the 7th and 8th arches, which
are considered the oldest ones, from the
medieval times thanks to the cross-shaped
stonemason marks and the symbols found
there. The bridge may have been
horizontal in Roman times, sloped in the
medieval times and horizontal again
nowadays.
The width of the road is not uniform,
between 3.80 m on the left access and
4.90 on the right one. The platforms made
in the 19th century have a uniform width
of 1.5 m.
History of the building of the Roman
bridge of Lugo and its reforms
There are no details about the date of the
building of this bridge, but it can be dated
between the 1st and 2nd centuries, when
Lucus achieves great importance as the
capital of the legal convent. According to
some historians, the bridge was destroyed
during the Germanic invasions and rebuilt
later on.
In 778, king Afonso I gave the bishop of
Lugo the right of toll in return for the
obligation to run with the costs of
maintenance and repair.
The Church had a special interest in
maintaining the roads and in the
preservation and repair of the bridges,
which were of the utmost importance both
for the daily life of the
parishes and to
protect the travellers
and keep the
pilgrimage ways open.
These alterations and
reconstructions were
considered not only
charity but they were
actions that helped
the “salvations of the
souls of the
125
benefactors”, as is reflected in wills that
assigned some quantity of money to this
type of works. This is the case of Ximena
Froylaz (1199), who bequeathed 20 sours,
the priest Román, who left two sours, the
archdeacon Fernández Martínez (1297),
who left 100 coins. There is record of
repairs of the bridge in the years 1289 and
1331.
In 1578 Caietano Gonzalo Yáñez was asked
to put a wooden door with a lock to
control the passage. This was paid equally
by the bishop, the city and the council.
Fray Xoan de Pozo, in 1648, made some
more repairs and in 1734 some arches and
cutwaters of the bridge were repaired. A
year later, the foreman of the Cathedral of
Lugo, Antón Ferro Caaveiro wrote a report
were he thought necessary to repair the
chapel in the middle of the bridge and the
road surface and to carve a new royal coat
of arms. He also proposed to modify the
banisters and to build the 8th arch of the
left bank in order to avoid flooding.
The town council and the bishop argued
about the ownership of the bridge. Then,
in 1783, when Bishop Francisco Armañá
became unconcerned of its repairing after
some big flooding, the council did the
works on their own and the bishop,
annoyed, decided to close the passage
through the bridge. This dispute ended in
December 1792, when it was decided that
the bishops would be in charge of making

and paying for the repairs and
preservation of the bridge.
Until the last years of the 19th century,
the bridge was a medieval one with double
slope and triangular cutwaters crowned
with semi conical cowls. In 1893 (image
previous page), the engineer Godofredo A.
Cascos made the project to repair and
widen it, changing the slope, reducing it
and building some projecting platforms
with metallic beams leaning on pillars that
came from the previously destroyed
cutwaters.
There is a new reform in sight, in order to
give it back its original aspect and to make
it a pedestrian crossing only. Nowadays,
about 16000 vehicles cross the bridge
daily and in the new project the asphalt is
going to be substituted by stones, the
access of vehicles will be in only one
direction and restricted to residents and
public transport. It is going to be 104 m
long and the metallic platforms are going
to be suppressed. In this work, phone lines
and water pipes that can be seen hanging
from one platform are going to be
suppressed. They are going to be hidden
inside the filling of the bridge. Besides, the
lightning will be on the floor, placing the
light spots on the banisters and it will have
an ornamental value. No action is planned
on the vault, as although the bridge is very
old, it does not have significant structural
damages. In the restoration, raw material
from the area will be used: slabs, granite
and paving.
126
Bibliography
-ARIAS VILA, Felipe/de ABEL VILELA,
Adolfo (1975): Guía romana de Lugo y su
provincia. Lugo
AMOR MEILÁN, M (1980) Tomo Lugo en
Geografía general del Reino de Galicia.
Reed. A Coruña
-ALVARADO BLANCO, Segundo/DURÁN
FUENTES, Manuel/NÁRDIZ ORTIZ,
Carlos (1989) Puentes históricos de
Galicia. Col.oficial de ingenieros de
caminos, canales y puertos. Xunta de
Galicia. A Coruña
-ALVARADO, S/ASTOR, R/ BAS, B/,
DURÁN, M /NARDIZ, C. (1985)
Inventario de puentes históricos en
Galicia, D. Xeral do Patrimonio (Xunta de
Galicia). Colegio de Ingenieros de
Caminos. Santiago
-DURÁN FUENTES, Manuel (2004) La
construcción de puentes romanos en
Hispania. Xunta de Galicia. Santiago de
Compostela.
-FERNÁNDEZ Casado, C. (1980):
Historia del puente en España. Puentes
romanos. Instituto Eduardo Torroja.
Madrid.
-RODRÍGUEZ COLMENERO, A./
CARREÑO GASCÓN, C/ y otros. (1995)
Urbs Romana. Los orígenes de la ciudad
de Lugo. Excmo. Concello de Lugo.

Mª Jesús Esteban Quiñoá
Photos: Mª Luisa Freire Lodeiro
On the left bank of the River Miño we can
find the remains of a place that used to be
an important thermal building which
made use of a healthy waters spring. These
waters spring up at 48.5º C. At the same
time, it made use of the cold water of the
river. These thermal waters are still
nowadays used with therapeutic and
medicinal purposes at the Lugo Hotel
Balneario.
Until the latest archaeological works were
finished, these thermal baths were thought
to be modest, with a provincial character
and far away from the imperial models.
Although much data has not yet been
studied and analysed, we know that the
building would be at least 2500 m 2 ,
leaving out the zone which could be on the
southwest area. Parallel to the river, the
thermal complex has a portico and a
basilica on one end and four vaulted
rooms surrounding a pool. Then, we
would find a square and circular room
with apses, which could be the laconium.
Finally, in the backyard of the Hotel
Balneario was an open patio surrounded
by a portico and with a big pool in the
middle. There, 14 altars devoted to the
nymphs were found.
In the thermal complexes of the Roman
times, there used to be a room for hot
baths (cella caldaria or caldarium),
another one for cold baths (cella
frigidaria or frigidarium) and between
these two a third one with warm water
(cella tepidaria or tepidarium).
In the thermal baths of Lugo there was no
need of a system to heat the water
(hypocaustum and prafurnium), as they
used the water from the river and the
thermal spring. This didn’t happen, for
The Thermae
127
instance, in the private thermal baths
found in the city (San Domingos square,
Cregos street, Ánxel Fole, Montevideo ...).
We can suppose that there used to be
other public baths in the city centre
(possibly in Armaña Street), taking into
account the fact that the public thermal
baths are 800m from the city centre and
there is a steep drop from the city to the
river.
It is thought that these thermal baths by
the river followed the same building
structure as other thermal complexes, with
two areas, one for the men and another
one for the women. The main entrance led
to the male baths, built around a ground,
surrounded by porticoes, devoted to sport
activities (gymnasium).
The entrance to the thermal building itself
was through a great hall placed next to the
two changing rooms (apodycterium,
images next page). That is the bestpreserved
building in the thermal
complex. There, clothes could be left in
little houses carved in the walls and
guarded by a slave. From this point, the
visitor could go to a circular room called
laconium. The two biggest rooms were
devoted to the warm and hot baths, and
they were usually connected. Several pools
or alvei used to be in each of these rooms.
The visitor, who used to pay a little
amount of money depending on the sex,
the age and the frequency of their visits
(there were passes already), started in the
apodycterium (changing room) and then
went to the frigidarium, tepidarium and
caldarium.
Under the main stair of the present-day
spa we can find the remains of another
little room, which can be entered through
a semicircular arch split by the support of
the stair. At the end of this room, over a
mantel, we can see a blind arch with

emains of paint in a very poor condition
of preservation, although we can notice a
warrior with armour and a bishop with a
staff. We can imagine that this area was
the caldarium and was later transformed
into a Christian chapel. The painting could
date back to the 16th century.
The “uptake system” of the mineral
medicinal waters also dates back to
Roman times, but it was not possible to
make an archaeological study, as the
present-day spa’s founding is on top of it.
After the Roman times, when these
thermal baths had possibly a great
importance, there came a time of “silence”
and almost neglect which lasted until
1816, when the thermal complex was
expropriated by the local authorities.
During this period, the baths were used in
a very precarious way. There is some
bibliographic reference from Licenciado
Bartolomé Molina (1550), Ambrosio de
Morales (1575), Alfonso Limón Montero
(1679), O Crego Pallares e Gaioso (1700).
The latter, in his work Argos Divina,
describes the ruins of the spa in Lugo and,
after dating it from the Roman times, asks
for more attention and care for them, due
to the healthy waters and the benefits they
bring. Both previous and following
references until the 19th century coincide
in stressing the poor condition of the
thermal baths.
128
In the 19th century there are various
references which mention the use of the
baths and their healing characteristics. In
1835 they were considered to have an
“undeniable usefulness” by the Lugo
authorities. In the 20th century there is a
new decline in the use of thermal waters
until 1978, when new investment and
modifications succeeded in giving the spa
in Lugo more importance.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
-ARIAS VILA, F./de ABEL VILELA, A. (1975):
Guía romana de Lugo y su provincia. Lugo
-ARIAS VILA, Felipe/ De VEGA RODRÍGUEZ,
Antonio ( 1979) As termas romanas de Lugo
Actas do I Congreso Peninsular de termalismo
antigo. Madrid
-CARREÑO. Covadonga Baños privados y
termas públicas en el Lugo romano. Espacio,
Tiempo y Forma, Serie II, H." Antigua, t. V,
1992, págs. 337-350
-HERVÉS RAIGOSO, F/ Meijide Cameselle, G :
O culto ás ninfas nas Termas de Lugo.
Gallaecia
-MEIJIDE CAMESELLE, G / HERVÉS
REIGOSA, F (2000) Un nuevo espacio en las
termas de Lugo. Termas romanas en el
occidente del Imperio. II Coloquio
Internacional de Arqueología de Gijón.
-RODRÍGUEZ COLMENERO, A./ CARREÑO
GASCÓN, C/ y otros. (1995) Urbs Romana. Los
orígenes de la ciudad de Lugo. Excmo. Concello
de Lugo.

Mª Jesús Esteban Quiñoá
For the inhabitants of Lugo, the Roman
wall is more than a monument, it is a
symbol of the city that identifies us and
makes us feel proud. Life goes on in some
way or another around it and it is said to
be part of our personality.
Its walk has been throughout the centuries
a witness of conflicts, conspiracies, walks,
secrets, first kisses and sadly also of
suicides and, lately, open-air drinking
sessions.
There were several attempts to knock it
down mainly in the 19th century, to give
way to the growth of the city, but after its
being declared National Monument in
1921, that obscenity was forgotten. This
was the starting point of a period of
recognition and reassessment of our wall
that had its main point on the 30th
November 2010, when it was declared
World Heritage by the UNESCO, a present
for the city, for its inhabitants and for all
Galicia (image, a market in A Mosqueira,
ca. 1925)
The Wall
129
First studies about the Wall until its
declaration as a National Monument
(1921)
The first written reference to this
monument dates back to 1496, although it
is just a little recession from Herman
Künig von Bach, where he commented this
about the city: “After III miles you arrive
in Lucos, the city. There, by a bridge, you
can find some baths (referring to the
Roman thermal baths). The city is
magnificently built, and to show this it
owns a wall….”.
Until the 16th century, no references can
be found devoted to the study. The first
one is from Bachelor Bartolomé Sagrario
de Molina (more than a thorough study, it
is some notes taken during trips, talks to
lords, priests). He says that the towers
appear every eight steps and they have a
lot of windows. He dates it back to the
Roman times and says the shape of the
perimeter is square. From this century,
there is a plan of Lugo where 85 towers
appear.
Among other references to the monument,
we should highlight the one
from the chronicler Ambrosio
de Morales, who travelled
along the northeast of Spain
and in his “account of the
sacred trip to the kingdoms of
Leon, Galicia and Principality
of Asturias” (1765), he tells the
king that the wall is square,
without adding that it is round
at the angles, as in other
western fortifications, and he
also says that when king
Afonso II repopulates the city,
he found “the Roman
fortification” complete.

The priest Juan Pallares e Gaioso made a
bibliographic compilation of everything
that existed up to then about the
monument and coincides with Mauro
Ferrer, Bachelor Molina, Gil Ibáñez and
Frei Felipe de la Gándara e Ulloa in the
Roman origin of the monument. He also
points out that there are 86 original cubes.
At the end of 18th century, father Frei
Manuel Risco gave an account of the
Roman remains in the city, focusing on
the wall and he indicates that there are 85
cubes and towers (he makes a distinction
between cubes and towers, which were the
ones with windows on the cubes). He
alluded to the round shape of the building
and the towers, which followed Vitruvius’s
rules, although it is not totally regular,
being longer than wide, thus contradicting
Bachelor Molina. Both were right, as it is a
square with round corners.
Risco also observed the irregular gaps
between the towers, which are said to have
had two floors and three, four or five
windows, and the remains of chimneys
(which makes you think that the cubes
were used as homes at some time). He also
mentions the towers with a rectangular
plan, supposing they were the ones on the
east side, reformed after Roman times,
and not the ones between Miñá and
Santiago gates, which are due to much
later restorations in order to widen the
size of the exterior sentry walk, a place
where the towers were substituted by
oblique buttresses (in this part of the
sentry walk there were 7 towers, including
the ones flanking the gates).
Father Risco’s theories were the source of
many historians and archaeologists and
many of his ideas are valid nowadays.
Others have been overcome, such as the
dating of the “blocks of stones” of the
towers in the times of king Afonso XI and
the idea that they were placed there
following prince D. Felipe, when now we
130
know they belong to the Roman system of
fortification.
In the 19th century, the Wall of Lugo is
often mentioned in the general histories of
Galicia from several Galician writers such
as Benito Vicetto (1886), who considered
it “Roman-Galician” and Murguía (1886),
who tells us of a popular proverb
(according to him in the Galician language
of the 15th century), which relates the
walls of Lugo and Astorga:
“ Quen fez a Lugo fez Astorga e a Ponte
da Cigarrosa, e levou a pedra no capelo,
con que fez a Coronatelo”
From the writers born in Lugo Bartolomé
Teijeiro y Sanfiz stands out. He, taking the
works of Molina and Risco as a base, gives
several measures, describes minutely the
area and gives an account of the reforms of
the 19th century. Thanks to him we know
that near the NovagGate there used to be a
ruinous tower with three rows of windows
on top of which there were semicircular
arches and that it was more than 20
metres high. He also gives an account of
the several epigraphic materials (eleven
inscriptions) found during the works of
reform of the wall, which he attributes to
“peoples after the Romans”. This is not an
easy idea to confirm as, on the one hand,
in some cases they were confirmed in the
latest investigations and, on the other
hand, it must be taken into account that in
Roman times it was usual to reuse the
materials.
As I said before, in the 19th century there
were several attempts to knock down the
wall. The first one dates back to 1812,
when the Engineer major general Felipe
Paz tried to demolish it without a previous
agreement from the council and without
telling the neighbours. In the end, a Xunta
de Oficiais stopped him. At the end of that
century, in 1895, there were two groups in
the city: the ones pro-wall and the ones
anti-wall. The former defended the
monument owing to its Roman origin and

the love and respect to the inheritance
from our ancestors and the latter said the
wall was a hindrance in the progress and
growth of the city, apart from some other
health reasons (in those times, there were
a lot of houses attached to the wall and
they used the walk as latrines).
In those times, a group of town councillors
proposed the demolition of the wall and
others thought of closing all the gates but
one. Facing this piece of nonsense,
historian Villamil y Castro tried to show
the wall was Roman, and to this end he
used the documents from the years 747 to
1132, quotes from Morales to Risco, in
order to refute engineer Andrade, who
denied the Roman origin of the monument
and dated it in the 9th century. Villamil
referred also to Murguía and the German
historian Hübner, who also acknowledged
the Roman origin of the monument. From
this author, Villamil showed both an
extract of his work and personal
correspondence where this matter was
discussed.
Another person who defended the wall
was the Lugo priest Antolín López Peláez
who, although he didn’t believe the Roman
origin of the monument, thought it should
be left where it was because “if time
couldn’t knock it down, man shouldn’t do
it either”.
These dialectic fights continued for several
years between the ones who wanted to
demolish it and the ones pro-wall. There
was even foul play (the anti-wall group
attacked the monument), or other
sibylline options, such as the one from Rof
Codina who, in 1905, published an article
under a pseudonym saying that more than
78 years would be needed to make the wall
disappear entirely, which would imply a
cost that a small council like Lugo would
not be able to assume.
In 1921, the Spanish House of Commons
passed a law to declare the wall National
monument, which involved its
131
preservation and care. This law was, as
could be expected, received with
happiness by the pro-wall group and most
the citizens and rejected by the anti-wall
groups, who kept saying this declaration
would hinder the growth of the city.
The Declaration signals a turning point in
the history of the monument, both at a
preservation level and for reforms,
changes and studies. Among the latter, the
works of Ian Richmond (1931), Manuel
Vázquez Seijas, Salvador Castro Freire
(1951), Narciso Peinado and, more
recently, Felipe Arias Vila and Adolfo de
Abel Vilela stand out.
What was and what is the Roman
Wall for Lugo citizens?
Firstly, it must be highlighted the main
use the wall was created for: military and
defensive, a use it had from the Roman
times until mid-19th century, going
through the Swabian times, the Muslim
times with Muza, Almanzor’s siege (984),
the times of king Afonso VI with the
Rebellion of Count Rodrigo Ovéquez, the
siege of the “Irmandiños”, the military
actions in the war against the French
(1809) and the first Carlist war.
Let’s take into account that the Wall had
originally five gates, some of which, like
the False gate, was closed for many years
in order to control the entrances and exits
of people and goods and to restrict the
movement in times of plague and
illnesses.
As could be expected, the Church had also
an important role, both in the political
fights about its ownership and the use of
guard posts of the gates as chapels. The
walk was used as a processional walk (a
habit that is being retrieved lately during
Easter processions). Three of the gates of
the wall were considered sacred: San
Pedro, Miñá and Nova. For this reason,
convicts to be hanged were taken out of

the city through the False gate to their
scaffold, which can be placed outside the
new Bishop Odoario gate.
In the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries, the
open council of the city of Lugo gathered
in the Murega Tower (in the vicinity of
Santiago gate).
One of the uses the citizens gave the wall
was that of making its towers into homes
and in the space between two cubes,
buildings were made (houses, warehouses,
...). In this way, they used one of the walls
of the building and also the materials of
the wall. In 1971, with the “Clean Wall
Operation”, a forced and urgent
expropriation of all the buildings attached
to the outside of the wall was carried out
to make them disappear.
Its walk was and still is a compulsory walk
around the city. Even in the times when
there were houses attached to the wall, it
was forbidden for them to be higher and
for their chimneys to “disturb the
pedestrians”. It is common to see in the
morning and in the evening many citizens
walking on the wall at leisure or practising
sport.
The wall, its walk and its outside walk, the
“ronda”, is a mute witness of all the
cultural and political shows that are
performed in the city.
It is also a reference to study the history of
the city and Galicia, as each stone is a
piece of past and the wall is an almost
inexhaustible source of study for
archaeologists, historians and scientists.
The Wall as a system of defence
Lugo boasts the typical system of defence
of Roman times, the wall, which is a
singular example in the whole Roman
Empire. It is a great work of military
engineering, thoroughly planned both in
its design and in the building techniques
and the different architectural elements. It
is a complex defence system made up by
132
the ditch, the wall (moenia) and possibly
also the intervallum or inside walk.
Originally, it had 85 semicircular cubes
(today 71 can be seen) with diameters
varying from 6.3 to 13.5 metres and a
height between 9 and 12 metres. The
upper part had two floors which made up
high towers. From these, only a part can
be seen nowadays, in the window of A
Mosqueira (image, A Mosqueira, ca. 1850)
Between the towers, straight spaces were
placed about 15 metres long. On the upper
part, between cubes and walls, there is an
exceptionally wide sentry walk, between
3.5 and 6 metres wide.
The five original gates were designed
according to the roads inside and outside.
They have only one opening in
semicircular arch made of granite, a
material which is also used in its cubes
and walls (except in the False gate). It can
be supposed that from the inside, you
could get to the top of the wall thanks to
high stairs in each tower, many of them
discovered in recent years.
The defence was completed with a ditch
and individual projectiles were used from
the towers and the upper floors.
All this shows the wall is a complex work
of military engineering. Its perimeter is
2,266 metres long. It comprises an area of
34.4 hectares. It has a rectangular plan
with a north-south axis about 700 metres
long and an east-west axis about 500
metres long. The corners of this area are
rounded, flanked by four gates, two of

which date back from Roman times: Saint
Peter or Toledana and Santiago or Poxigo,
and two are modern: Saint Fernando and
Bishop Odoario or Hospital.
As for the material used in its building, it
is mainly slabs characteristic of the area of
Lugo, and, in to a lesser degree, granite
and quartzite (pebbles). The use of slabs is
habitual as it was the most easily found
material in the area, easily cut to obtain
more or less regular plates, which makes
its engraving easier and because it is light
and water-proof. For buildings, they were
selected according to form, quality and
size. In this way, the most irregular ones
were used for the filling, the triangular
ones for the inside and outside walls; the
square or rectangular ones were only used
for the stairs. The sandstone could have
been obtained when digging the ditch and
in neighbouring quarries.
The mining and transport of granite was
more difficult and expensive, so this
material was used only in the gates (False,
Miñá, San Pedro, Santiago and Nova) and
their flanking towers and nearby walls. It
is used only for the foundation in blocks
that haven’t been worked.
As may be expected, material existing
from other buildings was also used. This is
a very important fact for the study and
dating of the monument.
The gates
The Roman Wall has ten gates or "portas",
out of which five date back to Roman
times and the remaining five were opened
later following the needs of the growing
city, as the Station Gate (opened to lead to
the Train Station) or Bishop Aguirre Gate
(opened to allow the priests go to the
Seminary).
Porta Nova
"Porta Nova" means New Gate. This gate
was modified thoroughly, but old photos
133
are witnesses of its original aspect, very
similar to the Miñá Gate. Through the
Nova Gate was the via XIX, coming from
Bracara Augusta (Braga) and the via XX
per loca maritima, which joined Lugo
with one of the most important sea
harbours, the one in Flavium Brigantium
(A Coruña). It was the way out of the
longest road in the city and, according to
Schulten, the western limit of the
Augustus camp. Several inscriptions and
the relief of Jupiter appeared on this gate.
Originally, it was a small and short
semicircular arch between two towers, it
had an upper guard post, transformed in
the medieval ages into a chapel devoted to
Saint Mary and the Virgin of the Remedies
(a fact that is also true for other gates) and
which was removed in 1785.
The medieval gate was totally restored in
1899, making it more modern and bigger.
Opened in April 1900, this new building is
due to architect Juan Alvarez de Mendoza.
Nowadays, it is 4.8 metres wide and 8
metres high, with a belfry arch and
masonry. One of the original cubes that
flank it was totally modified, as it was cut
in half.
Porta Miñá or Porta do Carme
It is the best kept in all the monument,
and its situation and building system
make us know the rule that all the gates
had. This gate was the way out of the via
XIX, which led to Iria Flavia and to the
southeast of Gallaecia, linking to via
XVIII in the legionnaire camp Aquis
Querquennis (Bande). Inside the city, it
was linked to the decumanus and it
crossed the forum of Lucus Augusti.
This gate is between two towers of blocks
of granite, it is 3.67 metres wide and has
two slightly lowered semicircular arches.
The walls to the sides have also been made
of granite and two vertical holes can be
seen through which the grille used to pass.
The inside is divided into two parts. The

upper part, with a barrel vault, was used
by the guard post and it was reached
thanks to some stairs attached to the
inside wall. This place was transformed
into the Saint Ramon chapel until in the
18th century, the chapel was placed in the
church of Carme. This is the other name
given to the gate.
Porta de Santiago or do Poxigo
"Porta do poxigo" means Wicket gate. Its
aspect is similar to the Miñá gate, but it
has been more modified by different
reforms. The outside arch was changed
and a niche was opened in the inside arch.
It has a ramp that leads to the walk. The
tower to the right was modified with
plaques and some granite blocks, losing its
symmetry, as it became bigger than the
tower to the left of the gate.
Its vicinity to the cathedral is the reason
why it appears in several documents.
From the end of the 12th century and
through the 13th century it was a private
gate for the use of the priests of the
cathedral. Until 1759 it was known as the
Poxigo gate. In that year, a reform was
made in order to give way to carriages and
a niche was built to place the image of the
apostle Santiago upon the coat of arms of
Bishop Izquierdo.
134
In 1838, the part that could be raised was
in a very poor condition and a parapet was
built to defend the city from the possible
Carlists attacks.
The gate’s flanking cubes are slightly
asymmetrical, as previously seen, and the
left one was half-hidden by buildings until
1970. It can be supposed that in these
cubes there used to be defending posts,
similarly to other original gates. During
plague times, this is the gate that
remained open and it used to have a
drawbridge.
Porta San Pedro or Porta Toledana
The name Toledana is related to the
emigration of the Swabians to the capital
of the Visigoth kingdom (Toledo)
searching for jobs. In Roman times, it was
the way out to Asturica Augusta, along the
via XIX and XX. In the medieval times, it
was known as Sacnti Petri. It was the gate
through which the pilgrims to Santiago
entered the city.
The current aspect of the gate dates from
the reform in 1781, a fact that has been
recorded in a plaque. It is 3.70 metres
wide and 4.85 metres high. From the
outside, a semicircular arch can be seen
upon which there is a pediment with the
coat of arms of Lugo between two lions.
On top of that, there are granite blocks
and an iron fence. Fortunately, due to the
economic crisis at the end of the 19th
century, it was not modified in 1865, as
was Nova Gate.
Porta Falsa or Porta do Boquete
"Porta Falsa" means False Gate and "Porta
do Boquete" means Hole Gate. It is not
very clear why this gate is called False.
There are references from the 13th century
to a “hidden way out” and other sources
claim it was a hole made to make way for
the road from Mondoñedo to the coast.
Besides, differently from other Roman
gates, this one does not show symmetry in

the flanking cubes and it lacks blocks of
granite. However, taking into account its
size, it is an original one, a Roman type of
gates called posterulae, with a military
use.
As most of them, it suffered many
modifications. It is 3.45 metres wide and
5.65 metres high. It is made of granite on
the outside and stone slabs on the inside.
It may have been a half-dug way through
the ground, as recent archaeological
discoveries show.
The stairs that it has nowadays, from the
second half of the 18th century, allow us to
bridge the gap. During the first Carlist
war, there used to be a fort attached to it,
whose remains can be seen on the outside
around the gate.
The remaining five gates were opened
between the 19th and 20th centuries,
following the growth of the city and its
urban configuration.
Porta do Hospital or do Bispo
Odoario
"Porta do Hospital" means Hospital Gate
and "Porta do Bispo Odoario" means
Bishop Odoarius Gate. It is the most
recent of all, as it was built in 1921 to give
way to one of the longest streets that cross
Lugo from east to west (Montevideo and
Bolaño Rivadeneira streets nowadays).
Designed by architect Saenz, it was built
with a double bending, to follow the
line of the area. To build it, the cube
that belonged to one of the rounded
corners of the wall was destroyed,
and a stretch of wall on the right
and one the left was also knocked
down. This gate is in one of the
highest points of the wall, and it is
thought that the Amena do Rei may
have been, due to its privileged
situation to see the valley of the
Miño river (nowadays, the buildings
facing it hinder the sight).
135
Porta de Bispo Aguirre
"Porta de Bispo Aguirre" means Bishop
Aguirre gate. It was opened in 1894 and it
was made to make it easier the access to
the new Seminary and the cemetery built
in 1858. The architect who made it,
Nemesio Cobreros Cuevillas, also made
the Seminary. To build this gate, two
towers were destroyed which had Roman
plaques. During the works, several
inscriptions and some building material
were found. It is 10 metres wide and 8.15
metres high. Its style is similar to the Nova
gate after its reform, but it is much wider.
Porta de Bispo Esquerdo or Porta do
cárcere or do Campo Castelo
The names mean Bishop Izquierdo gate
and Prison gate. The prison was inside the
wall and it was later moved to the outside.
This fact, together with the inauguration
of the new area for the fairs (placed in the
area where the bus station is nowadays),
led to the proposal of opening a new gate
in this area. The work didn’t affect the
original Roman structure, but the
Cristina’s bastion. It is between a cube and
the starting point of the 19th century
bastion. Like other gates, it was designed
by Cobreros Cuevillas, but it is smaller:
4.32 metres wide and 7.15 metres high.
Porta da Estación (image, around 1910)

"Porta da Estación" means Railway station
gate. This gate was opened in order to
make a direct and easy access from the city
centre to the railway station. Designed by
architect Nemesio Cobreros Cuevillas, it
was opened in 1876 and two cubes were
knocked down for that. In 1880 and later
in 1918, it was widened and modernized to
ease the traffic (10 metres wide and 8
metres high). The cubes that had been
knocked down were rebuilt in 1973 on the
original basement under the buildings
attached to the wall (image, at present).
Porta de San Fernando ou Porta do
Príncipe Afonso
This gate was opened in 1856, after the
visit of queen Elizabeth and her son to the
city, which led to its being known as
Prince Afonso’s gate. It made use of a hole
through which water came to the city in
Roman times. The building of this gate,
placed in one of the corners of the wall,
knocked down a tower and defaced
another one.
It is also known as San Fernando gate, a
name that comes from the San Fernando’s
military quarters placed in the
neighbourhood. This gate had the greatest
confluence of both pedestrians and traffic,
as it was the easiest access to the
neighbourhoods that were growing outside
the wall: Agro do Rolo, Piringalla, Padre
Feixoo and Garabolos, as well as being the
way out of the road N-VI (Madrid- A
136
Coruña), so it became small and narrow.
That is why in 1963 the old gate was
knocked down and the one we have
nowadays was built. In fact, it is the gate
with a widest span. For this work, a new
demolition of an important section of the
wall and of two cubes was necessary.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
-ABEL VILELA, A (1972). Origen de las edificaciones
adosadas a la muralla de Lugo. Lugo.
-ABEL VILELA, A (1975). 200 años de obras y
restauraciones en la Muralla de Lugo. Lugo
-ABEL VILELA, A (1996). Guía de la Muralla romana
de Lugo. Lugo
-ABEL VILELA, A/ ARIAS VILA, F (1975) Guía
arqueológica romana de Lugo y su provincia. Lugo.
-ARIAS VILA, Felipe (1972). La murallas romanas de
Lugo (Studio Archaelogica 14) Santiago de
Compostela.
-ABEL VILELA, A/ALCORTA IRASTORZA,
E/ARIAS VILA, F/CARREÑO GASCÓN, C/LÓPEZ
de REGO URIARTE, J.I (2004), A Muralla de Lugo.
Patrimonio da Humanidade. Excmo. Concello de
Lugo.
-CAAMAÑO GESTO, J.M (1999) El urbanismo del
campamento romano de Cidadela.
-DELGADO GÓMEZ, JAIME (1993) Aspectos del
mundo romano del que surgió nuestro “Lucus”
Diputación Provincial de Lugo.
.GARCÍA ORO, J (1991) La ciudad de Lugo y la Iglesia
en la Baja Edad Media. Lucensia. Lugo.
-LÓPEZ ACUÑA, A (196) Estado de las murallas
lucenses en el año 1791. Boletín de la Comisión
Provincial de Monumentos de Lugo.
-MEIJIDE CAMESEÑE, G (1997) A Muralla romana
de Lugo. (Xunta de Galicia). Lugo.
-PEINADO LÓPEZ, N. (1970) Lugo monumental y
artístico. Lugo.
-RODRÍGUEZ COLMENERO, A (1993), en Galicia.
Arte IX. Arte prehistórica y romana (Ed. Hércules). A
Coruña.
-RODRÍGUEZ COLMENERO, A./ CARREÑO
GASCÓN, C/ y otros. (1995) Urbs Romana. Los
orígenes de la ciudad de Lugo. Excmo. Concello de
Lugo.
-TORRES, C ( 1982) La Galicia Romana . Fundación
Barrié de la Maza. A Coruña.
-TRAPERO PARDO, J ( 1986) Lugo y su Muralla . Ed.
Everest. León.
-VÁZQUEZ SEIJAS, M (1955). Fortalezas de Lugo y su
provincia. Tomo I. Diputación Provincial de Lugo.
-VÁZQUEZ SEIJAS, M. (1955). Las murallas romanas
de Lugo. Primitivos accesos. Boletín de la Comisión
Provincial de Monumento de Lugo

History of the excavations in the Roman Lugo
Luz Mª Martínez Arias (text and photos)
It is the aim of this present work to set out
a chronological exposition of the
development of historical and
archaeological knowledge about the city of
Lugo’s Roman past. It cannot be expected
to collate references to all of the
excavations already carried out here,
particularly from 1985-86, years which
mark a milestone in the archaeology of
Lugo, with the result that those years
represent a turning point, as we will soon
see. In line with the above comments only
large excavations will be mentioned and
also those which, although not so “large”,
have furnished significant discoveries or
important dates relating to the
understanding of the ancient history of the
city. This article will also include a review,
not only of the main archaeological works,
but also of the most notable publications
on the Roman past of Lucus, without
forgetting the conferences that have
already been held on the subject and the
various exhibitions of archaeological
material taken from the subsoil of Lugo.
At the end of the article we will make use
of the various epigraphical repertoires of
Roman Lugo, whose quantification will
serve as an investigation, with numbers,
into how knowledge about the
population’s Roman past has developed
over time.
The starting point for this review of the
archaeological history of Roman Lugo is
the year 1939. In that year, the Year of
Victory as it had to be called then, the City
Council of Lugo publishes the work of Don
Manuel Vázquez Seijas, one of the curators
of the city’s Provincial Museum, Lugo
bajo el imperio romano (Lugo Under the
Roman Empire). The publication records
the talk given by the author a year before
in the events hall of the Provincial Council
137
at the request of the “distinguished
Director and Professors of the National
Institute for Secondary Education” to
commemorate the second millennium of
the emperor Augustus. This is by no
means the oldest publication about the
Roman history of the city of Lugo, but it is
useful as an overall summary of what was
known about it in the first half of the last
century, and therefore it has been chosen
as the starting point for our journey.
The work of Vázquez Seijas is a good
example of how little was known at that
time about Lugo's Roman past, so that,
allowing for a little exaggeration, one can
say that apart from the huge walls which
surround the population and the
construction of Santalla de Bóveda, which
was already known about in 1926 and
which is not of interest to us here as it is
extra-urban, the Roman archaeology of
Lugo was terra incognita.
In summary, the little that was known is
set out below. Reference is made to the
various channels in the subsoil of the city
that were known about at the time. The
Miño baths are mentioned, but no
reference is made to a possible date for
them. There is reference to a supposed
temple to Celeste, the Venus of Carthage,
in the Praza de San Domingos, where
various individual archaeological remains
had already been discovered. The Roman
forum is situated in the Praza do Campo.
According to the theory put forward in
1843 by Francisco Javier Armesto and
Antonio Luis de Arnau 1 the remains of
the Batitales mosaics house, which was the
only known example at the time Vázquez
Seijas was writing, suggest a possible
temple to Diana. The marble head of a
woman, found in the zone of the Porta de
Bispo Aguirre, is attributed to Venus
Augusta, adding that at the location where
it was found there could have been a

Collegium Divi Augusti. With regard to
necropolises, reference is made to the
tombs exhumed in the area of San Roque
in 1864-65 and 1917, in addition to the two
tombs discovered in Recatelo in 1938 and
others found subsequent to that date.
The walls from the later imperial period
(3rd and 4th centuries) are attributed to
Vespasian (69-79 AD). Allusion is then
made to the various inscriptions from the
walls and from other population sites. The
bridge is considered to be a Trajan work.
Reference is made to the ovens and
workshops discovered in 1934 in
Montevideo Street and the various
numismatic finds beneath Lugo, although
- it is said - there is no clear evidence that
there was a mint in the town, whilst it is
recognised that the coins known about
today such as the caetra coins could have
been produced in a mint in Lugo. The
work we are reviewing ends with a
mention of the relief of Hercule from the
Porta Nova part of the walls. We do not
consider here the other Roman ruins to
which Vázquez Seijas refers in his work,
because they are extra-urban in nature.
The second chapter of our history involves
the period of time between 1939 and 1985-
86, a period which presents us with some
new developments with regard to the
archaeology of Roman Lugo.
The first new development happened on 5
November 1960 during works on the
paving of the Praza de Santa María, that is
to say, close to the Cathedral. On that
particular day a swimming pool was
identified in the subsoil, with a
rectangular floor with two apses in the
chevets and decorated with black and
white mosaics dating from the 6th century
AD. Covered over again after its discovery,
since the end of 2011 the restored pool can
be seen beneath the floor of the square,
through an archaeological window.
Four years later, in 1964, the collapse of a
section of an inner wall in the area near
138
the Círculo das Artes (Arts Circle) reveals
the first steps used for accessing the bailey
of the fortification. It is the second new
development in the period we are dealing
with and an important development for
the walls around Lugo, since up until then
original means of accessing the walls were
completely unknown. Nowadays many
items have been excavated and restored.
1972 is a crucial year for the Roman walls
of Lugo. At that time Operación Muralla
Limpa (Clean Wall Operation) was
implemented by the Lugo resident don
Ramón Falcón, at that time Deputy
General Director for Fine Arts, with don
Florentino Pérez Embid as General
Director. The walls of Lugo, which had
already been declared a National
Monument in 1921, from 1972 were freed
from the houses which had been attached
to their outer walls 2. The works were
directed by the architect Antonio González
Trigo. Although there were a few, there
were not many voices disagreeing with this
cleansing project. Notable amongst these
was the architect R. López de Lucio who
disagreed in an article published in the
journal “Ciudad y Territorio” (“City and
Territory”) in 1978. The walls project
brought the City Council the Europa
Nostra award in 1981. With regard to
knowledge about the walls of Lugo there
are three milestones, the first two
predating the cleansing operation and the
third being contemporary with it. These
are the works by Ian Richmond in 1931 3,
Vázquez Seijas in 1955 4 and Felipe Arias
Vilas in 1972 5.
In 1973 there appears a comprehensive
study on the Roman mosaics of the
ancient provincial court of Lucus which
naturally includes the Batitales mosaics
and some other ruins found in Lugo 6.
And so we come to the last of the events
relating to the Roman city in the period we
are considering. We are referring to the
celebration of the Bimillennium of the city

in 1975-76, a celebration which was
behind the convening of the first scientific
congress about Roman Lugo in which the
“leading players” on the subject at that
time participated. The proceedings of the
congress were published in 1977 7. On this
same date, and for the same reasons, Lugo
also welcomed the sitting of the 15th
National Congress of Archaeology.
As it was stated at the beginning, the years
1985-86 constitute a pivotal period in the
Roman archaeology of Lugo, and
represent a turning-point in its
development. It all began with the
construction of three underground car
parks in as many historical quarters of the
city: the town squares of O Ferrol, San
Domingos and A Constitución. Very
shortly afterwards, the question of
constructing of a fourth car park, which is
now located in the gardens of the
Provincial Council, confronted this
institution and the City Council and raised
the same controversy raised by the
construction of the first three car parks. As
will be seen, cars are therefore behind the
start of a new set of archaeological
standards in the city of Lugo.
The controversy raised by the fact that the
first three car parks might destroy possible
Roman remains filled the pages of the
local and regional press in December 1985
and January 1986. The local College of
Architects and Adelpha (Association for
the Defence of Ecology and Historical
Heritage) were at the forefront of the fight
against the car parks. But events had only
just begun to unfold. In the first months of
1986 the archaeological surveys in the
Praza da Constitución directed by Julio
Carballo Arceo reveal a late Roman burial
necropolis consisting of some one hundred
tombs (image).
139
In March 1986 the machinery destroys the
necropolis and the car park construction
continues. The controversy was now out in
the open. Some national newspapers
called this destruction “vandalism”.
Universities and various scientific
institutions cried blue murder. Four
members of the Technical Commission for
Archaeology in Galicia resigned because of
the seriousness of the events. The Galician
authorities announced a freeze on the car
park construction in April of the same year
where there had not been any prior
archaeological excavations. It was at that
time that an Italian architect showed that
one of the Roman roads unearthed exited
from the walled city through one of the
gates opened in the 19th century to
provide access to what was then the
municipal cemetery. In May 1986,
contracted by the company Dragados y
Construcciones which was charged with
the car park construction work, Antonio
Rodríguez Colmenero, then Professor of

Ancient History at the University of
Oviedo, assumed responsibility for prior
archaeological excavations and would
direct the excavations at the squares of
Ferrol and San Domingos. The car park at
Constitución square was opened in
October 1986. In June of the following
year the other two were opened.
The excavations in the two squares
mentioned previously made it clear for the
first time that Lugo was a giant
archaeological site and that the huge walls
had not been erected in vain. A necropolis
of 66 cremation cists was unearthed under
Ferrol square in July 1986 (image).
It had been cut off by the wall when the
latter was built at the end of the third
century, that is, some 300 years after the
area started to be used as a cemetery. In
August of the same year two magnificent
mosaics emerged from the earth beneath
house number 10 in Armanyá street, one
of which was embellished with a scene
from the Cretan myth of Daedalus,
Pasiphae and the Minotaur and this takes
place in a lost city of Galician Finisterre, a
region of “little or no romanization”
according to certain writers of the time.
The Armanyá mosaics, which were raised
by a team from Mérida, were moved to the
Provincial Museum in 1996, and can be
seen there today. A small ara dedicated to
Jupiter informs us that there lived in the
house, in the time of Caracalla (3rd
century AD) a certain Gallio Senior, that
is, Gallio the Elder.
140
The amount of useful data about the
ancient history of the city that came out of
the excavations at the O Ferrol and San
Domingos squares was truly enormous.
The same can be said about the objects
excavated there. Neither of these two areas
can be fully summarised here. In 1989 the
“reconstruction” of some archaeological
remains, which had initially been placed
there, was removed from the square of San
Domingos.
There were three immediate consequences
arising of the controversies about the car
park excavations. One was the first
exhibition of archaeological objects from
the city, hosted at the former prison
(“Cárcel del Partido”) in 1986-87. The
second was the establishment by the
Galician authorities of regulations, in
1986, for archaeological excavations prior
to the construction of any building in the
historic centre of Lugo. Two years later the
Office of Archaeology, which was to report
to the City Council, was set up. All of this
was culminating in the archaeology of
Lugo finally being treated as a regulated
activity. And this is the fourth part of this
story.
In July 1987 there was a discovery which
changed the way in which, up until then,
the walled centre had been regarded. In a
plot of land at the Rolda da Muralla, more
or less bordering the Porta da Estación,
there appeared the first trace of the
original ditch around the walls of Lucus, a
ditch in the shape of a U, between 20 and
25 metres wide and 5 metres deep, located
about 5 metres from the most protruding
parts of the wall turrets or towers.
Subsequent to the date we are writing
about other remnants of this ditch have
been discovered, in different sectors.
Two years later, in 1989, various parts of
the Roman city’s large necropolis were
excavated (now located in the district
known as San Roque, which is an
extension of the cemetery sector of A

Constitución square which was ravaged by
machinery, as we have seen earlier). The
excavations were centred on the former
“Mesón de Aguiar” and in the vicinity of
the chapel which gives the district its
name. There were 2nd century cremations
and late imperial burials from the 3rd
century. A large swimming pool was
located beside these tombs, embellished
with carved reliefs at the points of entry to,
and exit from, the water. The ram and the
sphinx in these reliefs have been
associated with some of the Eastern
religions which were prominent during the
late Roman period before the definitive
triumph of Christianity, a religion with the
same Eastern roots. In the same year,
1989, another necropolis was excavated in
the Campo de Forca.
At the end of the 1980s we already had a
detailed knowledge of the aqueduct which
carried water to the Roman city, the
design of which closely corresponds with
the one erected by Bishop Izquierdo in the
18th century and which was in use until
the end of the following century. The
intake was found in the Castiñeiro area. Its
first section has a wall 1m20 high with the
especus inside. Then, a stream channel
directs it on to arches resting on square
pilasters which are more than one metre
across. It came into the walled city
through a hole close to what is now the
Porta de San Fernando. Various remains
of the aqueduct (whose date is uncertain)
are known about today, including those
uncovered (1997) in the Praza da
Milagrosa and in San Marcos street (2011)
8.
In 1991 in the district of Recatelo, the
remains of “castro” type, circular shaped
dwellings were uncovered, dating from the
foundation of the city, and in Rúa Nova
there appeared, with other remains, walls
decorated with stucco. That same year the
journal “Larouco” started to be published,
in whose pages one can usually find news
141
about any developments in the
archaeological work at Lugo 9.
In 1993, and not without more
controversy, excavations begin for the
construction of a new car park, now
located in Anxel Fole street.
In the following year an original turret of
the original Roman wall is found in the
Campo Castelo area, a section of the wall
altered when in the 19th century the
Carlist Wars gave rise to the so-called
“Reducto Cristina” set as a bastion
adapted to the artillery requirements of
the time. The conservation and restoration
work on the bastion was completed in
2002 (image in 1994).
Construction works on the Museum of San
Roque started in 1994. After several delays
the museum finally opened its doors in
2007. Remains of the necropolis and the
large swimming pool referred to
previously can be viewed inside.
1996 saw several cultural events of interest
in relation to the Roman past of Lugo.
This year sees the holding of the second
exhibition of archaeological artefacts from
the city, hosted in the former municipal
abattoir, now converted to an exhibition
hall called Porta Miñá. The exhibition is
part of the 2nd international conference
on archaeology held in the city. The
conference takes place between the 15th
and 18th of May, under the heading “The
origins of the city in the Hispanic
Northwest” 10. Also in 1996 there appears

the first of ten anticipated volumes of a
monumental work on the ancient history
and archaeology of Lugo 11.
At the end of the 90's, advances in
archaeological knowledge about the urban
subsoil, gained as a result of the numerous
excavations already carried out in it and in
spite of the limitations and constraints
inherent in archaeology in current
population centres, mean that in general
terms the layout of the forum of the old
Roman city is now known. We are talking
about a rectangular town square
approximately 160 metres by 105, with a
surface area of some 20,000 square
metres, located in what are now the streets
of Progreso, San Pedro, Raíña and San
Domingos square. The forum was crossed
by the decumanus maximus in an east to
west direction, exiting from the former
walled city via the Porta Miñá. The square
was bordered on the west side by what
appears to be the cardo máximus which
overlaps to some extent with the current
Raíña street. Previous excavations have
also helped us to understand the broad
outlines of the original, unwalled city, the
early imperial city, which extended over 35
hectares, and also how this layout was
altered when in the 3rd or 4th centuries
the walls of the later imperial city were
built, leaving inhabited areas from the
original open city outside and, on the
other hand, enclosing burial (and
therefore uninhabited) areas inside the
formerly unwalled city.
From 1998 to 2000, between the streets of
Armanyá, Catedral and Bispo Basulto, a
large thermal spa complex was uncovered,
possibly for public use, appearing to take
up an entire urban insula west of the
forum. It appears to date from the 1st
century and to have been still in use in the
3rd-5th centuries. Indirectly it could help
us to date the aqueduct to early times, as
an aqueduct would have been needed to
142
provide water for the thermal baths
complex.
Between 1998 and 2002, in the course of a
series of projects, what is without doubt
today the richest private mansion of all
those known in the ancient Roman city
partially emerged into the daylight.
Located near two other patrician houses
(that of an insula at San Domingos and
the one with the Daedalus and Pasiphae
mosaic) it is now a museum known as
Domus Oceani or the Mosaics House
(image, works in 2002).
The large house was located on the
property sites of 20-22 Dr. Castro street,
in the street itself and neighbouring sites.
The insula, which was partly occupied by
the house, had a surface area of 14,000 sq.
metres, almost as large as the town forum,
and faced on to the cardo máximus and
the decumanus máximus (image, part of
the mosaic in 2002).

An arcaded courtyard, a great drawing
room (oecus) with an attaching ante-room
and a possible bathing area with
hypocaust make up the known parts of the
great mansion, but it is the magnificent
mosaics and the equally spectacular wall
murals which make the house a true urban
palace and show that the ancient Batitales
was not unique and, certainly, was not
part of any temple to Diana. The final
phase of the mansion dates from the end
of the 3rd, or beginning of the 4th, century
until midway through the 5th century. The
possibility has been suggested that it may
have been the residence of the legate of the
short-lived province Hispania Superior
discovered by the recently deceased
Heidelberg professor, Géza Alföldy. If so,
Lugo would have been the provincial
capital during the few years that this third
century territory existed, something which
even the most optimistic of the elder
writers on the history of Lugo could never
have suspected 12.
The excavations at the Miño baths, which
were concluded in 1998 and 1999, also
brought surprises. The discovery of an
apse-shaped room and other rooms was
accompanied by an important epigraphical
discovery: 14 altars were found, most of
which were dedicated to various nymphs
and had been thrown into a swimming
pool and, apparently, deliberately broken.
The altars were found along with various
items from the 4th century AD. They are
housed in the hotel-spa. Such discoveries
are not made every day.
The year 2000 has already become an
important and glorious milestone for the
city, for the reason that a UNESCO
committee, meeting in Australia, declared
the wall which girds the city to be a World
Heritage Site, with all that this means in
terms of its maintenance, conservation,
stimulus for tourism etc. for a little known
city. As part of the campaign to support
this declaration, the third substantial
143
exhibition of archaeological artefacts from
Lugo was held in the Porta Miñá
exhibition hall 13.
An aedicule dedicated to the Luci and
attributed to the 2nd-3rd centuries, with a
square base about 3.5 metres wide, and
two altars, was discovered in Montevideo
street in the year 2000 at the location
which in Roman times occupied the exit
from Lucus to Brigantium (A Coruña) by
Roman road number XX. As we shall see,
this was not the only new archaeological
discovery made over the past few years
connected to the ancient religions which
were practised in the city.
In 2001 a somewhat unusual, and of
course unexpected, revelation caused
surprise among Lugo aficionados of the
past: the surface stonework of the walls,
which is dark grey due to the colour of the
slate from which it is made, in antiquity
would have gleamed white like an
Andalusian house because it was
whitewashed. We can try to imagine how
striking the whitish appearance of the
walls would be on a sunny day (the few
that we get in this area) to someone
approaching along one of the several paths
that led in through the city gates.
The appearance, in 2001-2002, of two
ditches during excavations being carried
out in the area around Montevideo street
may help to shed light on the origins of the
city as possibly being a military
encampment during the Cantabrian Wars.
We would then be looking at origins
similar to those of Astorga. This supposed
encampment has nothing to do with
Schulten’s older hypothesis which
suggested that the present day urban
centre of Lugo was originally a Roman
battlefield structure. However the possible
military origin of Lucus would have to be
related to two other facts provided by
archaeology: it seems that the caetra coins
may have been produced by a mint set up
here in the course of those wars, and two

inscriptions have appeared in Lugo which
mention that the Sixth Legion stayed here.
In the year 2000 excavations began under
the villa of Os Montenegro facing the main
façade of the Cathedral. It is on this site
that the premises of the Vice-Chancellor of
the University will be built. Two years
later in this location what was then a
Mithraeum was discovered, that is, a
temple dedicated to the god of Persian
origin, Mithras, whose cult was spread by
the Roman empire in the years preceding
the final triumph of Christianity and with
which it was in conflict. This is the second
new development relating to the history of
religions provided by the archaeologists of
Lugo. Out of the Mithraeum comes a
magnificent altar almost one metre high,
dedicated to Mithras by a centurion of the
Seventh Legion, and which also informs us
about the existence in the city of a statio
lucensis, a tribute office run by military
personnel. The altar is, of course, the
latest epigraphic find of significance in
Lugo. The unexpected presence of a
Mithraeum in the corner of this
peninsular northern region once again
calls into question the older theories
which argue that there was little or no
Romanization in these northerly
territories 14. In 2005, to mark the
commemoration of the fifth anniversary of
the declaration of the walls as a World
Heritage Site, another large conference
took place in Lugo, this one being
dedicated to the study of Roman walls in
the west of the empire. This event took
place between the 26th and 29th of
November in that year 15.
The years 2006 and 2007 provided us
with three new archaeological
developments. The first was the
excavation and subsequent renovation of
the wall’s guard chamber located in the
Porta Miñá (image, restored stairs at Porta
Miñá in 2007). The second - which
contributed further to the history of the
144
religions- was the excavation of what was
possibly a rectangular temple with an
apse-shaped chevet, in the garden of the
“Círculo das Artes”. It may have been
dedicated to Laho Paraliomego. The third
was the discovery of a fort (“castro”), the
existence of which had not been
suspected, in the area of A Piringalla,
which is to say in the vicinity of the
ancient Roman city.
And with the year 2011 we come to the end
of our tour. On the occasion of the tenth
anniversary of the declaration of the walls
as a global asset, the City Council
published the latest work of synthesis on
the Roman history of the city 16.
That same year the Provincial Museum
obtained a map of the Campo Castelo from
1757, which is of great importance for our
understanding of the wall at Lugo. The
map, which is the work of the architect
Agustín Baamonde, was discovered

amongst the archive papers of the Tor
manor house and was found during the
creation of an inventory of the manor’s
library. On this map one can see several
turrets of the wall in the A Mosqueira
sector, each one clearly crowned with
three windows rounded in arches. This
therefore confirms the existence of the
type of original crowning of the wall
turrets, which was already known about
because of a nineteenth century engraving
but which has been difficult to confirm in
terms of actual physical evidence. And also
in 2011 the latest work about the city’s
Roman archaeology appears, bringing to a
conclusion our review of the same 17.
We said at the beginning of this article
that the existing repertoire of epigraphical
evidence from Lucus would be used as a
method of seeing, with numbers, how
knowledge about the original history of
the population has been increasing with
the passage of time. Let us look at this,
then, in conclusion:
-Volume II of the major work edited by
Hübner, the Corpus Inscriptionum
Latinarum, dates from 1869 and includes
27 inscriptions emanating from the city of
Lugo.
-If we jump forward almost one hundred
years we find 51 inscriptions reported as
having been found in the city of Lugo up
until 1954 18.
-A few years later, in 1979, we get the third
inventory of inscriptions attributed to the
province of Lugo 19. Here we find 54
inscriptions from Lucus.
-The latest enumeration of inscriptions
from Lugo is published in 2009. It gathers
together 94 inscriptions found in the city
20.
Therefore, between the inscriptions
reviewed by Hübner and those collected in
the latest published work, there is a
significant increase which sets out
numerically how the research into the
Roman city has progressed.
145
And we do not want to conclude this
discussion without highlighting the
appearance, in February 1988, of what we
consider to be the “jewel in the crown” of
Lugo epigraphy. We are referring to the
city’s foundation stone which was
discovered between the Praza Maior and
the Cregos street. It is made of granite and
is more than two metres high. It is
dedicated to the emperor Augustus by his
legate Paulus Fabius Maximus, the
founder of our city back in the years 15 to
13 BC. It now presides over the
archaeological collection in Porta Miñá,
but in our view a cast, a replica or
something similar should be placed in the
most prominent and central part of the
city accompanied by a short note of
explanation: the birth certificate in stone
of Lucus Augusti, which - we believe - very
few cities with origins similar to ours can
exhibit.
Footnotes:
1 Armesto, F. J. - Arnau, A., Apuntes concernientes al
vestigio romano descubierto en la calle de Batitales
de la ciudad de Lugo, Imprenta de Pujol y Hermano,
Lugo, 1843.
2 See for this subject, Abel Vilela, A., Origen de las
edificaciones adosadas a la muralla romana de Lugo,
La Voz de la Verdad, Lugo, 1972. The same author has
a wider and more recent study: A muralla romana de
Lugo na documentación dos séculos XVI ao XX,
Diputación Provincial de Lugo, Lugo, 2011.
3 Richmond, I. A., Five towns-walls in Hispania
Citerior, Journal of Roman Studies, XXI, 1931, pp. 87
et sqq. It is the first rigorous study on our fortification
made by the person who had studied the Aurelian Wall
in Rome. This author defined what he named legionary
style with the walls in Lugo, Astorga and León.
4 Vázquez Seijas, M., Fortalezas de Lugo y su
provincia (notas arqueológicas, históricas y
genealógicas), Diputación Provincial de Lugo, Lugo,
1955, vol. I.
5 Arias Vilas, F., Las murallas romanas de Lugo,
Studia Archaeologica 14, Universidad de Santiago,
Santiago, 1972. It is the author’s dissertation
supervised by Alberto Balil, a specialist, among other
things, in the Late Empire walls of Barcelona. Arias
Vilas dates the walls of Lugo between the years 260
and 310. As a more recent paper on these places we
can mention the one by Fernández Ochoa, C. - Morillo
Cerdán, A. published in 1991-92 in the journal

Cuadernos de Prehistoria y Arqueología de la
Universidad Autónoma de Madrid.
6 Acuña Castroviejo, F., Mosaicos romanos de
Hispania Citerior, II, Conventus Lucensis, Studia
Archaeologica, 24, Santiago de Compostela, 1973. Here
the Batitales mosaic is dated in the 3rd century (pp. 19
et sqq.).
7 Actas del Coloquio Internacional sobre el
Bimilenario de Lugo, Patronato del Bimilenario de
Lugo, Lugo, 1977. For the many events held in order to
commemorate the 2.000 years of Lugo, see: Abel
Vilela, A., El Bimilenario, Lugo, 1981.
8 Álvarez Asorey, R.- Carreño Gascón, M. C.- González
Fernández, E., Aqua Urbi. Historia do abastecemento
de auga á cidade de Lugo (época romana-Século XX),
Traballos de Arqueoloxía, nº 1, Concello de Lugo,
Lugo, 2003.
9 The journal is made by the Archaeological Group
“Larouco”, which excavates in the city and is led by
Antonio Colmenero. Edited by Edicións do Castro, its
two first issues were subtitled “Revista da Historia
primitiva, tradicións orais e patrimonio cultural de
Galicia”. From the third issue onwards it changes this
subtitle for “Revista anual da Antiguedade Galaica”.
10 On the occasion of the exhibition, the first global
publication on the Roman archaeology of Lugo comes
out: Rodríguez Colmenero, A. et alii, Urbs Romana. As
orixes da cidade de Lugo, Traballos de Arqueoloxía, nº
0, Concello de Lugo, Lugo, 1995.
In 1999 the Congress book was published in two thick
volumes: Rodríguez Colmenero, A. (coord.), Los
orígenes de la ciudad en el noroeste hispánico. Actas
del Congreso Internacional. Lugo, 15-18 de mayo,
1996, Diputación Provincial de Lugo.
11 Rodríguez Colmenero, A. (coord.), Lucus Augusti.
El amanecer de una ciudad, Fundación Pedro Barrié
de la Maza, A Coruña, 1996. The second and, so far,
latest volume of the series was published in 2001:
146
Alcorta Irastorza, E., Lucus Augusti II. Cerámica
común romana de cocina y mesa hallada en las
excavaciones de la ciudad, Fundación Pedro Barrié de
la Maza, Santiago, 2001.
12 González Fernández, E., Domus Oceani.
Aproximación á arquitectura doméstica de Lucus
Augusti, Traballos de Arqueoloxía, nº 2, Concello de
Lugo, Lugo, 2005. By the same author: Lugo
arqueolóxico. Casa dos Mosaicos Batitales, Xunta de
Galicia, A Coruña, 2005.
13 The city council edited the exhibition catalogue with
the same title, Imago Antiqua. Lugo romano, Lugo,
2005. The council also celebrated the inclusion of the
wall in the World Heritage list with another book:
AA.VV., A muralla de Lugo. Patrimonio da
Humanidade, Lugo, 2004.
14 Rodríguez Cao, C. (coord), A domus do mitreo,
Universidade de Santiago, A Coruña, 2011.
15 The Congress book was published by the Provincial
Council of Lugo in 2007: Murallas de ciudades
romanas en el occidente del imperio. Lucus Augusti
como paradigma.
16 Rodríguez Colmenero, A., Lucus Augusti. A cidade
romano-xermánica da Fisterra Ibérica. Xénese e
evolución histórica (14 a. C.-711 d. C.), Lugo, 2011.
17 Carreras Monfort, C.- Morais, R.- González
Fernández, E., Ánforas romanas de Lugo, Traballos de
Arqueoloxía, 3, Servicio Municipal de Arqueoloxía do
Concello de Lugo, Lugo, 2011.
18 Vázquez Saco, F. - Vázquez Seijas, M., Inscripciones
romanas de Galicia. II. Provincia de Lugo, Instituto
Padre Sarmiento de Estudios Gallegos, Santiago, 1954.
19 Arias Vilas, F.- Le Roux, P.- Tranoy, A, Inscriptions
romaines de la Province de Lugo, Centre Pierre Paris,
Paris, 1979, pp. 29 et sqq.
20 Gómez Vila, J., Epigrafía romana de la provincia
de Lugo, 2009, pp. 141 et sqq.
Works in an interior
staircase in San Fernando
gate area, 1989

The Roman military camps: Aquis Querquennis
Leticia Mouriz and Vanesa de la Fuente
This camp was built in the Roman
imperial period. Its name comes from the
people that occupied the area, the
quarquerni that would stretch, within the
Conventus Bracarensis, by the region of
the Baixa Limia in the province of
Ourense.
We can emphasize another important
Roman camp in Galicia, the one named “A
Cidadela” situated in Sobrado dos Monxes
(A Coruña).
Aquis was occupied by a subordinate
military detachment of the Legio VII
Gemina, that had the headquarters in
León. It was built during the reign of
Vespasian (69-79 A. D.) and left
approximately in the year 120 A. D.
The place was chosen because it’s an easy
place to access, with pastures, big amount
of firewood and thermal springs. The site
is structured as a rectangle with rounded
corners and four entrances. The surface it
occupies is 25,842 square meters and it
has a circular area of about eleven meters
wide separating the walls from the other
buildings, which was named intervallum.
The site
Aquis Querquennis is an archaeological
complex that began to be diggen in 1975. It
consists of a Roman camp and a village
from the same period which was a
mansion of the Via Nova linking Bracara
and Asturica. Initially both places were
interrelated because it’s almost
demonstrated that the camp was founded
in order to activate the construction of the
Via Nova. A few decades later, when the
camp disappeared, its structures served to
grow the road mansion, the fourth from
Braga and 53 miles far from this city. It
147
became the most important of the
Quarquernos urban centers as Ptolemy
wrote in the middle of the 2nd century.
The military camp
Decimus Junius Brutus and his legionaries
crossed the river Limia in 138 A. D. and
Octavius Augustus made the final attack in
29 A. D. using an important contingent of
troops. With the suicide of the last
warriors in Medulio mountain, the
complete romanization of Gallaecia
began. One of the first signs of this process
is the creation of stable military camps to
control the last focus of rebellion and the
buidings of roads to communicate the new
imperial settlements. The legions were
responsible for the surveillance and
security in the roads.
Into the camp can be seen:
-Main door (Porta principalis sinistra):
it's a great entrance with double way and
four doors on which the perimetral adarve
of the walls run by (image).
-West door (Porta decumana): contrary to
the main door this has only one way and
two successive arcade doors.
Both were razed to the first row of the
blocks. The excavation and rebuilding

process, very similar in both cases,
allowed to make them visible.
Next to west door we find different
buildings:
-The barns (horrea, image): These two
buildings were designed to store cereals
and other food for human consumption.
Both are of similar proportions and
identical constructive technique, with
support piles, ventilation chimneys and
lateral buttresses to halt the grain
pressure.
-The troop barracks (image): Two of these
barracks are completely excavated. The
first one presents a simple diagram. At the
entrance, on the left, it was the centurion’s
residence and, then, four double units
with communicated compartments, where
eight soldiers were accommodated. In the
opposite band there are six double units.
They were enough to give shelter to eighty
soldiers, the ones that formed a century.
Each one of these units had, at least, a
home in some of the stays and, sometimes,
in both. The cover would be made of wood
and straw, probably with two slopes. The
rain waters would be collected in an
interior compluvium, and conducted
through a channel to a circular cistern
lined of stone and endowed with curb of
148
security. There would exist, in both
facades and only in the segments
corresponding to the cubicles of the troop,
a narrow ambulatory, the cover of which
would lean on wooden posts sustained on
granite bases, to which all the entrances of
the stays would lead to. The second
barrack, completely isolated from the first
one, with which it confines partially by
means of a wall almost surely plugged at
that time. The distribution and nature of
the occupation environments are similar
but this presents some novelties, such as
the existence of two confronted
rectangular stays, like guard’s bodies or
two dividing walls in the wall opposed to
the vain of the barrack entrance.
-The hospital (valetudinarium): The plant
of this building imitates a typical Roman
domus. The rooms, all of them square, are
articulated arround a peristyle that
surrounds a square patio, delimitated by a
wall of over 60 centimeters high (image).
The building suffered some detectable
alterations along its life, both in the
transformation of some stays and in the
remodelling of the pavements. From the
interior patio run towards the south a
drainage channel going up to the
decumana too.
-Third barrack of the troop and canaba:
About twenty-five meters from the wall,
archaeologists found very fragmentary
remains consisting in vestiges of rooms,
some of them with a home, and two
circular exempt floors, paved with roman
tiles, that seemed bases of ovens or funds
of ponds. It was thought these buildings

elonged to the camp due to the ceramic
founded and therefore they could be the
remains of a potter stablishment
dependent of the camp or the first canaba
vestiges (store or barrack usually
established near the more or less Roman
stable centers of fixed or temporary
population and from which traders
fulfilled the needs of these groups) that
surely had to exist near the camp.
The road mansion (image)
The ruins we can see today are the vestiges
of an establishment innkeeper erected in
two different moments. The first one,
dating probably from the beginning of the
second century of the era, would consist of
a large yard with roof supported on large
pilasters the basement of which are still
upkept. It would have a series of
contiguous residential stays.
149
The second one, probably built in the first
decades of the 3rd century, would
correspond to the installation of a new
building which, partly, would invalidate
the old yard with the construction of an
external fence with a well in the middle,
possibly to keep safe and to water the
transport and mount animals. This
building, whose paved lobby is still
entirely outkept, was flanked by an urban
road to which one could descend by a wide
stairway with several granitic steps.
Bibliography:
-Rodríguez Colmenero, A (2009) Aquae
Querquennae. Xunta de Galicia.
www.ourensebaixalimia.com/aquisquerquenis.
htm
es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cannaba
gl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quarquernos

A ludic-historical recreation: Arde Lucus
Vanesa de la Fuente, Leticia Mouriz
Lugo, Roman city:
The city of Lugo was founded between the
years 26 and 12 B.C. by Paulus Fabius
Maximus, legate of Caesar Augustus and
was named Lucus Augusti in his honor. It
is the oldest urban centre in Galicia. At the
beginning it was a Roman military camp
and later became one of the three
administrative capitals of Gallaecia, the
Roman province that occupied the
northwest of the Iberian Peninsula.
Lugo has a Roman wall, declared World
Heritage Site by UNESCO in 2000, built at
the end of the 3rd and beginning of the
4th century, during the Late Roman
Empire. It is completely preserved and it
surrounds the city centre.
Arde Lucus:
a Gallaecian-Roman festival
Arde Lucus, celebrated in the city since
2001 at the end of June, is a Galician
150
festival of touristic interest. It revives the
Gallaecian-Roman past of the city and it
was started to commemorate its founding.
In 2011 it was declared Galician festival of
Touristic Interest and in its last editions
nearly one million people took part in it.
The atmosphere is extraordinary since
locals and visitors take to the streets
dressed in Roman-time clothes. The
festival actually combines the citizens’
spontaneity with activities organized by
the town council like military camps,
Celtic weddings, craft fairs, Roman circus
or sieges to the wall.
Activities in the Arde Lucus:
The activities mix up the Gallaecian-
Roman past of the city, which also "opens
the doors" to the celebration of Celtic rites
inside the walls. We can mention the
following:
-Military camps: They are a
series of camps which must be
set up by the participants
themselves, both private
people and associations. The
way of living in Roman times
is recreated there because
those who live in them must
wear clothes and objects
typical of that time.
-Celtic weddings: Couples can
marry following the ancient
Celtic rite, a loving union that
will last till the following year.
The ceremony follows a
simple ritual called “union of
hands’ sacred ritual”. The
bride and the bridegroom
stand opposite each other
and, as they hold each other’s hands, are
tied up with a rope or a ribbon that

symbolizes their union. The celebrant is a
person designated by the couple. They
usually have a witness each. The group of
guests can be more or less numerous,
according to the couple’s wishes.
-Macellum: It is a craft fair where typical
products of the period are offered and, at
the same time, shows of magic, juggling
and music concerts take place.
-Roman circus: The circus, one of the most
important recreational facilities in a
Roman city, was inspired by the Greek
hippodromes and stadiums, but it was
bigger.
During the Arde Lucus festival it is placed
in the Rosalía de Castro Park. There are
some activities similar to the ones in
Roman circuses like gladiator fights, biga
races and others.
-The Roman wall burning: This activity
recreates the siege to a Roman city. It’s
celebrated not in the Wall but in the
Rosalía de Castro Park. All the
associations and many volunteers
participate in it.
151
-Other activities: In addition to the
previous ones, we can mention many other
activities like bacchanalia (parties in the
honor of the Roman God of Wine), the
placement of guards at the Wall gates,
battles of Celts against Romans, shows of
magic, military parades, fancy dress
contests, Roman games, gladiator fights,
different activities to popularize
Gallaecian and Roman traditions, slave
sales, Roman weddings, military Roman
training in the streets of the city, different
exhibitions or different concerts.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
www.ardelucus.com/
es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arde Lucus
turismogalicia.blogspot.com/2010/06/ard
e-lucus-2010-fiesta-roman-en-lugo.html

Castro culture
Interview with Felipe Arias Vilas, archaeologist
Interview made on November, 24, 2011
by Ana Anllo, José A. Armesto, Antonio
Bernárdez, María X. Rodríguez.
Felipe Arias Vilas (Lugo, 1949) got a
degree in Philosophy and Letters (section
of Geography and History) by the
Universidade de Santiago de Compostela
and got the Extraordinary Prize of
Bachelor's degree with a thesis about the
Roman wall of Lugo in 1972. Civil servant
of the Corpo Facultativo de Conservadores
de Museos from 1974, he is the director of
the Museum of the Castro of Viladonga
from 1983. He coordinated the
archaeologic works of excavation and
consolidation of this monument from
1982. He was the General Director of
Cultural Heritage in the Xunta de Galicia.
He is the author (by himself or in
collaboration) of more than a hundred and
seventy publications about archaeology,
Roman epigraphy and numismatics,
museums, heritage, etc.
Is the “Castro culture“ an
autochthonous culture or is it some
kind of variation of a vaster
indoeuropean or Celtic culture?
The Castro culture shows some
peculiarities in itself and as though there
are some castros in Castile we can´t
include them into the castro culture. One
of its peculiarities and richness of the
Castro culture is that it´s something
typical of Galicia. First there was a very
strong native basis with an indigenous
substratum, which was previously called
pre-Celtic, ”the aeternum neolitic Galician
farmer" in Professor Alonso del Real´s
152
words. Second, there is an Athlantic
component, which is held in common with
the European Athlantic frontage (British
Islands, West of France, Britany...).
Besides there is a Mediterranean
component that was not taken into
account before but which nowadays is
considered very important: Punics (not so
much Carthaginians or Phoenicians),
Tartessus..... from which we can find clear
influences in the Castro jewellery. We also
know that there was a Punic enclave in the
estuary of Vigo.
This component is not as strong as the
Athlantic or Indoeuropean but there
exists. Finally there is a very important
Centro European aproach, which was
traditionally associated with the so called
Celtics invasions in the Iron Age (which

have never existed as real invasions).
There is a Celtic influence all over Europe
in such aspects as religion, language or
material culture, even though it´s difficult
to find all the aspects together in the same
area and it´s what happens here, that
there are Celtic elements mixed with other
elements. Some elements like some
divinities or some languages with a Celtic
base are spread all over Europe.
The mixing of those four elements makes
the Castro culture something peculiar,
different from the Celtiberian world,
which has also some Celtiberian features,
so we can talk about the singularity of the
Galician castros. There they are as
geographical elements with their strong
presence in the landscape and with their
own configuration in the locations, their
different types and models deppending on
their orography, and their closeness (with
some empty zones as in the eastern
mountains where we can only find some
mining castros from the Roman period).
Paralelism with the Celtic or Celtiberic
world have been searched, which is maybe
a possibility, but there is also a tendecy to
establish a parallelism with the Medieval
Ireland (connecting aspects of the
Arthuric cicle) but in that case we are
playing with spatial-temporal factors
which can be inadequate. We must take
into account that there are many elements
of the Celtic culture commons to half
Europe, and in that way it raises the
debates among archaeologists of the idea
of a “koine” or a Celtic lingua franca with
many variations.
Did it exist a political unity? Were
they different nations or were the
same? What kind of political
structure did they have ?
It´s certain that there wasn´t a political
unity as we understand it nowadays. Many
aspects of the Castro world are known
thanks to the Roman inscriptions which
153
mention toponyms, anthroponyms and
they did identify the North-West as a
particular zone which they called
“Gallaecia”. The Galician people were a
mixture of several nations relativily
homogeneous or with many similarities,
which lived between the river Douro and
the Asturian- Lucense part of Cantabria.
Later the Romans subdivided this territory
into “conventus” to show the diversity they
found in that part. In Plinio´s texts there
appeared many “populi” or “civitates”
what means that there was not a political
unity. But Rome made an administrative
conglomeration which hid a cultural
homogeneity with its borders in the river
Navia and from the Ancares-Caurel on the
west to the river Douro on the south. If we
believe Plinio and the Roman sources
(taken into account that they were
journalists who wrote for the Romans and
that some of them as Estrabon used to
write about what others told him and not
because they had ever been to Gallaecia),
we understand there were different
nations; Plinio said that some of them
were Celtics what it means that some of
them were not. The Roman informations
are mediatized by their conquer process
and for their interest in the appropiation
of their resources, mainly the gold.
About their political structure not much is
known and nowadays it´s a great subject
of debate. We can talk about two streams
of arguments. On one hand it´s is said that
before the contact with Rome (Decimus
Junius Brutus in the 2nd century B.C.)
there were a egalitarian society which
began to stratified from that very moment.
And on the other hand it´s said that from
the 6th century B.C. there were leaders or
a warriors caste and priests as there were
in other civilitations which were different
from the rest of the society (craftsmen,
jewellers, peasants). Maybe both are right
in a way but the contact with Rome is
going to bring some significants changes

and a social stratification and even
specilized castros deppending on the
resources of the area. Nevertheless some
gold jewells as the “torques”, tiaras or earrings
appeared before the Romans, they
were a symbol of power and that means
that there were some kind of social
stratification. As the already quoted
Alonso del Real said “the invention of the
mayors comes from the Neolitic Age”.
The communal work was probably as
important as there has always been in
some rural areas which can perfectly
match with the social stratifications. The
archaeology shows social differences, with
some rich houses and poor ones, pottery
and jewells, these differences perhaps
were emphasized by the romanization
which increases the importance of a
”collaborationist aristrocracy”, as it can be
seen in the discoveries of sigillata pottery
(an imported excellent Roman pottery ).
Nowadays we know that not all the castros
dissapeared after the conquer, some of the
biggest ones remained as models of rural
habitat. Before the conquest everybody
lived in castros, later the habitats changed
with the settlement of the cities,
encampments, country houses and also
castros. Briteiros, Sanfins in Portugal, San
Cibrao de Las, Castromao in Ourense, Sta
Tegra in Pontevedra, Elviña in Coruña or
Viladonga in Lugo (image) were quite
important oppida or big settlements which
were more and more romanizated in
material culture (coins, pottery, copper)
which was not incompatible with the pre-
Roman material traditions. What we don
´t know is how wide was this mental
romanization. For example in areas where
the contact was stronger and deeper (as in
Rías Baixas) there should be a more
natural romanization. But on one hand in
some areas (as in the Terra Chá, or the
Courel) the Romanization could have been
a slower process. Roman pottery could be
used without changing their culture. The
154
world of beliefs is difficult to measure
because sometimes the objects found are
identified according to religious or
simbolic aspects (as amulets) without
knowing exactly their function.
Were the castros fortified for
defensive reasons or did they want
to show their prestige or for both
reasons?
There were several reasons. The defensive
reason was one of course but Francisco
Calo and others writers´ studies say that
they also had a simbolic function, to
indicate and identified a territory and its
inhabitants. There also was a sanitary
reason against winds, plagues, animals....
Each castro had their own function
deppending on its location and on its
period. It´s not the same the 4th century
B.C. as the 3rd century of our era. There
are castros with a single wall and others
had three walls with their correspondent
moats, those latter can probably be related
to periods of fear, or different factors in
each particular moment, the population or
even the collective intelligence. We
mustn't forget that were are talking about
“peasant culture” in the good sense, with a
non violent society except for some preciss
conflicts related to pillage problems or
aggressions among the neighbours.
Francisco Calo insists that where we find
one weapon, ten tools are found what

shows us that the war was not very
important in the Castro period.
The reactions against the conquest were
different from the point of view of the
violence, with some episodes as the Monte
Medulio which was probably magnified by
the Romans to emphasize the worth of
their conquest and with some written or
tacit agreements (Castromao, Bembibre).
There were some Gallician warriors in the
Roman Army but obviosly the ones who
resisted were annihilated or enslaved.
Which was the economic-social
model in the Castro society (coins,
market, exchange) before the
romanization? And afterwards?
We talk about a agriculture and pastoral
model, taking into account the metallurgy
importance, which in spite of the damage
caused from the acidity of the soil, was
well known from the bell-beaker culture to
the Bronze Age. Pastoral doesn´t exactly
mean cattle raising, since even though the
small livestock were raised inside or near
the castros the big cattle (horses,bovine)
grazed freely on the mountains as it´s
done in some areas nowadays. There
existed the trade in the Northwest from
the era of the bell-beaker culture, in the
Athlantic and Mediterranean areas, but it
was a minority activity till the
romanization, when there is a bigger
trading development mainly after the
urban development (Lucus Augusti, Iria
Flavia, Brigantium...)
We can´t talk about Prerroman coinage
(like in the Galias) but we can talk about
some kind of exchange (bronze talon axes,
for example). The romanization implied a
bigger social stratification and a
diversification of the resources, with the
introduction, for instance, of the fruit
trees, a larger intensification and
extension of the crops deppending on the
areas and a rise of trading exchanges as it
155
´s clear for the fiscal and trading control
like in Lugo or Brigantium.
Is there an information about the
number of castros which existed in
Gallaecia or about the density of the
population? How many people could
live in a medium size castro?
The last inventories show that there were
about 4,500 or 4,600 castros alongside the
centuries, probably not all of them were
inhabitated at the same time, alternating
quite crowded areas (nearly all the coast
except for A Capelada) with some
unoccupied areas (the eastern mountains).
Their occupation varied along the time .
Plinio informed that in the Lugo´s
conventus (North Galicia) there lived
155,000 free men (he didn´t include
women or children), so we can think of a
population of 500,000 more or less but
this is mere especulation. There were not
necropolis (it´s very probable that they
used to cremate the corpses) which could
give us any help to quantify the
population. We can establish a progressive
tendence to concentrate the population
alongside a millenium, so only a few
important castros remained because of the
territorial desire of control of the Roman
Empire.
The average size of a castro was about 200
or 300 inhabitants as it can be seen in
Viladonga, a castro quite excavated. Some
castros, which are only partially excavated,
can deceive us about the resident
population. We must also take into
account the factors which can´t be
quantified, like the infantile mortality and
the short life expenctancy.
Which is the cronological ambit of
the Castro culture? Can we
distinguish stages or was an
homogenean culture?

It was thought that it began in the 6th
century B.C. and finished in the 1st A.D.
with the Roman conquest.
Nowadays we think that the beginning
could be between the centuries 9th-8th
B.C. (the transition from Bronze to Iron
Ages) with some small castros like
Penarrubia in Orbazay (Lugo). In that way
we can distinguish an initial castro culture
(9th-8th centuries B.C), a medium size or
complete castro culture (6th-2nd centuries
B.C.) and a final castro culture. The debate
is to know whether they finished with the
romanization or they
remained in a way.
It´s more accepted to
talk about not of a
Castro culture but
about a rural Galician-
Roman culture from
the 1st century A.D.
There is a decisive
evolution and quite
defined one between
the first initials castros
of a small size and the
big final ones like
Santa Tegra or
Viladonga.
Do we know other
castros in Lugo
appart from the
Castro of
Piringalla? May the
Romans used these places to set up
their encampments?
Traditionally the historiography
associated Lugo´s foundation on a
preexisting castro but this may not be
true. In recent years there appeared
remains of circular dwellings in the area of
the Rosalia Park and in Recatelo, but we
can´t be sure if they were Prerromans.
What is clear is that in the surroundings
there were many castros and that the
foundation of Lucus Augusti could be
156
related with this fact, but not exactly using
a previous castro.
Lucus was probably a meeting place with a
very strong symbolic or sacred identity
devoted to the Celtic divinity Lugh or Lug,
therefore a holly wood, which Rome
changed into a place of worship to
Augustus (Lucus Augusti) which shows a
clear political-religious assimilation. There
is also a military reason, with the
establishing of a legionary corps to
demand this worship and to control the
territory. The soldiers probably were not
Romans or Italians, except for the most
important commands, those ones were
probably from other zones of the Empire.
It appeared a castro in Piringalla from 1st
century B.C. and we don´t really know
why it dissappeared. About other castros
in the surroundings it's known that they
were inhabitated in the Galician-Roman
era because of coins, pottery and Roman
tiles found there, what is a definite proof.
Which is the cronological ambit of
the castro de Viladonga? Can we

differenciate periods or was it an
homogeneous period?
There is a first level inhabitated in the 1st
century B.C. dated with carbon-14 and
with remains of pottery and walls placed
in the northeast corner and really localized
in time (hardly 100 years) and in space. At
the ending of the 2nd A.D. and the
beginning of 3rd century A.D. the current
settlement took place in the same place we
can see it today, with a period of building
of about 40 years. There are zones with a
level work at the entrance and in the rear
antecastro with a transient occupational
area meanwhile the castro was being built.
So the main habitat started at the ending
of 2nd century A.D. to the middle of the
5th century A.D. what implies that taking
into account that the swabians were in
Galicia since 410 there may be a
relationship between the late Castro
defences and the arrival of the barbarians.
According to Hidacius, the Roman-
Galicians sheltered in the best defensible
castros, but we must bear in mind that he
was an ecclesiastic chronicler connected
with the remains of the Roman Empire,
and he was afraid of the political
consequences of the invasion, and of the
possible danger for the Catholic Church,
wich was already the official religion since
the endings of the 4th century, therefore
his reports can´t be taken in its literal
meaning.
During these 300 years of occupation in
Viladonga there was a continuity of
material culture with several reforms but
with little evolution. The late cronology
157
created some doubts about the reliability
of the excavations but today it´s already
checked that this Castro habitat was from
the late Roman-Galician period. We can
talk of an occupational level with several
layers during a period of more than three
centuries.
How can we consider the Viladonga
castro according to its size, small,
medium or big?
It´s a quite big castro. Sometimes there is
a problem with the size of the castro
because it deppends if we take into
account only the central ring or the whole
settlement. Viladonga as a whole measures
4 ha. but the central ring is only 1. It´s
known that a castro was not only the
central ring (“coroa”), but also terraces,
“antecastros”, secondary zones and roads.
For instance Elviña is wider than it
seemed at the beginning of the
excavations.
What kind of information do we
have about the economical-
political-social ambit in the
Viladonga castro?
It was probably a kind of district head, but
we should have to make trial excavations
in the castros arround to fix if they
dissapeared when Viladonga started. It´s
true that there were strong relationship
with Lucus as the ceramics, the glass or
the bronze ornaments, which were found
there, show Lugo could be a more
romanized and richer urbanized place
meanwhile Viladonga was a kind of a very
large village, not so romanized .

Daily life in Galician castro culture i
María X. Rodríguez Valcárcel
Getting to know how our ancestors lived is
always interesting. In the Galician castro
culture, as in every culture where either
the sources of information are not written
or they are written but have an alien
origin, the problem is that the information
is often scarce and must be contrasted
because the results are now, for different
reasons, not very reliable. To reconstruct
the elements that characterize the lifestyle
of this people that preceded and even
coexisted with the Romans, we can use the
information provided by the archaeology,
the information (sometimes not very clear
and reliable) supplied by the classical
historians and we can even compare them
with other cultures of the same period.
The information is often scarce and we
think we will get to know more as the
archaeological works go on. Now we are
going to offer a short description of some
aspects of the way of living of the Gallaeci.
The “castros”
The castro culture is one of the Indo-
European cultures existing in Western
Europe in the Iron Age and presents some
elements from Celtic origin. It is not
uniform either in space or in time, but it
has some basic aspects that last persist
throughout the centuries. Its typical
villages, the “castros”, appear in the 8th to
the 7th centuries b. C. and they last until
the 1st or even the 5th century a.D.
They were small fortified villages
inhabited by peasants that grew cereals,
collected wild fruits (basically acorn from
oak), raised cattle and practised the
metallurgy of bronze and iron. In the
coastal areas they also caught fish and
seafood.
158
In Galicia most of the “castros” were
medium or small size; the small ones
appear in all the stages of this culture,
whereas the big ones only belong to the
final moment. In the first stage (until the
5th-4th centuries B.C.) they were located
basically on high, easy-to-defend places.
In the second stage (until the end of the
2nd century b. C.) they were situated in
places where both strategic position and
access to resources were important; at this
time the “hillside hillfort “ appeared. The
last stage (until the end of the 2nd century
a.D.), after the Roman conquest, was that
of big villages ii .
In Galicia in general and in the province of
Lugo in particular we can distinguish
three kinds of settlement iii :
-“Seaside castros” like the one in Fazouro
on the coast of Lugo and Baroña on the
coast of A Coruña (image by Olga
Escolano)). They usually present a simple
sketch, with varied plan, adapted to the
land and the natural defences of the
seaside were complemented with moats in
the inside.
-“Plain and valley inland castros” (for
instance Castromao in Ourense and
Viladonga in Lugo) located on more or less
high places but never on the top. They

have a circular or oval plan and one or
more walled circuits.
-“Castros placed in the east mountain
ranges”, situated in high mountainous
areas (Castro de Vilar and de Torre
(image) at Courel, castro de Formigueiros
in Samos, the three of them at Lugo's
province) located generally on the slopes.
They had oval or irregular plan , artificial
moats in the upper part and walls and
embankment to the valley. They developed
especially in the Galician-Roman period
linked to mining exploitations.
The castro people used to place their
villages in places that combined defensive
position and proximity to arable lands,
except some castros situated in
inhospitable places like Baroña or Porto
do Son. In approximately one kilometre
around the hillfort there were the arable
lands and all the resources like water,
firewood, pastures and so on. Rodríguez
Colmenero portrays in the following words
the habitat of this people iv:
“When trying to describe their type of
habitat, it could be said that typical castro
is a settlement located on raised grounds,
upon a hill, on the slope of a mountain or
a sloping bank of a river. When selecting
their location, the determining factors
were both the availability of a drinking
water supply for population and livestock,
and the optimisation of their defensive
159
attributes since they were a war-like
society v, always aware of possible
invasions, foreign migrations or territorial
disputes amongst tribes, and therefore
they would look for the most appropriate
locations which could be defended with
walls, moats and stockades”.
Rodríguez Colmenero vi affirms that in
the Prerroman stage of what would later
become Gallaecia, no sign of political
unity could be found. On the contrary,
there was “a mosaic of tribal units of
limited geographical scope” that Rome
would adopt after the conquest to organise
its own domains. Pliny wrote there were
40 units, called civitates, within the
Conventus Bracarensis (24) and populi
within the Conventus Lucensis (16). The
settlements included in each of these units
were different in size and category and
they were subordinated to each other.
Epigraphic sources and a document
written on bronze that has recently been
found in the Bierzo area let us know that
“the civitas or populus were organised in
inferior territorial units, all of them with
the same category, called castella
(castros), each of them covered a territory
named after a main settlement to which
the other smaller castros were
subordinated”. The main castellum was
the place of residence of the local
authorities, who were sometimes presided
by indigenous aristocrats called principes.
Even amongst the main castros there was
a dominant one where the executive power
had its seat and the general assemblies
took place, which was the territorial
administrative centre and so on. It was
also the place where the representatives of
all castella in the civitas would meet
periodically in order to discuss
government matters, or where the citizens
with the right to vote would go in order to
participate in the general assemblies of the
tribe.

Regarding the number of inhabitants in
the period in the area of what is Galicia
today, we only have hypothetical data.
Pliny comments that around the 1st
century B.C. it could be more or less two
hundred ten thousand people, which
would give an average of seven inhabitants
by square kilometre, but this population
would be distributed irregularly along the
territory. There was a remarkable increase
of population throughout the long history
of this culture, from the beginning with
few small-size castros until the last stage
with many medium-size or even big
castros. The life expectancy would be
thirty-two years. We can think that, like
other ancient populations, these people
would have a high infant mortality rate
and an acceptable birth rate that made the
demographic growth possible.
Regarding the system of inheritance of
property, Strabo commented that it was
women who received the dowry, who
inherited, and afterwards they had the
responsibility to fix their brothers’
matrimonial arrangements. We can
assume from this that the real property
(the property or usufruct of the family
lands) was transfered by the mother’s
lineage and it was women that were in
charge of cultivating the land. Men would
get the livestock, the booty conquered in
the war expeditions and the gold or silver
articles like “torques”. This system of
inheritance and property implies that men
would go to live to their wives’ homes.
Language and religion
With regards to the language they spoke,
we have few data, because we can only
count on the epigraphic sources and the
toponymy. Armada Pita vii says that the
analysis of some Gallaecian-Lusitan
inscriptions written in indigenous
language but using the Latin alphabet,
together with the information given by the
160
epigraphy, toponymy and classical
sources, gave rise to two currents of
opinion about the origin of the language.
Some authors think the Lusitanian was a
Indo-european language, but the archaic
elements it presents make it different from
the Celtic languages. So it should be
considered Proto-Celt, and therefore
previous to the division of the primitive
Indoeuropean branch into the different
linguistic groups. On the contrary, some
authors think that the presence of archaic
elements is not a solid and conclusive
criterion to deny that the Lusitanian
language belonged to the Celtic group of
languages.
Armada Pita gives also information about
the controversy on whether Gallaeci and
Lusitanians spoke one or several
languages. Although he recognizes there
must have been variants inside the
territory, he affirms that it existed a
relative linguistic unit.
Concerning religion, we have the same or
even more difficulties that in other fields
to characterize this culture because all the
data are the result of the contact with the
Roman religion, in fact we don’t have any
“castrexo” document about religion. We
can say that they practised the polytheism,
because we know many names of gods
worshipped by this people, but the
frequency with which they are mentioned
lets us think that some of them would be
more important than others, which also
leads us to believe that there should exist a
defined and perfectly structured pantheon.
The most important God should have been
Lug, identified with Mercury by the
Romans and associated to the wild boar or
the bear. Another one is Bandua, that
would occupy the inferior place, and which
the Romans associated with Mars. Penha
Granha viii affirms that “the Gallaecian
god of war dies fighting defending the
comrades, but later he rises from the dead
to lead the fallen to paradise”.

We also have a great amount of
inscriptions dedicated to Jupiter, which
leads us to think that behind the Roman
god hides an indigenous one. Another is
Coso, identified with the Roman god Mars
in some epigraphs. We also have many
gods in relation with the waters and others
like Durbedicus, Edovius, Veroca, some of
whom surely protected the harvests and
the livestock and helped fertility. There
were also the gods of the ways, the Lares
Viales, almost surely represented by some
statues of heads with two or four faces.
The importance of the rites with sacrifices
makes us think that there probably were
priests of druidical type.
Economic activity
Classical authors, when talking about the
culture of this people, play down their
dedication to agriculture and emphasize
their habit of picking acorns.
Archaeological studies proved this idea
wrong; it had obviously been upheld to
portray them as barbarian. They actually
had an agricultural activity we cannot call
archaic, based on winter and spring
cereals together with pulses and cabbages.
They cultivated mostly wheat and barley,
together with oats in scarce proportions
and corn. In the group of pulses we can
mention peas and beans. They would also
cultivate linen and wool of sheep, which
were the base of a domestic textile
industry well documented in all the
“castros” through spinning tools. Antonio
Colmenero ix maintains that “the
agricultural production was organised in
the nearby plains, leaving the fertile
marshland and the closer mountains for
shepherding and large and small wild
game hunting. Also from the most
immediate surroundings of the castro
would be obtained the basic materials for
the handicrafts industry and the
combustion; this being wood, iron, various
161
minerals and coal for cooking and heating
up the homes”.
Regarding the cattle farming, we can say
that it was used mostly to produce milk, to
pull the ploughs and, at the end of their
life, as stock of meat and leather. They
would not eat horse meat because this
animal, used probably in the war and in
sacrifices, was also a symbol of wealth and
power.
The exploitation of the sea began in the
initial phase of this culture. They used to
gather seafood from the rocks and sandy
bottoms near their villages. The list of
seafood picked is long and it depends on
the area where the castro was situated:
mussels, limpets, snails, cockles, oysters,
clams, razorshells and so on. Regarding
the fishing, there were found in the castros
remains of pounting, hake, scad, white
seabream, red bream and so on. They used
hooks and nets to fish.
This people had a variety of food
resources. The most important ingredients
in the cooking of this culture were:
-Vegetables: acorns, wheat, barley, corn,
oats, beans, peas, cabbage and wild fruit.
-Animals: In the goup of fishes we can
mention pountings, hakes, scads, white
seabreams, red breams and sea bass; in
the group of seafood they ate oysters,
clams, cockles, mussels, limpets, goose
barnacles, sea urchins and spider crabs; in
the goup of meats they usually ate goat,
sheep, bovine meat and pork; less
frequently they took badger, wild boar and
deer.
-Drinks: water, zythos (a kind of beer) and
wine (imported, scarce and appreciated).
All these elements let us affirm they had a
complete and balanced diet. Archaeology
did not detect changes in the feeding of
this people from the most ancient phases
till the beginning of the contact with
Rome.

It seems that these communities were selfsufficient
to cover most of their basic
needs and they had even capacity to
produce surpluses. On the other hand,
they could not satisfy directly the supply of
mineral or metallic objects to make
weapons or jewels. They also needed some
other goods like wine, balls of glass or
different kinds of ceramics. To cover these
needs they developed the exchange not
only between the different communities in
Galicia but also with foreign places to
obtain products that were produced in
other areas of the Peninsula or in the
Western Mediterranean.
Warfare
Regarding the war activity of these people
we have some information, but also
numerous gaps. The first thing that should
be said is that we do not know whether all
men were assigned to the military activity
or not. It is almost sure there were
structured associations of warriors similar
to the ones that existed in other Indo-
European societies. It is also supposed
that to get the status of warrior there was
an initiation ceremony but we do not know
the content of the rite.
If we take into account that the men had to
keep and increase the inherited cattle to
preserve their prestige in society, one of
the possible ways to do this should have
been the military practice. Some
historians state there should be a
hierarchy in the group of warriors: there
would be an elite, made up of those who
had a heavier and more sophisticated
weaponry and fought on horseback and in
a lower position we would find people
armed in a lighter manner who probably
fought on foot. This practice fitted in with
what was usual in other Indo-European
societies (image, Warriors of Lezenho fort,
Museu Arqueologico Nacional, Lisbon).
162
As to the practice of war, ancient sources
constantly mention ambushes,
explorations, fast manoeuvres, that is, the
opposite to what the “civilized” peoples of
the Antiquity did. According to these
sources, the warriors had long hair, which
they tied up for the fight, they sang hymns
while they waited for death and the
prisoners committed suicide. They also
mention the participation of women in the
war. In this case it is difficult to know what
reality was like, but it seems clear that
they preferred death to defeat, that slavery
and servitude were inconceivable to them
and that, if they took prisoners, they
would kill them or send them back to their
communities in exchange for a ransom.
The participation of women in the war
would only happen in extreme situations.
Pena Granha mentions the existence of
permanent armies of unmarried boys,

aged from fourteen to twenty years,
organized in groups under the control of
noble young men. One part of the year, in
the summer, they worked as a border
police and in the winter they would act as
outlaws “getting through the enemy line,
taking revenge for their dead colleagues,
committing burglaries, getting a dowry for
their wedding”. This can be deduced from
Diodoro’s works. These groups would also
exist in other Indo-European societies.
BIBLIOGRAPHIC REFERENCES
-ARIAS VILAS, FELIPE (2009). A cultura
castrexa na provincia de Lugo. Aspectos
diferenciais in Actas do curso A
prehistoria en Lugo á luz das descubertas
recentes. Lugo, 24th e 25th April 2009.
-ARMADA PITA, X.L. El debate sobre los
celtas y la etnicidad del noroeste
peninsular. Una revisión crítica y
algunas propuestas, at www.ucm.es/info/
arqueoweb/pdf/4-2/armada.pdf
-Pena Granha, A. (2011) O Ciclo de
Inverno en Teoria de Inverno. Os
presentes do apalpador. Associaçom
Cultural A Gentalha do Pichel.
-RODRÍGUEZ COLMENERO, ANTONIO
(2011). Lucus Augusti. The Roman-
Germanic city of Iberian Finisterre.
Origins and history (14 B.C.-711 A.D.),
Concello de Lugo. Servizo Municipal de
Arqueoloxía, Lugo.
163
-VÁZQUEZ VARELA, J.M. , GARCÍA
QUINTELA, M. V. (1998). A vida cotiá na
Galicia castrexa. Servicio de Publicacións
da Universidade de Santiago de
Compostela.
FOOTNOTES
i We are using basically the book from
Vázquez Varela e García Quintela (1998)
mentioned in the bibliographic references.
ii Arias Vilas, Felipe (2009) page 105.
iii Arias Vilas, Felipe (2009) page 108.
iv Rodríguez Colmenero, Antonio (2011)
page 26.
v Other historians say the castro culture
was not a warlike one. Felipe Arias Vilas,
in an interview included in this same
project, declares that “we shouldn’t forget
we are talking about 'peasant cultures'
with a non-violent daily life but with some
conflicts related to problems of looting or
aggressions between neighbours.
Francisco Calo insists that for each
weapon found in the castros, we can find
ten tools, which implies war was not so
important in this period”.
vi Rodríguez Colmenero, Antonio (2011)
page 25.
vii Armada Pita, X. L. El debate sobre los
celtas y la etnicidad del noroeste
peninsular. Una revisión crítica y algunas
propuestas.
viii Pena Granha (2011), page 187.
ix Rodríguez Colmenero, Antonio (2011)
page 27.
x Pena Granha, A. (2011) , páxina 185.

River Miño:
the backbone of Eastern Galicia
(a geohistorical study)
164

Introduction:
One Galicia, two Galicias, many Galicias
Antonio Bernárdez Sobreira
Why do we choose to approach to the
Eastern Galicia in our work? Is Eastern
Galicia only an interior one? The answer
to the second question is easy: Not.
Territorial Analysis and Research Group
of Santiago University distinguish three
geographical spaces into Galicia. The first
one would be the “Athlantic Urban Axis”, a
dinamic space that includes the main
urban nodes (except Lugo and Ourense)
and most of the Galician population. It's a
corridor, parallel to the coast including
Rías Baixas (Vigo and Pontevedra areas),
Santiago, Artabrian Gulf (Coruña area)
and Ferrolterra (Ferrol area), with
airports, ports and the AP-9, the main
highway, the real connector of Western
Galicia. To the West it's Costa da Morte
and to the East the bigger part of Galicia
(Lugo and Ourense's provinces and the
interior of A Coruña and Pontevedra's
province).
The second space would be the called
“Dynamic spaces out of Athlantic Urban
Axis”, that is, the cities of Lugo and
Ourense and some areas like “Mariña de
Lugo” and Valdeorras region (Sil valley).
This second space would be a secondary
space concentrating services of a wide
territory that would form the third space,
Rural Galicia, in a clear process of
demographical and economical decline.
The second and third spaces would form
the so-called Eastern Galicia.
165
Nevertheless, why do we choose Eastern
Galicia? First because i'ts our own space of
living and working. But Lugo is the capital
of a wide administrative node in which we
find dynamic regions and towns nexto to
the rural world in crisis. The territorial
division of Lugo includes a coastal
expanding region (A Mariña), interior
regions differentiated (Lemos, Sarria,
Terra Chá, Ribeira Sacra) and
characteristic mountainous areas (Courel,
Ancares). We choose to describe A Mariña,
Terra Chá and Ribeira Sacra because of
their peculiarities and historical
traditions. Besides, in the description of
the mountainous areas we include another
region like Xurés too, a natural border
with North of Portugal and with Ancares,
Courel and the Central Massif which make
a space of great biodiversity and refuge of
ancient cultural and ethnographical
traditions. We pretend to highlight the
geohistorical diversity of Eastern Galicia
and, specially of Lugo's province, stressing
the fact of a plural and complex Galicia,
further away from clichés.
REFERENCE:
Territorial Analysis and Research Group
of Santiago University (2010): Territorio.
Unha interpretación actual desde a
xeografía, Informe Galicia 2010, pp. 89-
116.

Vanesa de la Fuente Vázquez
Leticia Mouriz Pérez
It’s the Northern natural region in Galicia.
It occupies the north of the province of
Lugo and limits in the north with the
Cantabric Sea; in the South, with the areas
of Terra Chá, Meira and Fonsagrada; in
the West with the province of A Coruña
(the limit is the river Sor) and in the East
with the neighboring community of
Asturias (in the river Eo). Its surface is
1.413,52 square kilometers distributed
among the sub-areas of Mariña Occidental
(Western Mariña, with administrative
center in Viveiro), Mariña Central (Central
Mariña, with three places that compete for
being the administrative center: Burela,
Foz and Mondoñedo) and Mariña Oriental
(Eastern Mariña, whose administrative
center is Ribadeo). It’s the coastal facade
of a province that is completely interior in
the rest of the territory.
So, it covers a coastal strip from the Ría de
Ribadeo to the estuary of Bares-O
Barqueiro, and an inner one as far as the
city of Mondoñedo, capital of one of the
seven provinces of the Ancient Kingdom of
Galicia.
The environmental wealth of the area is
very important: almost all the area was
declared Site of Community Importance
(SCI) and we can find two Natural
Monuments (Praia das Catedrais and
Eucaliptal Souto da Retorta) and another
protected area due to their relevance in
fauna and flora (Estuario do Eo).
In this area we can also find one of the
more spectacular natural spaces in Galicia,
the Covas do Rei Cintolo (Caves of King
Cintolo) in Mondoñedo, with more than
seven kilometers and several galleries.
The coast: A Mariña
166
The relief
The relief is structured in three
morphologic units: the coastline, the
“Rasa Cantábrica” and the valleys and
mountains.
A) The coastline: Bathed by the
Cantabrian sea, it spreads out from Estaca
de Bares till the mouth of the river Eo. We
can find many interesting geographical
features as beaches, capes, headlands,
islands and cliffs. The Lugo coast, in
general, is characterized by its rectilinear
nature and by the presence of a wide
coastal plain, especially in the eastern
part, where there are few natural shelters;
on the contrary, in the western part, the
mountains come close to the sea, what
gives place to big slopes. On the other
hand, there are big inlets like the ones that
form the estuaries (rías) of Viveiro and O
Barqueiro. Along the coast we can find
almost eighty beaches, with an
approximated extension of twenty
kilometers. One of the most important
ones is the Beach of the Cathedrals (Praia
das Catedrais, image).
B) The “Rasa Cantábrica”: It’s a coastal
platform that spreads from the Cabo de
Peñas in Asturias till Burela (Lugo), in
parallel to the reliefs next to the coast,
with a width that ranges between five
kilometers and one hundred metres. Its
more characteristic features are

determined by the perfection of the
devastation, its continuity and regularity
and its sloping contour from the mountain
foot till the cliffs edge or the beaches.
C) The valleys and northern mountains:
The granitic mountains that surround the
estuary of the Landro (Viveiro) are, almost
all of them, of crag kind and between them
the one called Penedo Gordo should be
emphasized. The topography is cracked by
the fluvial system that crosses from South
to North. The northern mountains, in
which we should emphasize the Xistral
massif, slide towards the sea and feed
many courses of water with small routes,
as the Masma one. In the central sector we
can find wide fluvial valleys less inserted
than in the western sector, as the ones of
the Masma and Ouro rivers (image,
Chavín, Viveiro).
The climate
The situation of the area in the warm zone
of the Northern Hemisphere and its
location in a western maritime facade
determine its climatic features. The
climate is characterized by the thermal
moderation, with short and lax winters,
and warm summers with temperatures
that oscillate between 17 and 19 degrees.
The rains are present the whole year, with
a maximum in winter and a decrease in
summer. Cloudy days are frequent and in
the “Rasa Cantábrica” there are persistent
167
fogs. Frosts are not frequent and snow
precipitations are very sporadic.
The rivers
There are many rivers in this area, but in
general they are short. They are born in
the reliefs next to the coast and they flow
from south to north to the Cantabrian Sea.
They have a big erosive capacity because
they should cover strong slopes in a few
kilometers of route. They have an
abundant flow rate and a regular and rain
pattern with a maximum in winter and a
minimum simple and little marked in
summer. The most important ones are the
Sor, Landro, Masma and Eo.
Vegetation
Regarding the vegetation, the primary
vegetal landscape, the woodland climax,
suffered an intense degradation, due to the
intense and prolonged deforestation and
to the intense reforestation with pines and
eucalyptuses. Although the predominance
of the eucalyptus is very clear, there are
still important masses of autochthonous
species, like the Fraga das Furnas (O
Valadouro), rich in holly trees.
But the vegetal landscape par excellence is
formed by bushes. It’s the Oceanic landa,
over poor soils, formed by heathers
alternated with farming lands and
deciduous forests.
Population
The official census shows that the
population of the fifteen councils that
belong to A Mariña is 75,000 inhabitants,
what is aproximately the 18.44% of the
total in the province of Lugo. The
population density is more or less 58.58
inhabitants by square kilometer, bigger
than the media of the province. In 1920
the area had 76,577 inhabitants, so it

suffered a demographic loss of the 3.83%.
In the year 2011 only Burela and Ribadeo
increased their population. Immigrants
compensate the fall in birth rate and the
aging. Like in the rest of Galicia, the rural
villages tend to be abandoned, while the
most urban ones attract population.
Viveiro is the most populated council with
16,107 inhabitants and in the opposite side
it is Ourol, that has only 1,152 inhabitants.
Apart from the natural growth, we should
emphasize the importance of the
immigration in this area, specially in
Burela, where many people from Cape
Verde live and work, specially in the
fishing sector.
Economy
The agricultural area is more than 70% of
the total one, but only 13% of the lands are
cultivated. The family business is the
predominant productive unit. The
principal crops are cereals, wheat and, less
frequently, rye. There are many orchards,
but they are not very profitable. On the
other hand, there are some specific
products with an added value as the broad
beans. The most profitable exploitation is
the meadow one, specially in the “rasa”
area, because, due to the frequent rains,
grass grows everywhere without being
irrigated. The natural meadows are
located in the slopes of the valleys and in
the coastal “rasa”. One of the most
important problems of agriculture in this
area is the division of land into
smallholdings.
Regarding the livestock farming (mostly
cattle) this area has more or less 18% of
the total provincial exploitations. It’s very
important the dairy production and in the
East part there are many medium farms
beef exploitations and cooperatives.
Building and naval repair industry is also
very important, the conservation of fishery
products, the timber and the ceramic
168
industry (Sargadelos, Burela and
Fazouro). Tourism gives this area
important incomes, since the beaches
along the coastaline attract many people
in summer.
In the industrial field we should
emphasize Alcoa's factory of alumina and
aluminium (inaugurated in 1980, image),
placed in San Cibrao, whose complex
occupies five square kilometers.
Fishing has important infrastructures:
fishing ports like Burela or Celeiro are the
base of a fleet that fishes in international
waters and it's specialized in the capture of
the tuna or hake from the Great Sole
fishing grounds. There are also important
fishing ports the ones in Foz and Rinlo.
Fishing has an important number of
workers in this area, but the contribution
to the economy is small.
There are many quarries in this area,
specially the ones of kaolin that provide
the raw material to make pottery or
building materials.
This region was pioneering in the Spanish
industrialization. The most significant
example is the Sargadelos Historical
Group-Artistic. Antonio Raimundo Ibáñez
first projected an iron and steel industry in
1791 and later (in 1804) an English style
pottery factory. In spite of the litigations
with the neighbours, the destruction of the
installations after a riot in 1798 and the
non-payments and debts, the Real
Factories of Sargadelos lasted until 1875.
The restoration of Sargadelos arose with a
project of the “Laboratorio de Formas de
Galicia”, under the responsibility of Díaz

Pardo and Luís Seoane. In 1970 it was
inaugurated the new Sargadelos and the
first ceramic pieces designed by these two
artists began to come out. This group
played from the beginning an important
role in Galician culture. The pieces from
Sargadelos, in china, have an original
manufacture process, based in cultural
concepts, and with some production
systems that are often handcrafted. Some
of the designs are based in Galician
culture, for example, with historical
figures or symbolic ones; another part of
the production are tableware (dinner
services, coffee sets...). These pieces are
considered to be works of art and a part of
Galician culture as long as they try to
recover our historical memory.
The iron work and trade left other pieces
of value like the mines of Silvarosa
(Viveiro); forges, like the ones in Bravo
(Ourol) and Bogo (A Pontenova); the
mineral loading in Ribadeo, where the
train from Vilaoudriz arrived with
materials to be exported to Europe. In
Viveiro there was a similar load station. In
Vilaoudriz (A Pontenova) we can find the
impressive limonite ovens.
In the Central Mariña, although the three
productive sectors are well represented,
the tertiary one is the most important in
the economic structure. The agriculture
sector suffered a sectorial reorganization
after the starting of Alcoa in 1975 because
this industry sped up the rural exodus and
displaced agriculture and cattle farming to
a second level. In spite of this, this sector
is well represented in the interior of the
region. The exploitation of species like
pines and eucalyptus favoured the
development of the timber industry. The
fishing sector occupies 9% of the active
population, especially in Burela (one of the
main ports in Galicia, specialized in the
capture of tune) and Foz (specialize in the
fishing of sardine). The industrial
activities have also importance in the
169
seaside villages (Foz and Burela) and there
is an important contingent of population
employed in Alúmina-Aluminium. In
these two councils the ceramic,
metallurgical and timber industries are
also important.
The shipyards in Burela and Foz and the
mining industry in these two councils and
in Lourenzá are also important. The
production of electric energy got some
relevance with the installation in O
Valadouro of the aeolian park of O Xistral.
The building sector was dinamic these last
years, but at this moment, like in the rest
of Galicia, it’s having a serious crisis. The
tertiary sector, as we have said, is the most
dynamic, mainly in the seaside councils
where the commercial activities and public
services are emphasized. Tourism in
summer is especially important in Foz
In the Western Mariña the economic
structure is dominated by the service
sector and industry. The primary sector
has some importance in the most rural
councils (Ourol and O Vicedo) and, at the
same time, fishing is outstanding in
Celeiro, the first port in the province
billing specialized in hake and tuna.
Industry has the maximum representation
in the plant of Alúmina Aluminium; other
important industrial sectors are the
ceramic one (Sargadelos), the timber and
metallurgical industries and the ones
linked to fishing, as shipyards and canning
factories. The tertiary sector is well
represented in Viveiro and San Cibrao.
Viveiro is an important financial and
touristic centre in the area and the
traditional trade is also noteworthy in this
village.
In the Eastern Mariña the agricultural
activities have still an important weight in
economy, in spite of the fact that they have
lost workers in favour of the secondary
and tertiary sectors. This implies the third
of the employment and it's specially
concentrated in the bovine livestock

farming. This causes the existence of big
meadows which determines the
landscapes of the region. Fishing was
more important in the past than in the
present, but the port in Rinlo keeps some
dynamism. As a consequence of the
importance of livestock farming in the
zone, the industry was oriented facing the
production of feeds and fertilizars. The
timber and metallurgical industries are
also important (especially in A
Pontenova). In the tertiary sector the most
important village is Ribadeo, that
concentrates the administrative,
commercial and leisure services. Tourism
is well represented both in Ribadeo and in
Barreiros.
History and heritage
Central Mariña
The archaeological remains proved this
area was occupied in the Prehistory.
Remains from the Megalithic and Castro
cultures were found, like the pendant
earrings and torc of Os Castros (Burela)
and the fort in Fazouro (Foz). There are
also proofs of settlements from the ancient
age, especially in the small town of Foz,
where the port facilitated the contact with
Phoenician, Tartesos and other people
from the North-East navigators before the
romanization. The Roman presence is
testified by the bronzes of Marcus Aurelius
and Hadrian, the Roman roads in
Mondoñedo, the gold-mining in the south
and southwest of the Masma stuary and
the abundance of slags near Marzán,
indicators of ancient iron foundries.
This area got more importance for the
history of Galicia at the beginning of the
Middle Age, with the foundation of the
diocese of Mondoñedo and the
designation of this city as one of the
provinces of the Kingdom of Galicia.
170
Artistic heritage
One of the most relevant buildings is the
cathedral of Mondoñedo, national
monument from 1902. It was begun in the
13th century following the Romanesque
canon with three naves and reformed in
the 16th century in Gothic style (the
ambulatory). In the 18th century the
façade was remodeled and the two
Baroque towers were made.
The parish church of San Martiño de
Mondoñedo, in Foz, is considered the
most ancient cathedral in Spain. It was
begun in the 10th century almost surely
over a 6th century temple, but the church
we can see nowadays dates from the end of
the 11th and the beginning of the 12th
century.
Another outstanding building is the
monastery of San Salvador de Lourenzá,
classed as historical artistic monumentartistic
in 1974. It was founded in 969 and
rebuilt in the 17th and 18th centuries in
Baroque style. The façade was made by
Fernando de Casas, master of O Obradoiro
in Santiago de Compostela.
Western Mariña
The primitive inhabitants of this area were
Megalithic, “castrexos” and Romans.
Ptolemy located here the ancient
“castrexo” settlement called Fabria
Lambris. The development of the area is
associated to the birth and the forming of
the historical small town of Viveiro, in the
Middle and Modern ages, and to the
prosperity of Cervo, in the contemporary
one.
The founding of Viveiro dates from the
12th and 13th centuries. Under the
protection of the wall, wich was paid with
the concession of the profits from the salt
trade by the king, it began a strong port
activity (which would achieve the boom
with the wine export to the Breton ports
and the wooden export to Seville and

Lisbon) and a mercantile one (with
abundance of guilds: merchants,
shoemakers, smiths …). In the small town,
which had economic prosperity and a firm
social organisation, religious communities
as Franciscan and Dominicans lived
together with the local nobility. The last
sign of its influence is linked to the linen
trade and to the parallel revival of an
important bourgeoisie.
With the entrance of the 19th century it’s
the small town of Cervo which became
prominent. The existence of this village is
documented in the 12th century, but its
history referred fundamentally to Antonio
Raimundo Ibáñez, the promoter of the
Real Fábrica de Fundición in Sargadelos.
Artistic heritage
The most ancient signs dated from
Prehistory, the hillforts time was a rich
period, as it’s proved by the remains of the
"castros" of A Coroa in Viveiro. Viveiro
concentrates most of the artistic heritage:
Gate of Carlos V or Castle of the Bridge
(the main entrance to the wall), Praza
Maior and San Francisco convent.
Another important monument in the area
is the artistic-historical complex of
Sargadelos, placed in Cervo, that includes
the ancient factories and the actual plant.
We should also emphasize the Museum
Carlos Maside, the Historical Museum of
Sargadelos and the Provincial Sea
Museum, the only one of this kind existing
in Lugo.
Eastern Mariña
According to the archaeologic remains this
area was also populated from ancient
times. Both the Roman presence and the
"castrexa" one are proved. The region was
colonized by monastic orders, specially by
the Cistercian order, which founded many
monasteries.
171
The port of Ribadeo had big importance
due to the fact it was the “door” of the
Kingdom of Galicia to trade with America
and Northern Europe in the 18th century.
It was also important for this area the
foundation of the Real Fábrica de
Sargadelos in the same century. In the
19th century, the exploitation of the
limonite deposits in A Pontenova by a
Basque company affected the local
development and led to the construction
of a railway line that linked the mines with
the port in Ribadeo.
Artistic heritage
The most ancient examples are the
Megalithic ones: burial mounds in San
Miguel de Reinante (Barreiros) and Xudán
(A Pontenova) and the menhir of Marco
da Pena Verde (Trabada). From the castro
culture we can emphasize the hillforts in
Vilamar (Barreiros) and Goios, Rececende
and Vilaboa (A Pontenova).
In the civil architecture there are also
important buildings as the Neoclassical
Manor house of Ibañez, nowadays the
town hall of Ribadeo (18th century) and
the Tower of Os Moreno in the same town.
The furnace complex of Vilaoudriz (A
Pontenova) deserves special mention.
Declared ethnographic park, it’s an
interesting example of industrial
architecture from the early of the 20th
century.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
-Enciclopedia Galega Universal
-Gran Enciclopedia Gallega
-Laredo Verdejo, X. L. (1996) Lugo y
provincia, Vigo, Edicións do Cumio
-Laredo Verdejo, X. L. (1998) Galicia
enteira. Ferrol, A Mariña e Terra Chá,
Vigo, Xerais.

Antonio Bernárdez Sobreira
The interior plain: A Terra Chá
Although it´s a relatively small territory
(29574 square kilometers) Galicia presents
a complex landscape variety, as a result of
a process of geomorphological and
historical conformation of the country, an
Hercinian base worn out and fractured in
upper areas (eroded and relatively low
mountains) and decreases (plains,
depressions and fluvial valleys). Every
space will be defined from some physical,
climatic and human characteristics,
appearing then a diversity of regions or
differentiated territories, that form a
different “cultural landscape”. “The Plain”
(“Chaira” or “Terra Chá” in Galician
language) is one of these territories,
identified by it´s own physical space (the
plain or “Chaira”) and human beings (the
plainsman or “chairego”) with own
features.
The Plain is 1822,7 square km, distributed
among the councils of Abadín, Begonte,
Castro de Rei, Cospeito, Guitiriz, Muras, A
Pastoriza, Vilalba and Xermade. It´s a
natural prolongation of a
greater physical unit (Lugo’s
Plateau), it is a relatively low
geographical space (from
400 to 500 ms of altitude)
delimited by the north by the
septentrional mountains
among which it stands out
the Xistral, in the west by the
Central Galician Range, in
the east by the Neda’s Range
and by the south by the region of Lugo. On
Paleozoic materials (granites and schists)
posterior sediments (Tertiary and
Quaternary) settled what generated a
clayey cover that sets up one of the signals
of identity of the space, the
impermeability and the proliferation of
humid and flooding areas. A slightly
172
rounded landscape is constituted then,
that it alternates very flat spaces with soft
hills (in fact the toponym “Vilalba”, capital
of the region, refers to an elevation
surrounded with lower lands), and very
conditioned by the rural activity. This fact
contributes to transform The Plain in a
great biodiversity’s area, about 5.000
hectares of the region were integrated into
the Natura’s 2000 Net as the Parga-Ladra
SCI, and so they were integrated into
Reserve of the Biosphere “Miño’s Lands”.
SCI’s name may be explained by the
complexity of the hydrographic net, as it
corresponds to a deep space or to a
tectonic pit. The main river of the region is
Miño, that it is born in the eastern border
(Irimia’s RockyGround in Meira’s Range)
and it crosses the region with a sinuous
journey, with frequent floods like natural
space of Pumar’s plain. Tributaries and
subtributaries to it are Ladra, Parga and
Támoga, the most important of an
authentic capillary network that combines
rivers, rills and flooded areas as Cospeito
(image) or Caqué small lakes.
The proliferation of humid spaces keeps
relation with the climatic attributes which
integrated The Plain in the Oceanic
Dominion although with variations due to
it´s relative isolation with regard to the
sea (continentality). So we find a annual
average temperature of 11 degrees, with
wider thermal variation than the coast and

with the frequent presence of winter
frosts.
A combination of physical, climatic and
human factors has configured a space of
great biodiversity, however, very degraded
by the socioeconomic changes of the last
twenty years. The climax vegetation was
altered throughout the history by the
processes of deforestation and farming,
preserving however small areas of oaks
and birches alternated with areas of
thicket (“toxeiras”), progressively replaced
by pinewoods of repopulation (and in the
last years of eucalyptuses) and meadows.
They also increased their presence for the
drying of flooded areas, appearing a
peculiar landscape with winter flooded
pastures (Pumar’s Plain for example).
There are very important natural spaces,
because of the reception and the breeding
of rare wintering birds like curlew or
lapwing, which were nearly exterminated
in Franco's times but luckily they were
recovered in the last decades (small lakes
of Cospeito and Caqué). On another side,
the bank forests are very interesting along
the fluvial capillary network (alluvial or
flooding forests), one of the strongest
reasons to establish the Reserve of the
Biosphere in the area.
The Plain formed a type of settlement and
territorial organization that the French
geographer Bouhier situated in a wide
called space the “fields of 'agras'”, present
in good part of the central Galicia and
characterized by the “association of blocks
173
of crops provided of general fences and
divided internally in open plots” (Bouhier,
vol. 1, p. 235). We find then a disperse
settlement in the form of places or
farmhouses alternated with small kernels
which were strongly conditioned by the
land structure, furthermore it gave place
to a type of specific house “the plain
house”, characterized according to Mariño
Ferro and González Reboredo by being “a
wide house, a clean prismatic volume,
with walls of slate, without auxiliary
buildings and with a hipped roof” (Mariño
Ferro and González Reboredo, páx.444).
The inhabitants are grouped together in
the calls “polynuclear hamlets with a clear
country house”, that is, wide spaces
among houses occupied with market
gardens or crop fields and several kernels
or else in the calls “nebula nuclear
hamlets”, similar to the previous ones but
of smaller entity.
Traditionally, lands were worked with a
system of biennial fallow that included
cereal, corn and potatoes. Besides, the
alternance of mount lands and crops
meant (in order to furnish wood, fertilizer
or pasture by example) the semi-extensive
cattle breeding with commercial
orientation, either bovine or equine
(mules breeding). This traditional system
would enter into crisis at the end of the
19th century and beginnings of the 20th
leading on to a model more and more
intensive and specialized in bovine

eeding, especially with the changes
introduced in the second half of Franco’s
period. In this historical stage it stands out
the called “colonization” which was called
by the authority “Tierra Llana de Castro de
Rey”, for that 2800 has of communal
mount were expropriated and parcelled
out for the posterior distribution between
189 families of settlers established in four
kernels or Civic-Cooperative Centers, in a
productive proposal of deep mussolinian
roots. The current landscape of the Plain is
therefore debtor of the productive
transformations introduced by the Liberal
State in the 19th century and consolidated
in Franco's times to give form in the last
times to a specialized model with a strong
concentration of the explotations and
intensely depended on external inputs as
fertilizers and concentrated fodders, which
brought at the same time economic
problems (financial weakness of the
agrarian enterprises) and environmental
(pollution of aquifers for nitrates).
The rural identity determined a small
settlement, with a low density (25.6
inhabitants for square km) that it is more
noticeable in the rims, upper areas of
transition to the mountains. The particular
land changes and the change in society
determined that between 1900 and 2005
the Plain lost 28% of his population,
taking into account that in the first half of
the 20th century it reached it´s
demographical maximum. We can say that
in 2005 there was a total population of
46,688 inhabitants, 31% of whom were
older than 65 years (in contrast with a
9.3% of younger of 15). Therefore we
attend an ageing populational that follows
the general trend of the rural Galician.
This population occupies very large
territories with councils much bigger than
in other areas of Galicia and besides with a
very strong parish subdivision that tells us
about the evident dispersion of the
inhabitants, Vilalba with 30 parishes,
174
Castro de Rei with 25, Cospeito with 20,
Abadín, Begonte and A Pastoriza with
each 19 parishes, Guitiriz with 18,
Xermade with 10 and Muras with 8.
The Plain seems to have already been a
very attractive settlement place since
paleolithic period. The archeological
works indicate several important sites in
surrounding areas, as “Dúas Nenas”
(Vilalba) or Férvedes II (Xermade), which
situate the establishment of human groups
in the Superior Paleolithic. On the other
hand, there is an important Megalithic
presence with examples like “Madorra da
Granxa” in Castro de Rei, Medorras da
Millarada (Cospeito) or the “Necropole de
Roza das Modias” (Vilalba) as well as the
abundant mounds confirmed in the
councils of Vilalba, Abadín and Muras. In
fact, investigators indicate that the
Galician septentrional mountains of the
Lugo’s province (Mounts of Buio, Xistral
and Toxiza ranges), constitute the north
limit of our region, as a place whose
“anthropization process of environment”
was confirmed around 6000 years ago, in
the form of an intense orientated
deforestation because of the tendence
towards farming and breeding. This early
humanization of the mountain range
joined to cattle economy would be in
contrast with a late settlement of the Plain
strictly speaking. Studies about this
settlement are very conditioned by the
destruction of the patrimony. According to
the investigator Xosé Ignacio Vilaseco
Vázquez (La Voz de Galicia, 23/2/2005) in
1960 a census was made with 220 mounds
or “medorras” in the northwest of the
Plain whereas in the 2000, only remained,
179 which meant 18.6% of destruction,
that it would be owed to reafforestation
and agrarian activities. The mounds were
thought to be burial structures.
The toponym “Castro de Rei” (King’s Fort)
alludes to the importance in the Plain of
the Gallaecian-Roman settlement or

Hillfort Culture (“cultura castrexa”),
confirmed by other voices as
“Castromaior” (Abadín), “Castro”
(Begonte) or “Croa” (Cospeito), but with a
probably smaller density that in other
parts in Galicia, as already had confirmed
Bouhier in the seventies. We could point
up the forts of Baroncelle and Terraxis
(Abadín), Donalbai (Begonte), Duarría
and Ameixende (Castro de Rei), Torrillón
(Cospeito), Quenllas do Forno (Guitiriz),
Igrexa de Cazán and Regueira (Xermade)
or the 12 quantified ones in Vilalba, but
above of all the Viladonga’s Fort (Castro
de Rei). Viladonga constitutes a site of
great archaeological importance for the
quantity and quality of the remains found,
corresponding to the period of the Roman
domination, mainly around 3rd and 5th
centuries. Excavated since 1971, it has a
monographic museum that gathers
together many of the remains found in the
different archaeological campaigns and
that certifies a romanized population with
strong links with the nearest metropolis,
the conventual capital Lucus Augusti.
According to Bouhier and others, the
hillfort period was the one in which the
structures of population, that they are
going to reign in the later Galicia, were
fixed.
The Plain seems to be a passing area
between the Coast (A Mariña) and the
inner Galicia. Romans built the road that
communicated Brigantium with Asturica
Augusta, which is still preserved today as
Duarría’s bridge in Castro de Rei and we
can also find monuments and rests like
aras, tombstones or villae in different
localities. There are also footprints of the
Germanic presence (toponyms as Guitiriz)
and even of the Britons immigration, the
parish of Bretoña (Pastoriza), an episcopal
see founded by Celts to shelter from the
arrival of the Anglo-Saxons to Britain. It
was after the Muslim invasion when the
Plain (and generally Galicia) became
175
strongly feudalized, with ecclesiastical
feudal estates (the Bishopric of
Mondoñedo, the monasteries of Meira and
Lourenzá) as well as lay estates
(Montenegros, Pargas, Andrades). These
stately powers filled up the Plain with
castles and forts, most of them brought
down after the Brotherhood Revolts in
15th century (Pobra de Parga, Andrade’s
Tower in Vilalba, Caldaloba’s Tower in
Cospeito).
In 14th century the Andrade’s House, who
was born in Betanzos (A Coruña) and to
whom Henrique II of Trastámara awarded
the feudal estate of Vilalba, already in the
Low Middle Age, the neuralgic center of
the Plain, is going to acquire a great
relevance in the region. The neighbours of
Vilalba rose up in the 1431’s Brotherhood
War (“irmandiña”), a Medieval Jacquerie
that had as a consequence the destruction
of the town’s castle, which was devastated
again in the second war of 1467.
Reconstructed later, today it is a National
Parador of Tourism and testimony of the
importance of a villa that between the 16th
centuries and 18th is going to be the main
economical and administrative center in
Plain.
The importance of the Plain could be
measured in an important artistic and
ethnographic patrimony. The churches,
the cemeteries (image next page), the
houses, the crosses, the oral tradition, tell
us about the significance of a region with
long-lived settlement and where we even
find flooded cities, the mythical Veria that
some people situates under the waters of
Cospeito or the Boedo submerged in
Guitiriz. Mythology or reality?

Consulted sources
-AAVV, Lic Parga-Támoga-Ladra. Terras de
pedra e auga, Lugo, Inludes-Deputación
Provincial de Lugo, 2005.
-BARCIELA GARRIDO, P. e REY SEARA, E.,
Xacementos arqueolóxicos de Galicia. Guía
práctica para visitar e coñecer o patrimonio
arqueolóxico galego, Vigo, Xerais, 2000.
-BOUHIER, A., Galicia. Ensaio xeográfico de
análise e interpretación dun vello complexo
agrario, Santiago, Xunta de Galicia, 2 vols,
2001.
-CAAMAÑO GESTO, J.M., “Prehistoria de
Galicia”, A gran historia de Galicia, Tomo I, Vol.
1, A Coruña, La Voz de Galicia, 2007.
-CAAMAÑO GESTO, J.M., “A cultura Castrexa”,
A gran historia de Galicia, Tomo II, Vol. 1, A
Coruña, La Voz de Galicia, 2007.
176
-CABEZA QUILMES, F., Os nomes da terra.
Topónimos galegos, Noia, Toxosoutos, 2000.
-CARDESÍN, J.M., “Política agraria y
transformaciones en la agricultura gallega: la
zona de colonización de Terra Chá (1954-
1973)”, Agricultura y Sociedad, nº 44, 1987
(formato PDF).
-CARDESÍN, J.M., Tierra, trabajo y
reproducción social en una aldea gallega (s.
XVIII-XX): Muerte de unos, vida de otros,
Madrid, Ministerio de Agricultura, 1992.
-EQUIPO XEA, As comarcas de Galiza,
patrimonio natural. Terra Chá, Vigo, A Nosa
Terra, 2008.
-LÓPEZ SÁEZ, J.A. et al., “Neolitización,
Megalitismo y Antropización del paisaje en
Galicia entre el VII y el IV milenio cal.
BC.”, MUNIBE, Nº 32, 2010 (formato PDF).
-MARIÑO FERRO, X.R., Antropoloxía de
Galicia, Vigo, Xerais, 2000.
-MARIÑO FERRO, X.R. e GONZÁLEZ
REBOREDO, X.M., Diccionario de etnografía e
antropoloxía de Galiza, Vigo, Nigratrea, 2010.
-O`FLANAGAN, P., Xeografía histórica de
Galicia, Vigo, Xerais, 1996.
-VILLAR QUINTEIRO, “El paleolítico superior
y epipaleolítico en Galicia”, Zephyrus, nº 50,
1997 (formato PDF).
-PAZO LABRADOR, A. e SANTOS SOLLA,
X.M., Poboación e Territorio. As paroquias
Galegas nos últimos cen anos, A Coruña, Difux,
1995.
-REIGOSA, A. (2010): Guía ilustrada da Galicia
invisible, Vigo, Xerais.
-VÁZQUEZ VARELA, J.M., “El paleolítico en el
noroeste de la península Ibérica”, SPAL, 9,
2000 (formato PDF).
-VÉLEZ BARRIO, E. e PEREIRO VIZCAÍNO,
M.C., Paraxes naturais de Galicia (II): O
interior, Vigo, Xerais, 1998.
Voz “Terra Chá” en Gran Enciclopedia Galega
Silverio Cañada, vol.42, Lugo, El Progreso,
2003, pp.11 e ss.
-Voz “Vilalba” en Gran Enciclopedia Galega
Silverio Cañada, vol.43, Lugo, El Progreso,
2003, pp.233 e ss.
gl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castros_da_provincia_d
e_Lugo

Antonio Bernárdez Sobreira
The mountain
The mountain: previous notes
Galicia is a rugged territory, alternanting
high and flat surfaces, as a result of a
geomorphological process of erosion and
fracture of a very ancient relief. Galician
high mountains became as a refuge of
natural biodiversity and, besides, of social
and ethnographical biodiversity too. From
Lugo's province, we explain Ancares and
Courel ranges and from Ourense, Xurés
range. The three of them have in common
the relict of their relief, fauna and flora,
Neftalí Platas García
(Photos by José A. Armesto)
This region is placed in the border
between the provinces of Lugo and León.
The area in both provinces forms an
indivisible unit belonging to the same
mountain range, although it's usual to find
the designation of “Ancares de Lugo” and
“Ancares de León”. Hills in Lugo and in
León are part of the Cantabrian range and
they share many cultural, historical and
anthropological elements.
Juridically, Ancares is protected
like a Hunting National Reserve,
from 1966 (León) and 1973
(Lugo). In 1972 all the area was
declared “Picturesque area” (Law
2647 of August 18).
The region of Os Ancares is much
bigger than the Reserve, (it
occupies only 79,77 square kilometers in
Lugo and 383 in León). The full area
spread out from Miravalles peak, in the
border with Asturias, till the mountain
Ancares
177
like living witnesses of glacial era.
Furthermore, geographical isolation
favored the conservation of a rich cultural
heritage, both linguistic as of customs and
of architectural and artistic creations.
Otherwise, they are three different places
from a socioeconomical point of view, with
propitiate uses clearly overcome in other
places. We talk, then, about peculiar
territories regarding to geographical and
human aspects, special places and relics of
a finished time.
pass of Pedrafita do Cebreiro like a
mountainous strip that crosses the
Eastern part of Lugo and the Western part
of León (in Lugo it occupies 423 square
kilometers and in León, 530 square
kilometers).
The area has a very extreme mountain
Atlantic-Oceanic climate with intense
snowfalls. In some low areas there is a
climate with Mediterranean influence. The
annual rainfall goes beyond the 1000 mm
and presents in form of snow in winter.
The self-reliant economy of Os Ancares,
based fundamentally on cattle, caused a
general emigration from the sixties
onwards. This affected mostly women and

young people and, as a consecuence, the
area has an aged population. On the other
hand, the structure of the territory, the
hardness of the climate and the shortage
of economical activity caused that whole
villages were deserted. In the area of Lugo
the population density is 12,7 inhabitants
per square km, but in León it reduces to
5,5. The whole area has now more or less
26000 inhabitants that live in one of the
692 small villages isolated in many
occasions during the winter by the
snowfalls.
The habitat
The soil, the flora and the fauna of this
area are very varied and characteristic due
to the fact it's a boundary territory. The
soil is characterized by an abundance of
rocks, mainly slates, granites and
sandstones that make it acid soil.
There are many oak and chestnut woods
where we can find hundred-year-old trees
as well as abundant hollies that gave the
fruit to feed the capercaillie, a protected
and representative species of the area now
almost extinguished. We should also point
out the existence of bushes. In general, the
area has a very big biodiversity in the
vegetal field and in the animal one, with
abundant endemisms and relict species
from the Ice Age.
Regarding the fauna, we can mention wild
boars, roe deers, rabbits and hares,
kestrels, vultures, wolves, foxes,
sparrowhawks, eagles, squirrels, yews,
wild cats, otters and civet cats. The brown
bear is an usual visitor, but it's not clear if
it reproduces in Os Ancares.
The relief
The more important heights in Os Ancares
are Cuiña, in the area of León, with 1998
metres (image previous page); Mostallar,
with 1935 metres, in the area of Lugo and
178
Miravalles, with 1969 metres, in the limit
between Asturias and León. Other
important peaks are Pico Lanza (1876
metres), Corno Maldito (1848 metros),
Pena Longa (1835 metros), Penarrubia
(1821 metros) and Tres Bispos (1792
metros).
The main river is the Cúa, in the area of
León. In Lugo we should point up the river
Navia, where there are many trouts. Some
of its affluents like Ser, Cervantes,
Quindous, extend along the reserve.
The geological history of Os Ancares is
long and complex. The hills were formed
like a result of the Hercynian orogeny
(400 to 240 million years ago). The
mountain range is formed by flagstones
and granites, with quartzite in the tops. All
these rocks, after being colonized and
altered, produce a more or less clayey soil
of acid nature that determine the existing
vegetation.
The organisation of the relief, very
mountainous and with deep valleys,
causes important communication
problems and also strong limitations in
the use of the soil, because little surface of
land is arable.
Economic resources
The most important resources of the area
are the agriculture and the livestock
farming. Agriculture is conditioned by the
acid soils and the big slopes. The small
surface to farm and the division of land
into smallholdings make the agricultural
profits very limited.
The crops are organized according to the
altitude: in the valleys there are the best
grasslands with corn and vegetable
gardens. In the slopes there are rye fields
(they were abundant years ago but are
very reduced nowadays) and wheat fields.
Upper, the terrain is for pastures. The
more abundant crops are rye, potatoes,
corn and turnip and less important are the

crops of onions, cabbage, beans, broad
beans and pumpkins. These last two
products are employed to feed the
livestock.
The growing of chestnuts and honey is
very important for the economy of this
area. The beehives were placed years ago
in a circular area of stone named “cortín”,
to protect them from the animals,
particularly the bears. Some of these
structures can be seen now in Navia de
Suarna.
The economy of Os Ancares is based in
livestock, particularly pigs and cattle.
Oxen had great importance in this area
until the fifties because they were used to
work and carry goods. They disappeared
due to the depopulation and the
reforestation because it was forbiden to
take the cattle to the mountain.
The gastronomy of Os Ancares is based in
natural and typical products of the area:
derivative from pig, farmhouse cheeses,
chestnuts, honey, “filloas” (similar to
crêpes), hunting and fishing products and
so on.
Historical notes
This area belonged to the Asturian
kingdom of Alfonso I and was
populated with people from the coast
of Portugal. Later people from Galicia,
León, Asturias and even the Basque
country arrived. All of them mixed
together in the same way of living, due
to the isolation of the area.
A small detour of the French Way to
Santiago crossed the mountains of As
Nogais, Becerreá and Baralla. It can be
seen nowadays one part of this route, the
one from Fonfría, in the municipality of
Pedrafita do Cebreiro, to the capital.
Cultural heritage
179
There are many monuments in this area
like hillforts, castles, churches and
bridges, but the most important one is the
“palloza”, the traditional house.
Older than two thousand years they have a
circular plant. Its structure is conditioned
by the geography and the climate of the
area. Built in stone, its roof, made of
thatch, presents a conical shape, with a big
slope that avoids the snow and the water
overload it, at the time that the thatch let
the smoke filter and, in this way, chimneys
are not necesary. They make the most of
the uneven land to pour the sewage water.
Inside the house there is one part for
people and another one for cattle, and in
this way it was possible to use their heat.
The hamlets of “pallozas”, which are the
most important monument in Os Ancares,
can be admired in Piornedo, O Cebreiro,
Campo da Auga and other villages of this
area.
Even now the signs of the Roman presence
and its colonizing activity are obvious. One
of these signs is the bridge in Pontes de
Gatín with remains, although the popular
tradition says it was built by the devil in
one night (image).
We can also observe in the skyline, from
Paradaseca, some lines known as
“médulas” of Paradaseca. They are placed
in Mirandela and formed part of the net of
Roman gold-bearing exploitations.
Another trace of the Roman presence are
the numerous forges (specially in the area
of León) but there are few remains today.

Ethnography
Os Ancares preserve an important group
of beliefs, legends and myths. One of the
main aspects of this culture is the one
relating to beliefs that let them identify
people, animals, plants and homeland.
The human being is seen as a product of
the land where he is born, animals are
seen like human beings, plants are
considered organisms with feminine
properties and homeland is represented
like a fertile female that should be kept
and cured from her illness.
Worship to the fire: Remain of the
ancient worship to the fire is the habit of
covering the hearth all the nights and
lighting the fire each day with the rests of
the day before. It was considered a
sacrilege and a cause of misfortune to let it
die, so they tried to keep it on during the
whole year. It was seen like a protective
deity and people worried or victim of
sufferings tried to found themselves on
their own in front of the fire to revive and
imprecate it.
Some special days in the year, people
threw it flowers; when they baked bread
they gave the fire a portion and when they
met to eat around it they threw some
spoonful of fat to raise the flames and
revive it.
It wasn't allowed to throw into the fire any
dirty object, specially the eggs shells
because S. Lourenzo was burnt with them.
The home fire must be preserved pure and
because of this no guilty actions can be
committed in front of it. The fire was not
only personified but also seen as a
superior being that could not be offended.
Worship to the Sun and the dawn:
The Sun is seen as soul of the nature and
source of life. When women milked the
cows, they offered to the dawn a cup of
180
milk placed in the window orientated to
the east. Everybody that felt sad by a big
misfortune, knelt down in front of the
rising dawn and begged its protection
using different words and formulas.
Before kneading and baking bread women
offered Venus (the star baker) one of
them.
It's thought the Sun purifies and
strengthens; because of this everything
produced in the mountains and high
places was considered to be stronger and
more nutritious than products from low
fields. In fact this, the straw from high
places was the only one hard enough to
use in the roof of the traditional houses. In
the same way, grass from the mountains is
considered to be better to feed and cure
the cattle.
Curative methods: It was thought some
illnesses were caused by evil spirits or
witches. Children were protected against
them from the very moment of their birth
with scapulars and, at the same time, the
houses were also protected with a cross of
Caravaca or with palms blessed on the
Passion Sunday.
Each illness has its own remedy. For
example, to prevent worms in the children
they used an amulet made from the root of
the lily that was hung from their neck.
They also used many remedies to prevent
the cattle illnesses. Years ago the
carbuncle illness was incurable and the
animals that died were buried in the
crossroads because these places were
thought to be purifier. In the village
named Candín, to avoid cattle plagues,
there was a ceremony where two persons
situated far from each other held a stole by
the borders while other people made
animals go under it and, in this way, they
remained healthy.
Relating to ground fertility there are many
beliefs. People from this area think that
the salt, the rye (to fertilize) and the

turnips (to avoid bad grasses) are purifier
elements.
Worship to the Moon: People think the
moon has also a special strength and
influence on the human beings because it
regulates the birth and the reproduction
and, at the same time, it regulates the
circulation of the blood.
The pigs should be killed in November or
December, in last quarter, because in the
rest of the months the blood can go off and
the meat could not be kept.
Religiousness: One of the most famous
saints in this area is Santo Antonio
because he is seen as the responsible one
for the cattle illnesses to cure or the lost
cattle to be found. People have also faith in
O Santo Milagre do Cebreiro, to whom
they offered when they suffered from a big
illness or in case of operation; and in the
Virxe de Trascastro, patron saint of the Val
de Fornela, to whom they went barefoot or
on bended knees to thank her help.
Treasures: In this area we can find
different legends related to treasures. One
of them says that in the peak named
Miravalles, inside caves, there are some
iron and gold chains; another one assures
that in the village named Villasumil, on
the top of the church, was found a solid
gold bullock.
The Mouros: “Mouros” (moors) are a
race of supernatural beings which
inhabited the lands of Galicia and Asturias
since the beginning of time. For unknown
reasons they were forced to take refuge
under the ground, and now they are
usually seen by people in the surroundings
of castros. The “Mouros” work with gold,
silver and gem stones with which they
make up enormous treasures. In Ancares
181
we can also find some legends related to
the “mouros” like the one saying that in
the place named Aire de Reibón (Pereda)
there are some hollow rocks and inside
them it's possible to listen to noises and
voices, because thay are inhabited by
“mouros” in underground passages.
The souls: In the village named Pereda
it's believed that when somebody is very ill
a sinister drumroll is heard, the death
drum, that announces the irremissible
death of the person. The owl song is also
considered death omen for everybody who
heard it. In the village named Candín
people believed in the “Santa Compaña”
(Holy Company) that came from the
afterlife to redeem alive people.
Other Habits: The wolf has always been
one of the most dreaded and combated
animals in the area. To fight against it
different methods were employed, like the
one called “cortín dos lobos”, a ditch with
a stone wall where they make the animal
fall and later it was killed. One of these
buildings could be seen some years ago in
the placed named Balouta. Even prayers
were used to fight against wolves and to
defend cattle from them.
The wolf and wild boar hunting was made
by beats, traps and poisoned objects that
were very dangerous and damaging
because they killed other animals that
could eat them. Nowadays only controlled
beats are allowed.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
-González Arias, A.(1995) Guía e Rutas dos
Ancares, Galaxia, Vigo.
-Xiz Ramil, X. (1994), Os Ancares, Everest,
Madrid.

Neftalí Platas García
(Photos by José A. Armesto)
This region comprises the municipalities
of Folgoso do Courel, Pedrafita do
Cebreiro and Quiroga and it has a surface
about 25000 hectares in an area limited to
the north by St.James Way, to the east by
the headwaters of the rivers Selmo and
Soldón, to the south by O Boi mountain
pass and to the west by the valley of the
river Lóuzara.
It's a mountainous area that makes up the
western side of Cantabrian Range. Courel
massif has three main peaks:
Formigueiros (1639 m, image), Pía Páxaro
(1616 m) and Alto do Faro (1615 m).
The main features are the differences in
altitude (from 400 m to 1639 m) with very
steep slopes and a very rough and complex
relief because of a complicated process of
foldings, fractures and erosions made on
diferent kind of rocks.
Courel
182
The climate is oceanic with peculiarities
because it's a mountainous area.
Precipitations about 1500 mm and an
average temperature between 8º and
10ºC. However, there are differences
between the headwaters of river Lor
(rainier and colder) and the middle and
low lands, with a milder climate.
Landscape, human environment
and agricultural and livestock
activity
Landscape in Courel is strongly altered by
human activity. The lands with less slope
were used from ages to kitchen garden and
crop rotation based on rye, woods were
used for firewood and fire and pasturage
acted on big areas of scrubland. The
authentic woods can be found only in the
craggier valleys, with steep slopes and
difficult access.
Courel lost population countinuously from
the middle of 19th century and mainly
from the 40's. It's estimated that the
population in the area was reduced to
three-fifths. Some of the 42 populated
villages and hamlets don't have any
children among their inhabitants. This
process can be seen very well in the
agricultural activity: between 1962 and
1985, the amount of farms in the
municipality of Folgoso was reduced to
60%.
Historical and cultural heritage
Courel keeps important traditional
architectural models of Galician
mountains. We can highlight beautiful
hamlets like Seceda, Céramo and Visuña,
all of them great examples of integration
in the environment. Throughout the
highlands it's possible to find ancient

houses, old watermills, fountains,
“sequeiros” (buildings to dry up the
chestnuts) and shepherd huts, all of them
are a valuable heritage.
We can find too more than 20 “castros”
(hillforts), pre-Roman and romanised
ones: Vilar, A Torre, Brío, Megoxe and
Monte Cido are the most importants. As to
the remains of Roman culture there are
gold mines like Mina da Toca, near
Seoane, and Mina de Torubio. There are
also two bronze hospitality tables between
the Romans and the indigenous tribes.
From the Middle Ages it's highligted the
ruins of Carbedo castle.
Another remarkable aspect of cultural and
industrial heritage are the smithies,
buildings devoted to ellaborate forged iron
to make farming tools, weapons, etc. This
technology began about 11th century and
reached the 19th century with few
changes. From the Middle Ages, in Courel
and Western Bierzo (the neighbour region
in León) a real industrial network has
developped with more than 30 smithies
(image, Vilar, a desserted hamlet).
The biological heritage: Flora and
Fauna
Courel is a well known land from the point
of view of flora. At present , Courel's flora
is estimated around 800 species of
vascular plants of 82 families and more
than 400 genera. This number is up to
40% of Galician flora in a territory smaller
183
than 6% of total surface. The big variation
in altitude, with the Mediterranean
climatic influence through the valleys and
the strata of calcareous rock, rare in
Galicia, are the reasons to explain the
great biodiversity of the range (image,
wood Devesa da Rogueira).
The invertebrate fauna of Courel is not
well known although some of the species
are well studied and in the last years new
species were discover. We can highlight
slugs, thysanoptera (thrips), coleoptera
(beetles), ants and butterflies.
Regarding vertebrates, Courel is one of the
areas or greatest faunistic interest in
Galicia because there are around 160
species. Among fish we can stress trouts
and eels. There are 7 species of
amphibians and 15 of reptiles. Among
these, there are mountainous species like
Portuguese viper, or Mediterranean ones
like Montpellier snake.
There are more than 90 species of birds
and we can highlight golden eagle, tawny
owl, alpine accentor and blue rock thrush.
Finally, the mammals are 48 species and
the most important are the bats and the
carnivores. The brown bear and the
capercaillie, before present, disappeared
and now only the bear can be seen from
time to time.

Etnography
-Carnival: As in other places, carnival in
Courel were festive days and it was
possible to do unthinkable things in any
other time of the year. There were lot of
differences between the villages but with
common aspects: carnival Sunday was
“Water day”, Monday was “Stain Monday”
and Tuesday was “Fire Tuesday”. It was
usual to make two dolls, “o entroido”
(male) and “a entroida” (female) and then
both were burned on Tuesday night.
-Protection from storms: People from
Courel were always very afraid of summer
storms, because they often damaged crops,
houses, trees and even people. In order to
protect themselves they used to call on
Saint Barbara and
to take her statue
out of the chapels
and churchs.
-The “Viceira”: As
in all villages there
were a lot of “cría”
(all the goats and
sheep), one of the
villagers took care
of all those
animals between
May and the
winter. In order to
distinguish the
animals of each
owner, they made a brand cutting one or
several pieces of their ears. In the
morning, the “viceira” would leave to the
mountain announcing it with a large
conch shell. They came back at night.
-The “Responso”: This word includes a
collection of prayers that the people of
Courel used as protection against enemies.
The “responso” protected the cattle
184
against the wolf, the diseases and other
people. Even some people used it in order
to find lost properties.
-Beliefs: There are a lot of beliefs in Courel
and we can stress the followings:
If we find many wasps' nest in
summer, in winter it will snow a lot.
Crows are birds of bad omen.
To have a viper's head at home,
into a match box, gives good luck.
People were afraid of
salamanders because of its unpleasant
appeareance and its poison, considered
very strong.
People were afraid of least weasel
because it was said its bite was deadly.
(image, a “souto”, a cultivation of chesnut
trees).
Bibliography:
-Parada Jato, J. A. Usos,costumes, e
cousas do Courel. Edición ToxoSoutos.
-Guitián, J. Guitián Rivera,L. Martínez
Villar, J. L. Guía do Courel. Edicións
Xerais.

Neftalí Platas García (Photos by José A.
Armesto)
Situation:
The Natural Park “Baixa Limia-Serra do
Xurés” (Low Limia-Xurés Range)
(declared in 1993) is located in the
southwest of Ourense province.
Its has 20920 hectares and includes the
upper parts of municipalities of Entrimo,
Lobios and Muíños, in the border with
Portugal, and next to the Portuguese
National Park Peneda-Gerês.
Description
Landscape is the main attractive of this
park, typical of Iberian Peninsula
northwest ranges, and it combines rugged
ranges and milder ones in which granitic
rocks enhance because of their size. These
different and varied ranges of sceneries
gives to this park a very good ecological
mark. The more typical features are
boulders granite rocks.
Water is another one of the main physical
elements in this park. First, the streams
made by the strenght of rain waters run by
the cracks of the ranges, making
Xurés
185
spectacular waterfalls. Second, some dams
(Salas or Lindoso) and above all, the
thermal springs that allowed the
development of thermalism, as Lobios
Spa.
Climate
Baixa Limia-Serra do Xurés is a particular
area because is in the transition between
two climatic regions: Eurosiberian and
Mediterranean. Climate is western oceanic
(in Limia Valley) and mountain oceanic
(in the range). The annual average
precipitation is 1000 to 2500 mm
(depending on altitude) and the average
temperatures are 8º to 15ºC. It often
snows in the summits and the
temperatures can be very low in eastern
areas.
Flora and Fauna
In spite of the uniformity of substrate,
there is a great ecological variety. Baixa
Limia region is placed in a transition area
between two big European floristic
regions: Eurosiberian (Atlantic region)
and Mediterranean. Owing to this, the

vegetation contains woods of deciduous
trees, typical of humid climatic conditions
and perennial trees, like cork oaks and
strawberry trees, more adapted to dried
conditions during some times of the year.
In low lands there are woods of oaks and
cork oaks.
The scrubland is made of brooms, gorses
and some species living in warmer areas
like gum rockroses and strawberry trees.
As it increases in altitude, the Pyrenean
oak substitutes gradually to the oak and
other trees like holly trees, yews,
strawberry trees, birchs, scots pines and
herbaceous plants.
Fauna is varied because of the landscape
contrasts of the natural park that allows
the acclimatization and gave refuge to
many species. Nevertheless, human beings
caused the extinction of bears but it's
trying to reintroduce the Xurés goat again.
At present, it's possible to find more than
30 species of mammals and 140 of birds.
We can mention: wolves, genets, beech
martens, foxes, roe deers, wild boars,
black kites, tawny owl, eurasian scops
owls, falcons, golden eagles. In the
wetlands surrounding the range we can
find storks and grey herons, in the rivers,
otters and in the dams some species of
ducks.
We can also highlight two indigenous
breed of cows: “barrosa” from Portugal
186
and “cachena” from Olelas (Entrimo),
both endangered species.
Population
The current population of the three
municipalities of the Natural Park is 6300
inhabitants. It's a regressive population, in
which there are more people with more
than 60 years old than people under 20.
The distribution of the population is not
uniform. Litte towns and hamlets are
concentrated by the river Limia and its
tributaries, as in any pattern of population
with an agricultural and livestock
economy. In contrast to this, there are
other underpopulated areas in the upper
part of the range, apart from some hamlets
devoted to cattle farming and with not
much population (Alvite, A Cela, Queguas
or Bouzadrago).
Agricultural and livestock economy
represents the main activity. Mostly of the
farms are family which mean more than
50% of the employment in the area.
Service sector, hotels, restaurants, bars,
shops and tourism are also important for
the economy of this area (image, a hamlet
surrounded by terrace cultivations).
Heritage
Baixa Limia region is an area with
important and valuable remains from the
past. The archaeological, ethnographical

and historical heritage began in the
Paleolithic. From those times there are
remains of hunters-harvesters in the
fluvial terraces of Lobeira and Riocaldo.
According to the researchers, the first
effective occupation was from 4th
millenium b.C. When the first shepherds
and farmers settled in this area, leaving a
number of Megalithic monuments,
between 3500 to 2000 b.C. (dolmens and
similar) that can be found in the valley of
river Salas, Leboreiro range, Motas range,
Queguas range, Pisco, Galez, etc.
There are remains of the copper age or
Chalcolithic too, but the most known are
the sites of the Castro culture, and we can
mention the castros or hill-forts of
Taboadela in Barxés (Muíños), Outeiro da
Cela in Mugueimes (Muíños), the site of
Castelo in Galez (Entrimo) or the site of
Monte dos Castelos.
When Romans arrived to Galicia, this
region become important for them as a
pass in the XVIII Roman road from
Bracara Augusta (Braga) to Asturica
Augusta (Astorga), crossing the mountain
pass of Portela de Homem. The
romanization process can be seen by the
buildings that still remain: the Roman
camp and way station (“mansio”) of Aquis
Querquennis (Bande), thermal baths of
Riocaldo (Lobios), “mansio” of Baños de
Riocaldo or Aquis Originis (Lobios),
milestones or “miliarium”. These
milestones are cylindrical stones or
monoliths used to mark the distances and,
sometimes, to worship the authorities or
gods (Lobios).
Other samples of the past are the
visigothic church of Santa Comba (Bande,
image) from 7th century, the remains of
the castles of Vila (Lobios) and Monte dos
Castelos (Entrimo), the sanctuary of
Milagres (Muíños), and the churchs of San
Mamede in Grou (Lobios), San Miguel in
Fondevila (Lobios), Nosa Señora do Xurés
(Lobios) and San Salvador in Prado de
187
Limia (Muíños). Civil constructions are
the bridges of Casal, Pacín, Covas, Porto
pequeno, all of them in Entrimo, and the
bridges of Ganceiros and Carballedo de
Torno in Muíños.
Traditional architecture
The traditional houses of Baixa Limia
developed from the simpler one-storey
and an only inner space. Inside them
people and cattle lived together, only
separated by a wood wall. Later this wood
wall is substituted by a stone wall. A
pattern more modern is a two-storey
house. At the ground floor there are the
stables and the upper floor is divided in
rooms. The access is by an external
staircase. Other similar buildings include a
“solaina”, an exterior corridor located to
the east. The more modern houses are the
two-storey buildings with several rooms
and with a big balcony in the front.
Bibliography:
-Baixa Limia Serra do Xurés Parque Natural.
Consellería de Medio ambiente. Xunta de
Galicia.
-XOSÉ RAMÓN MARIÑO FERRO e XOSÉ
MANUEL GONZÁLEZ REBOREDO (2010):
Dicionario de etnografía e antropoloxía de
Galiza, Vigo, Nigratrea.
centros.edu.xunta.es/ceipdoxures/entrevista.ht
ml

Ana Anllo Carreira
Ribeira Sacra
The wine culture in Lugo and Ourense
Ribeira Sacra, a region which extends over
both the Miño and Sil rivers, is located in
the southern part of the province of Lugo
and in the northern part of the province of
Ourense. The capital is the town of
Monforte de Lemos (Lugo). This is the
Galician wine-making region par
excellence, as much for its expanse as for
its production of grapes. The cultivation of
this fruit has been an economic and
productive driving force for the region
and, both directly and indirectly, has been
helping the economy to grow since ancient
Roman times right up to the present day.
The Ribeira Sacra denomination of origin
was established in 1997.
This denomination of origin is divided into
five sub regions: Amandi, Chantada,
Quiroga-Bibei, Ribeiras do Miño and
Ribeiras do Sil. The Regulatory Council of
the Ribeira Sacra has three core functions:
to guarantee the origin of the product, to
ensure its quality and to promote the
locally produced wines.
Because of the rivers the region has its
own microclimate which, along with the
steep, south-facing slopes, favours the
proper ripening which the grapes need in
order to produce wines which even in
Roman times were known as Sil liquid
gold.
The aromatic wines of the Ribeira Sacra
are the result of their location on the
slopes and sunny hillsides of the Miño and
Sil rivers and their tributaries the Cabe,
the Lor and others, combined with a
careful choice of the best varieties of
grape. It is possible to identify some
ninety-nine wineries with vineyards
188
totalling 1,242 hectares, with a total
production of 4,698,000 kg of grapes of
which 4,461,532 are the Mencía grape
variety and the rest are divided between
varieties of red, such as Erenzao,
Brancellao, Mouretón and Garnacha, and
whites such as Palomino, Godello,
Loureira, Treixadura, Dona Branca,
Albariño and Torrentes. The grapes are
processed by experts, who can create
excellent wines full of personality from
strains which are perfectly adapted to the
rough terrain. As we have seen, the
predominant grape in the Ribeira Sacra is
the Mencía variety, a grape which has
been cultivated since Roman times. With a
tradition dating back more than 2,000
years, this grape is used to produce fruity,
aromatic wines with an intense colour,
which may become vintage wines (image,
vineyards in terraces at O Saviñao).
The name “Ribeira Sacra" may have come
down from the Middle Ages and it was
thought that the name originally came
from the Latin "Rivoyra Sacrata" and was
linked to the large number of monasteries

and temples to be found in the huge
canyons and on the steep hillsides which
characterise the region. Since the
beginnings of Christianity this terrain has
attracted monastic communities because
such groups of people sought out
settlements favouring the ascetic and
hermetic lifestyle. So began a long history
of monastic civilization along the banks of
the Sil and Miño, a heritage which is still
in evidence today; in fact there are
currently eighteen monasteries which can
be visited. Overall, the dolmens and
Prehistoric tombs indicate early
settlement, which then continues with
important evidence of the Roman
presence.
The first reference to these lands as
Rivoyra Sacrata goes back to the year
1124; in a document signed in Allariz in
August of that year, Queen Tareixa of
Portugal, the daughter of Alfonso VI,
donates the territories to the monk
Arnaldo and his companions, so that they
can build a new monastery in the region
called Rivoyra Sacrata; that monastery
was the predecessor of the present day
monastery of Santa María de
Montederramo, one of the most important
in Galicia (image, Sto. Estevo de Atán).
The historian Manuel Vidán Torreira cast
doubt on this source for the name in 1987,
with the publication of a series of articles
in the newspaper La Voz de Galicia and a
work entitled El roble sagrado de la
189
Rivoira Sacrata (The Sacred Oak of the
Rivoira Sacrata). Vidán looks at the
derivatives of "riboira/reboira/reboiro"
and concludes that Rivoira would be
closer to “roble" (oak) than to "ribeira"
(bank). This theory was to gain more
credence thanks to another historian,
Torquato de Souza Soares, who, when
submitting the founding document to
critical analysis and publishing it in
facsimile, finds an error in the
transcription by the friar Fray Antonio de
Yepes and indicates that in the document
the word "rovoyra" can be clearly read,
and not "rivoira"; which distances it from
"ribera" and could mean "robledal" (oak
grove), from the Latin "rubus". In his work
Vidán is in synch with James Frazer’s La
rama dorada (The Golden Bough), where
Celtic traditions are gathered around the
oak, a tree considered sacred and the
guardian of the spirit of the tribe; in fact,
oak forests were venerated sites. Vidán
also refers to the place name of
Montederramo as probably an allusion to
the mistletoe collected by druids, to
strengthen the view that the origin of this
name is more likely to be "Robledal
sagrado" than the already established
popular and tourist version "Ribeira
Sacra”.
Of course, with regard to the economy of
the region, not everything was connected
with wine, and we can find economies
based on other products, such as oil,
chestnuts, honey and other agricultural
crops, as well as on local livestock. As far
as traditional crafts are concerned, one
feature is the famous Niñodaguia pottery,
ochre-coloured, which uses the rapid
spinning of two pieces and an innovative
process of glazing the ceramic. These
ceramic forms range from decorative
figures to items for domestic use such as
cups, jugs, pots and pans, and clay pots
known as “chocolateras” or “ataños” which
are vessels used for the famous

“queimada” (“fire-drink”). These ceramics
are mainly produced in the municipalities
of Xunqueira de Espadanedo and Esgos.
Also worth mentioning is the pottery from
Gundivós, the only black pottery, which is
crafted using a low manual pottery wheel.
The clay, which is from the same region, is
worked by hand using overlapping strips.
Traditional items are produced for use in
kitchens, for traditional pork dishes
(matanza) and in wineries (to store wine).
The latter would be covered with pine
resin to waterproof them, and this gives
the wine a particular taste.
Besides ceramics, the handicraft heritage
of the Ribeira Sacra draws on other related
manifestations of the traditional way of
life. Thus we find professions such as
shoemakers-carpenters, basket-makers,
weavers and knife-sharpeners (who still
use "barallete", an argot unique to this
group, in Esgos). Regarding the latter, it
should be noted that in Luintra and
Vilouriz there are two exhibitions, unique
of their kind, of grinding wheels and
various tools and appliances used in the
profession.
Other economic activities in the region
result from gold mining, particularly in the
locality of Montefurado, in the
municipality of Quiroga, which is best
known for the spectacular tunnel
excavated by the Romans in Pena do
Corvo in order to mine the gold at Sil.
Nonetheless, from an historical point of
view, equally important are the small
mines and the network of galleries that
they left in the region, where mining
activities were carried out in antiquity.
In Montefurado it was necessary to divert
the bed of the Sil river over a three
kilometres section in order to target the
significant gold alluviums in the area.
Those deposits were channelled and
completely cleaned by means of a complex
system of canals and underground
galleries into which large quantities of
190
water were directed to erode and break
down the alluviums holding the gold. Even
today one can see some of these galleries
in certain mined areas, or even inside
dwellings where they are now used like
wine cellars, to store wine.
Without doubt the most impressive aspect
of the former mining apparatus in
Montefurado is the famous tunnel drilled
into the rock to divert the course of the Sil
and take advantage of the alluviums. It is
75 metres long, 19 wide and 17 high. It is
thought that the work was carried out in
the second century, during the reign of the
emperor Trajan. The Romans were
encamped in a village called Sesmil, whose
name comes from the Roman legion, given
that “Seismil” was a band of warriors.
Following the river Sil we come to the
locality of Quiroga, where the bioclimatic
peculiarities permit olive tree cultivation,
a practice which had more or less
disappeared in recent decades but which is
now trying to recover, both through
production from old olive groves and by
the creation of new plantations in the
localities of Montefurado, Bendollo and
Bendilló. The preparation of olive oil is
still done in the traditional way.
With regard to its historical roots Quiroga
is characterised by two distinct elements:
the presence of the Romans from the end
of the second century AD until the early
part of the fifth century and, in particular,
the presence of the Knights of the Order of
Saint John of Malta, who dominated this
region both spiritually and temporally
from the end of the eighth century until
well into the nineteenth century.
The presence of man in this municipality
can be found dating back to Prehistoric
times; in this respect it is worth noting the
cave-dwelling inhabitants that were
discovered some years ago in the parish of
Pacios da Serra, in the well known “Cova
do Oso” valley. Much more numerous and
frequent are the settlements of the Castro

culture. Although it is not easy to affirm
the presence of Celtic peoples in those
settlements, neither does their subsequent
Romanisation seem strong given that most
of them can be linked to the defence of
routes used for the transportation of gold
and other types of minerals emerging from
the river basins of the Sil, Lor, Soldón and
Selmo, and also Quiroga (image, river
Miño).
Following the course of the Sil river we
come across numerous monasteries which
are benchmark examples of the Galician
Romanesque, highlighting the Benedictine
monasteries of Santa Cristina de Ribas de
Sil, Santa María de Montederramo, San
Pedro de Rocas in Esgos, Xunqueira de
Espadanedo and, of course, Santo Estevo
de Ribas de Sil, a large monastery located
where the Miño and Sil rivers converge
and which dates back to the sixth and
seventh centuries, where the Romanesque
and Baroque styles alternate.
Highlights are the three cloisters
(Romanesque, Gothic and Renaissance) of
the building which has been given
Historic-Artistic Heritage status and
which today is part of the National
Paradors network.
In the centre of the Ribeira Sacra, on the
banks of the river Cabe, we have the town
of Monforte which was linked to the Celtic
tribe of los Lemavos, a word from which is
derived the present name of Lemos which
had its capital city on the so called Castro
191
Dactonium, where today we can find the
tower of the castle in Lemos which was
destroyed in an Arab raid along with the
monasteries of Atán and Santa María de
Amandi. In the 12th century the Count of
Galicia, García de Borgoña, and Queen
Doña Urraca grant to Froila Díaz, from the
House of Lemos, the re-founding of the
town at the feet of the Dactonium and the
town charter is approved to make the town
prosper and the centre of a large
agricultural and livestock market. Around
San Vicente a thriving medieval town
develops, which will receive privileges
from various Galician kings, such as
Fernando II. It will experience turbulent
times such as the “Irmandiños” wars, it
will welcome an important Jewish
population, and will be the home of one of
the most powerful noble families in
Galicia.
In the upper course of the Miño river, and
forming part of the Ribeira Sacra, the
localities of Paradela and Portomarín are
noteworthy, forming part of the French
Way to Santiago de Compostela; similarly,
Taboada and Chantada, where the wine
industry is a part of the economy of the
region, both in the production of wines
and aguardientes, as is shown in the many
fairs and festivals which revolve around its
winemaking
Internet Bibliography:
www.ribeirasacra.org/en/
es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ribeira_Sacra
www.turismoenxebre.com/2009/02/mont
efurado.html
www.concellodequiroga.com/
www.paradadesil.es/
www.parador.es/en/
www.galiciamaxica.eu
www.concelloesgos.com
www.concellodetaboada.com

Mª Luisa Freire Lodeiro
With the arrival of the Millennium a series
of historical changes that meant the
cultural renovation of the continent
happened in Europe. Between these
historical events we emphasize the
Reconquest, that took place in the Iberian
Peninsula, the development of the
Romance languages and the economic and
cultural growth that took place around the
year 1000 linked to a calm period without
plagues and starvation and with political
stability. This provoked a demographic
growth, thanks also to the introduction of
new techniques in the agricultural
production, that made the crops increase
and the trade reemerge. A new social class,
the bourgeoisie, formed by small
merchants and craftsmen arised. All these
elements would facilitate the growth of the
cities with new routes of trade, linked to
the ways of peregrination. These changes
in the society would make the world
changed. New needs, like the one of
building new religious posts, due to the
fact the society at that time was a
theocentric one, appeared. These
constructions promoted the new power of
the Christian kings and the Church, which
in those days in the Peninsula was
competing with the Muslim kingdoms.
We should place in this context the
appearance of a new art, the Romanesque
one. It’s an European art that emerged
between the 11th and 13th centuries and,
altough it presented some peculiarities in
the different countries, it can be seen as
the first international style of the known
world until there.
The diffusion of this art is due to the order
of Cluny, of French origin. Thanks to its
great power (it managed to possess more
than 50000 monks and 1500 monasteries
and several Popes came from this
The Romanesque style
192
Benedictine order) it would be able to
spread his knowledge and ideas, since its
principal task was the pilgrimage together
with the preaching of the crusades.
The order of Cluny was a defender of the
use of images and veneration of relics,
which would give place to the traffic of
these and at the same time promoted the
pilgrimages, especially the Jacobean one,
that prompted thousands of persons,
facilitating not only the cultural exchange
but also the increase of the trade, which
awarded this order a very big economic
and political power; in fact it went so far
as to be over kings and emperors.
These sociocultural changes, between
others, would be shown in art. As other
cultures, like the Islam, which used art to
demonstrate power, the christianity would
use this new art, the Romanesque, in the
building of cathedrals and churches. These
buildings would have richer new
architectural structures, especially if we
compare them with the previous
constructions (Pre-romanesque and Early
Christian) much more modest and simple.
The Romanesque periods
Before talking about the different periods
of the Romanesque, it would be
interesting to mention the Preromanesque
art (5th to 10th centuries),
developed by Visigoths and Mozarabs, and
the Asturian art, since it managed to fuse
with the Romanesque one. This style
would develop from the First Romanesque
or Lombard Romanesque (from
Lombardy, Italy). Its most important
influence would be in Catalonia due to its
proximity to Europe, though we can also
see its influence far from Catalonian lands.
We have an example of this in the church
of San Martiño in Foz (Lugo), built over a

previous construction as it’s proved by the
Pre-romanesque remains.
The most important period would be the
correspondent to the so called
Romanesque Plenary session, whose
consolidation and diffusion was due to the
order of Cluny. In the 12th century a new
influence would arise with the order of the
Cister, that looked for wider spaces, a
balance of lines and minor sculptural
decoration, which developed into a new
art: the Gothic one.
Characteristics of the Romanesque
style
Architecture (image, S. Paio de Diomondi)
The wish to build durable temples that
could demonstrate the greatness of the
Christian kingdoms made that the new
constructions were based on the height
and on the search of lighter into the
temple. Due to this, resistant materials, as
the stone, would be used and the roofs
were arched (in this way they were
193
preventing from burning, since they were
made from wood). These new roofs
provoked the incorporation of a new
architectural element, the buttresses stuck
to the walls, with broader props. These
buildings would present Latin cross plant.
The transept would separate the faithful
from the choir. A very important element
of these churches would be the
ambulatory, that went behind the major
altar and gave access to the crypt where
the relics were placed.
Important temples could have several
doors. The principal ones were orientated
to the west and if they were broad they
could be divided by a mullion. These doors
and windows were adorned by widened
carved archivolts, and they could consist
of a tympanum, also carved with some
religious representation.
Sculpture and painting
Both sculpture and painting did not try to
reflect the reality in a natural way but they
followed geometric forms. The decoration,
full of simbols, was a kind of stone
catechism with the aim, between others, of
teaching and indoctrinating people, as
most of the fatihfuls or even all of them
were illiterate. The models were taken
from biblical passages, as we can observe
in capitels, tympanums and so on. We can
also find another type of representations,
with fantastic animals or scenes of
everyday life, where the mentality of that
time is shown.
We can emphasize the sculptural Galician
work, which would reach the top with the
building of the façade of Pratarías square
by Mestre Esteban, as well as the Portico
of the Glory by Mestre Mateo, with some
transition from the Romanesque into the
Gothic, which reflects a more naturalistic
trend.
For the painting we emphasize that it was
a wall painting, influenced by the
Byzantine style, with polychromy and

vivid and brilliant colors. They painted flat
figures, with hieratic frontalism, without
perspective and with hierarchic size. This
painting can be found in apses, but there
are few remains in Galicia, due to its bad
preservation (image, door at Sto. Estevo
de Ribas de Miño).
The Romanesque in Galicia
The epicentre of the Romanesque style in
Galicia was, undoubtedly, Santiago de
Compostela. The building of the cathedral,
promoted by the discovery of the supposed
remains of the apostle Santiago (these
bones really did not belong to the apostle
Santiago, who probably never came to
Galician lands, but to Priscilianus, bishop
of Galician origin, executed by heresy),
turned the city into the third center of
peregrination of the Christianity together
with Rome and Jerusalem.
The construction of the cathedral began
with the archbishop Diego Peláez, but he
was removed due to his differences with
194
the king Alfonso VI. For a time, the works
were paralyzed. It was Diego Xelmírez
who turned into the great promoter of the
city and of the same cathedral. This
archbishop could achieve his goals thanks
to his big influences, not only with the
Christian kings of the time, but because he
also had the favor of the papacy, due to his
good relation with the order of Cluny, in
fact he was a protected of the brother of
the Pope Callistus II.
Both kings and the church played with the
superstition of people using and
promoting the image of Santiago as
“Santiago Matamouros”, so that both the
nobles and the common people, very tied
to this kind of superstitions, asked for his
protection in the fight against the Muslims
to recover the Holy Land, or to search the
divine pardon, they had to give large
amounts of money as offerings to the
apostle, which gave more economic and
political power to the city and to the
archbishop.
The building of the cathedral of Santiago
de Compostela marked a new influence for
the following constructions in Galicia,
specially in the architecture, though they
would be simpler constructions. But
specially we can see the influence in the
work of the ornamentation of churches
and monasteries. Rural masters imitated
the style of the Mestre Mateo, creator of
the Portico of Glory, as we can see in the
decoration of sculptures in the facade of
Santo Estevo de Ribas de Miño (next two
images), but in a simpler way.
Another artist who would influence the
rural construction of these religious

uildings very much would be the Mestre
Esteban, close collaborator of Xelmírez,
whose style would spread over the whole
Galicia. His ornamental forms would have
a vegetable subject matter, human and
animal figures, or with zoomorphic
decoration, as well as other more complex
topics.
The Romanesque style in Galicia does not
limit itself only to the cathedral of
Santiago, but we have an important group
of monasteries and small churches placed
especially in the Ribeira Sacra along the
river Sil, and also along the river Miño,
where many medieval monasteries still
stay, which make this area of Galicia one
of the richest ones in Spain regarding
Romanesque heritage.
The Romanesque in Ribeira Sacra
This area is placed between Lugo and
Ourense, along the banks of the river Sil.
The name Ribeira Sacra has existed since
the year 1124, when the queen Maria
Teresa of Portugal mentioned it in a
document directed to Montederramo's
monastery. His geography and climate
make this area an ideal one for the wine
cultivation, whose tradition comes from
the Romans.
The expansion is due to the many
monasteries of the area, attracted for
being an isolated area, looked for the
195
monks who were dedicated to the retired
life, as well as for the economic
advantages, like the wine cultivation. His
most popular period covered the 12th and
13th centuries, and it would decline up to
almost being left in the 19th century with
Mendizábal's disentailment, which would
confiscate the goods of the Church to
relieve the serious economic crisis that
was suffered in Spain at that time.
In this area we can find, mostly,
monasteries from medieval origin. The
buildings are simpler than the cathedral of
Santiago, but are influenced by it in the
decoration of the sculptures, as well as in
some architectural elements as the use of
the round arch, columns with smooth
shafts, with bases and capitals decorated
with similar thematic engravings to that of
the most important Romanesque
constructions.
Among these constructions we can
emphasize two monasteries placed in the
province of Ourense. The first one, the
Monastery of Santa Cristina de Ribas de
Sil (Parada do Sil), had a limited
community and a limited power,
nevertheless it had the favour of the kings
and of the papacy, which gave protection
to its lands and exploitations. An
important part of its economy was based
on the fluvial port. Related to its
architecture, we emphasize his central
chapel, richly decorated by historiated
capitals.
Another monastery of the same area is
Santo Estevo de Ribas do Sil (Nogueira de
Ramuín), one of the most important of
Ribeira Sacra, nowadays, a state-run hotel.
The most important part for the history of
the Galician culture is the Romanesque
church of the 12th and 13th centuries, as
well as a piece of furniture, and an
altarpiece of pentagonal form where a
series of small arches on columns are
representated, in imitation of another

piece created for the cathedral of Santiago
de Compostela.
In the province of Lugo we can emphasize
the monastery of Taboada dos Freire,
where Master Pelagio was employed. In
this one we emphasize the tympanum of
the main door of the church, in which his
name and the data appears, besides the
biblical scene of the fight of the judge
Samson against the lion.
In Pantón's municipality we find a great
concentration of Romanesque
architecture. This zone has several
monasteries, like San Salvador de Ferreira
(image) or San Miguel de Eiré, singular
because it has only one nave and preserves
some Early Christian remains.
196
The Mestre Mateo also will have influence
in the building of minor cathedrals like the
ones in Lugo, Ourense and Monforte. The
cathedral of Lugo has different
architectural styles, beginning with the
Romanesque one, followed by the Gothic
and the Baroque ones to end with the
Neoclassicist. From Romanesque times it
preserves the plant of Latin cross, with
three naves and the ambulatory with five
apsidal chapels. Almost the whole major
nave preserves the Romanesque style as
well as the domed roof and the clerestory.
Bibliography
-Gran Enciclopedia Gallega
-Enciclopedia Galicia Arte
-Yzquierdo Perrín, R. (1983) La
arquitectura románica en Lugo, Fundación
Barrié de la Maza.
-www.wikipedia.org
-www.arteguia.com
www.amigosdelromanico.org/nosotros.ht
ml

Mª Luisa Freire Lodeiro
Getting to know the Galician manor
houses is to know the history of the
Ancient Regime in Galicia, especially the
18th century. In a time when the land
ownership was essential, being able to
access to the property suppossed a social
and economic improvement. This change
would begin to feel weakly from the 16th
century because until this moment the
land belonged exclusively to the Church
and the nobles. But gradually, some lower
social classes, like the squires of the high
nobility, notaries, clergymen, among
others, would accumulate power until the
18th century. In this way they had access
to the land ownership, due to socioeconomic
transformations and even to the
payment for political favors. These new
owners, in turn, rented the land to other
farmers (subforums), which gave them
high incomes that facilitated their social
and economic advancement. To
demonstrate this new power, these new
lords built manor houses or rehabilitated
medieval fortresses and in this way
Galician manor houses were born.
A Galician manor house is actually a big
house built especially in rural areas, by the
small nobility. The choice of the site for
construction was not left to
chance. For example they were
built in strategic places, specially
high places, to have a better view
and control of their possessions.
The new owners preferred
sometimes to build in the middle
of the countryside, in valleys with
microclimates and more fertile
lands. Since they had an autarkic
agrarian regime, the manor was not only a
residence but also a farm, thanks to which
they could live.
The manor houses
197
The Galician country houses have been the
subject of interest not only for their
history or architecture, but also in Spanish
and Galician literature. Important writers
like Emilia Pardo Bazan, Valle Inclán and
Otero Pedrayo, among others, were
inspired by manor houses for their novels,
and reflected, in some way, how Galician
society was at that time.
The etymology of the word “pazo (manor
house)” is the Latin "palatium". The
palatium or Roman villas of the Roman
Empire had some resemblance with the
construction of manor houses, especially
in the plant, and the two floors. But the
Galician manor houses also received
modern architectural influences such as
the ones from the Renaissance, the
Baroque and the Neoclassical. At the same
time, its construction was also determined
by the needs and circumstances of use and
time. For example, during the Middle Age
they were built taking into account the
needs of defense, due to the frequent wars
or rebellions and they presented high
walls and towers. But as the wars ended,
these fortifications were adapted to the
new needs, specially to farming works. We
have an example of this in the manorfortress
of San Pedro de Bembibre in
Taboada (Lugo, image).
Their new objective would be a calm and
peaceful place of residence where it was
easier to work the lands and due to this

many fortifications were abandoned or
rebuilt like manor houses. Some of the
fortifications and towers remained only as
decorative elements, and as a symbol of
the power that the family had owned.
But we shouldn’t forget the great influence
that the monastic architecture had in these
new buildings. Galicia is also a land of
monasteries, and some manor houses
remind us clearly these constructs. For
example, the manor of Abraira in Vilabade
(Castroverde), from the 17th century,
whose construction was done on the site
where once there was a Franciscan
monastery, from which it is still preserved
the Church from the 14th century.
But the style that mostly has defined the
manor houses was undoubtedly the
Baroque one. So many of the Galician
manor houses have sawed plaques, big
chimneys or outdoor wide staircases,
typical Galician Baroque elements. It
would be during the 18th century when
the manor houses would be at the peak,
with more sumptuous buildings like the
manor of Sistallo in Cospeito, the manor
of Tor in Monforte or the manor of Batán
in Monterroso (all of them in the province
of Lugo). The economic boom these
constructions reflected coincided with the
introduction of maize in agriculture, which
was very important for the economy of the
noblemen.
The inside of the manor houses
The manor houses have two floors: the
ground floor, where the barn, stables and
servants' quarters were placed and the
first floor used by the nobility where the
kichen, the living rooms, bedrooms, and
so forth were situated.
The nerve centre of the house was the
kitchen because it was not only the place
where food for people was prepared but
also for animals. It was a big wide space
and in some way it symbolized the power
198
of the owners because the more chattels it
had the richer the house was. There were
cupboards called “chineros” where they
kept the crockery and tablecloth. In the
middle it was the hearth of stone called
“lareira”, where they cooked and that
served them to heat the home. This place
was where both servants and nobility
spent most of their time.
The living rooms were interconnected
between them. In this area of the house
the wealth of the owners was displayed
and because of this they decorated it
carefully, so we can find there big pictures
and crafts with a certain value, though not
as flashy as in the palaces placed in the
cities. An important part of these rooms is
the chimney, a meeting point where they
received visitors. The living room was only
used occasionally to receive both
ecclesiastical or other kind of authorities
and it was also common to be used to
celebrate the wedding of their children.
Another important room was the library
because it was not only used to keep
books, but also to protect the family
documents such as contracts, wills and so
on. Unfortunately most of these libraries
have disappeared.
A popular construction of these houses
were some stone projections, used as
seats, called “conversadoiros”. It was the
place where women sat to share their
secrets.
External elements
A popular saying states "chapel, dovecote
and cypress, manor is." These words show
to us that the manor is not the only
building of the 18th century noblemen
home but there were also gardens, oak
forests, vineyards and so forth.
The chapel
The chapel used to be an independent
building of the manor, but sometimes it

was integrated into it. It was attached to
the wall of the property and had two
entrances, one inside, for the lords, and
one outside to be used by other people.
They used to be sober constructions,
without any ornamentation, built with a
single nave, simple and rectangular plan.
Inside the chapel there were usually some
polychrome wooden altarpieces, images
and a gallery. It was used for weddings,
baptisms and even funerals.
The dovecot
In the lands of the manor houses there
usually was a dovecot, a cylindrical
structure with a conical roof. Here
pigeons, considered a delicacy for special
occasions, were suckled (image, dovecot at
Bembibre, Taboada).
The barn
The Galician barn is one of the most
representative buildings in our landscape.
Its great importance, even today, is due to
its role in agricultural activities, specially
to store cereals like maize and other
agricultural products that were placed
inside it to dry and keep throughout the
year.
The barn has a rectangular plan and it’s
supported by strong pillars of stone. It also
has a curious component called
“tornarratos”: a circular stone in the shape
of a capital, which prevented the mice
would eat the goods stored there. The
walls of the barns had holes that were
suitable for ventilation.
199
The cellar
In the areas of wine production, as the
Ribeira Sacra or Ribeiro, the manor
houses also have cellars, placed on the
ground floor so as to look for a suitable
temperature and humidity for wine
storage.
The courtyard
The courtyards, that have some
resemblance to the public squares, were
generally placed in front of the facades. Its
structure was polygonal. It was an
important point because it had two
functions: an aesthetic one (to serve as
outward lobby and even as a stage) and a
practical one (to do some farming works).
We can also find a cloister-like courtyard
formed by several pillars covered by
arcades to be used by the servants.
Wall and monumental gate (image,
Ferreiroá, Pantón)
The wall, built of stone, delimited the land
property. Here we can find the
monumental gate that gives access to the
inside. This gate shows great ornamental

wealth with arch moldings, and in the
horizontal cornice there are the pinnacles,
crosses, coats of arms and, to a lesser
extent, some sculptures. The gate could
also have one or two side towers as a
reminder of its noble past.
The gardens
The gardens usually copied the French
style, well structured and with geometric
shapes. In many of these gardens water
played an important part and it's easy to
find ponds, fountains or other structures
associated with this element of nature. The
fountains can be found not only inside the
manor, as a sculptural piece for the use
and enjoyment of the residents, but also
outside for a public use (people from the
village could use them for themselves or
for the animals). There were also Englishstyle
gardens, wilder, but they had less
influence.
The most common trees were cypress
trees and palm trees in the manors of
coastline. In the oak woods we can find
oaks, chestnuts and walnuts, which were
used for firewood or wood. This was the
place where the festivals of the parish were
celebrated.
Architectural and ornamental elements
The first thing that strikes us when we see
a manor house is the sobriety of this
building, in marked contrast with the
baroque style of the time. This surely is
due to two reasons: first of all, the
material they use to build. Galicia is very
rich in the granite stone worked as
masonry, but this material is very hard
and difficult to mold. On the other hand, it
probably was very difficult to find
professionals with sufficient artistic
training because aesthetic culture in this
area was very limited. Another type of
stone we can find, mainly in the area of
Lugo, is the flagstone. Then the manor
houses roofs can be made, depending on
200
the area, from red tile or flagstone, but all
of them have in common a sloping
construction to facilitate the fall of rain.
Two other important decorative elements
in the roofs are the chimneys that, apart
from their practical value, served as a
symbol of power. Inside them, we can find
the second decorative element: the
pinnacles (image, chimney at Bembibre,
Taboada).
Plan
We can find four types of plans in manor
houses. The most common one is the
square or rectangular one, as the Roman
villas. An example of a square plan is
found in the manor of Carraltravesa from
the 18th century, placed in Nosa Señora de
Sabadelle (Chantada); and an example of a
rectangular one in San Martiño de Bóveda,
in the manor house of the marquesses of
this village, a building with Neoclassical
influence that had in the façade some
Pompeian-style paintings, unfortunately
almost lost.
Other buildings were constructed at right
angles like the manor haouse called Pazo
de Vilar in San Martiño (Pantón) or the
one of Perrelos in the comarca of Taboada.
This last one, with Baroque façade, has a
series of arches, that make arcades, built
with granite stone, and also has a beautiful
fountain in the garden.

We can also find manor houses with an ushaped
courtyard. An example of this is
found again in the region of Panton: the
Pazo de Ferreiroá, built in the 18th
century and surrounded by a balcony
overlooking a beautiful garden. It also has
a laundry and a patio at its rear facade.
Finally, we can find a minority group of
manor houses with irregular plan. This is
due to the different buildings, or additions
made throughout the centuries.
Pillars and columns
It’s normal the use of pillars and columns
due to the construction of balconies and
porches. The pillars, usually square, are
used to support heavy weights, and
slender columns are reserved for lighter
weights. Both consist of simple base, shaft
bevel and Tuscan or Doric capital.
The facade
In the main façade, oriented to the north,
we find the stairs or steps that had a
double function: the practicalone (to gain
access to the noble parts) and the
monumental one (they were a kind of
stage). The construction materials are
granite stone and iron. The stairs were
placed in such a way so as to give to an
open gallery forming a kind of vestibule.
They are often decorated with balustrades,
typical Galician Baroque decorations.
The façades oriented to midday were the
place where galleries, balconies or
sunrooms were placed. These corridors
were often large and were also surrounded
by balustrades. The materials used for
construction are stone, iron, and wood. As
it was the area where more light was
received, it was the one used to rest, to
spend the afternoon sunbathing while
doing manual labor, or as a balcony. It was
also used to dry the corn, fruit or other
products from the land.
Another important element we can find in
balconies are the corbels. These big pieces
201
were used as supports. They were made of
granite, in a simple but robust way, and
presents geometric shapes.
Coat armor
The coats, an essential element of the
manor decoration, were placed mainly in
the main facade, but also on the facade of
the chapel or the monumental gate. They
used to have oval shape, and less
frequently square or rectangular shape.
They had an aesthetic function because
they were decorated with engravings of
plants and geometric figures, but their
most important function was the social
one: to show the identity of the owners.
Inside them the arms and surname of the
noble family were represented and,
sometimes, they had in the upper part a
crown, the symbol of a duchy or a county.
The openings
Some of these openings are in doors,
windows or air doors. All of them have
rectangular shape and are
framed with simple masonry moldings.
Their profile may be curved or flat. Some
of the windows have a mullion, a very
common element in Baroque architecture
to give more light to the inside of the
building. In the openings we can find an
architectural element called “sobrepenas”
used to protect them from the rain.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
-Gran Enciclopedia Gallega.
-Nogueira Fariña, V. (2001) Pazos de Galicia,
Nigra Trea.
-Pereira Molares, A. (1996) Os pazos, moradas
fidalgas de Galicia, Galaxia.
-Torres Búa, M. (2007) A arquitectura en
Galiza: aproximación á realidade
arquitectónica xeral de Galiza dende a
Prehistoria ata os nosos días, Nigra Trea.
-Yebra de Ares, A. (2000) Pazos y Señoríos de
la provincia de Lugo. T. I y II. Servizo de Pub.
da Dep. Prov. de Lugo.

Netherlands
202

Teachers:
Henk Rijkeboer Coördinator
Jan Melkert
Wieze van Elderen
Lone Jensen
Ann Niemeijer
The Dutch Team
Students:
Ramon Poeze,
Linda Timmer
Remy Schipper
Kevin Mulder,
Tanita Rits,
Melissa Vaudelle
Samantha Bennis
Chloë Fonk
Eline de Bruijn
Up: (From left to right) Chloë Fonk, Henk Rijkeboer, Melissa Vaudelle
In the middle: Tanita Rits, Down: Samantha Bennis.
Melissa Vaudelle and Lone Jensen
203

Jan Melkert Wieze van Elderen
The Dutch School
204

Program meeting Alkmaar 31 Oktober-5 November 2010
Time table
Depends
on time of
arrival
9.00h
9.30h
10.15h
11.45h
12.15h
17.30h
9.00h
11.45h
12.15h
17.30h
9.00h
17.30h
9.00h
10.15h
11.45h
12.30h
17.30h
Depends
Sunday 31/10:
Arrival at Schiphol airport
diner at Alkmaar
Monday 1/11:
1 A guided tour of Horizon College,
2. Opening meeting with the director of the department of
economics, Mr. Kees Sietsema and the team manager adult
education, Mrs. Bea den Bakker.
3. Meeting about aspects of our project; how the project did started
at our schools etc.
4. Lunch at Horizon College
5. A guided tour of Alkmaar, with visits of the town hall and cheese
museum
6. Diner
Tuesday 2/10:
1 Second Work meeting
2. Lunch at school
3. Showing aspects of the Dutch topics by a guided tour of Hoorn
and visiting the Westfries Museum.
4. Diner
Wednesday 3/10:
Showing aspects by visiting Amsterdam.
Diner at Amsterdam.
Thursday 4/10:
1. Third Work meeting
2. Visiting a classroom. Students present our school.
3. Lunch
4. Showing some aspects by visiting the City Museum of Alkmaar
and the mill “De Ambachtsmolen”.
5. Farewell dinner
Friday 5/10:
Depart of Schiphol.
205

Table of Contents
1. Introduction
2. Portolan charts
Dutch cartography in the 16 th and 17 th century
3. Rediscovery of the work of Ptolemy
4. Discovery of new worlds
5. The development of modern cartography
6. The problem of finding the longitude
7. Finding the latitude
8. The circumference of the earth
9. The Mercator projection
10. First real printed atlas
11. The Dutch revolt
The heritage of Willem and Joan Blaeu
By Henk Rijkeboer 1
12. Amsterdam became a centre of trade and cartography
13. Dutch expansion overseas
14. Sailor's guides
15. Sources of information for the cartographer
16. Publishing house Hondius-Janssonius
17. Willem Blaeu
18. Joan Blaeu
19. Other publishers
20. The Vingboons family
21. Customers of maps
22. Collected Atlases (Factice Atlas)
23. Production of maps
24. Decorations on maps
25. Dutch leading role taken over by the French
Bibliography
1 This is my contribution to a Grundtvig project. These are projects for adult education. About
Grundtvig: http://ec.europa.eu/education/programmes/llp/structure/grundtvig_en.html
206

1. Introduction
Amsterdam was the centre of cartography in the 17 th century. Dutch maps were the most detailed and
also a feast for the eye.
The highlight was the Atlas Maior of Joan Blaeu, part of the national historical canon. Joan Blaeu was
able to use the work of other cartographers for his Atlas, including the work of his father Willem. The
Atlas Maior was a highlight, but in some ways the culmination of a development which had its roots in
the 16th century. How did this process start? What was the course of the development? What
contributions did Willem Blaeu and his son Joan make to this?
This article gives a description of this development and hyperlinks to Internet resources. The books
mentioned here are often completely available as e-recourse.
2. Portolan charts
In the late Middle Ages, trade became more prevalent. This also meant an increase of shipping. New
navigation resources, such as the compass 2 and the astrolabe made it possible to make longer voyages.
Especially for captains, who wanted to visit unknown ports, there was a need to be informed about
winds and depths of waters and other data to reach a port safely. From this need the portolan 3
developed in the Mediterranean, which the Dutch called later “pascaerten 4 ” (nautical charts 5 ). The
Portuguese were very active in this field in the 15 th century.
3. Rediscovery of the work of Ptolemy
In the late Middle Ages, the work of Claudius Ptolemy 6 (2nd century AD.) was rediscovered and reissued.
Important for the cartography is a system of longitude and latitude. This system was devised by
Hipparchus of Nicaea 7 in the second century BC. Ptolemy gave in his Cosmographia 8 the coordinates
of about 8,000 places.
From the 12th century again maps were drawn, based on the instructions of Ptolemy. In 1475 the first
map of Ptolemy was printed.
4. Discovery of new worlds
In 1492 Columbus discovered America and in 1498 Vasco da Gama sailed to India. The door was
open to new worlds.
The discoveries of the 16 th century gave an explosion of new geographical knowledge. This had to be
incorporated. To maintain contact with the newly discovered regions, it was important to make maps
as accurate as possible.
5. The development of modern cartography
In the important trade places we see the development of modern cartography. The German Martin
Behaim 9 designed the first modern terrestrial globe in Lisbon.
2 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compass
3 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portolan_chart
4 http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paskaart
5 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nautical_chart
6 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ptolemy
7 http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hipparchos_%28Astronom%29
8 Full work: http://www.polona.pl/dlibra/doccontent2?id=61
9 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Behaim
207

The Dutchman Gemma Frisius 10 (1508-1555) laid the foundations of triangulation 11 for cartography.
With this method it was possible to determine the position of villages and cities in relation to each
other accurately 12 . This made more accurate maps possible.
Frisius also made his own maps and terrestrial- and celestial globes. This Dutch scientist was the
prototype of a Renaissance man 13 . He was among others physician, geographer, astronomer and
mathematician.
The cartographer who first used the triangulation was the Dutchman van Deventer 14 . He mapped 15
many cities in The Netherlands, by order of King Philip II 16 .
6. The problem of finding the longitude
Additionally Frisius searched for the solution of the determination of the longitude at sea, by using a
clock. The longitude, he understood, could be found by comparing the time of the actual position with
the time at home. It would take however more than two centuries until this solution was generally
accepted.
Moreover, clocks were too unstable at sea and showed therefore deviations too large to be reliable for
measuring the longitude. In the second half of the 17th century another Dutchman, Christiaan
Huygens 17 , also carried out a research. He also sought the solution to the longitude problem in
timekeeping. He invented the clock pendulum, but it was still influenced by sea undulation. A minute
difference already could mean for a ship that it sailed in the fog onto the rocks? Finally in 1765 the
English watchmaker John Harrison 18 was able to create a chronometer that was sea-resistant.
The problem of the longitude was also picked up by the Amsterdam clergyman and cartographer
Plancius (1552-1622) 19 . Plancius considered another system.
Both towards the north and towards the south the compass always shows a larger declination. This is
caused by the magnetic field of the earth. We can make a small experiment at home and imitate this
declination. One needs for this a compass and a magnetic bar. If you move the compass on one side,
from the middle, along the magnetic bar you will notice that the compass shows an increasing
declination towards the far end. In other words; the degrees of the declination gives away the
longitude.
If someone understands how to find latitude, longitude can also be found by using a table. Therefore,
this table was based on the difference between the compass north and the real north. This last one can
be found by the height of the sun on the middle of the day, straight in the south, and in the night by
10 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gemma_Frisius
11 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triangulation
12 He added a description of this method to the book by Peter Apianus, Cosmografia. The entire work:
http://dziedzictwo.polska.pl/katalog/skarb,Kosmografia_Peter_Apianus_Gemma_Frisius_%28Cosmographia_Pe
tri_Apiani_per_Gemman_Frisium_nonnullis_locis_aucta%29_,gid,414788,cid,1093.htm
13 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polymath
14 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacob_van_Deventer_%28cartographer%29
15 The entire work of van van Deventer, de Planos de ciudades de los Países Bajos:
http://bibliotecadigitalhispanica.bne.es:80/webclient/DeliveryManager?pid=2685031&custom_att_2=simple_vie
wer You can see some images, too:
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Jacob_van_Deventer?uselang=nl#mw-subcategories
16 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_II_of_Spain
17 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christiaan_Huygens
18 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Harrison
19 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petrus_Plancius
208

using the Pole Star. The Dutchman Simon Stevin 20 gave the theory of Plancius a mathematical
foundation in his book, “de havenvinding” , 21 (1599).
However, sailors thought this theory was unreliable 22 . At the end of the 16th century both the Dutch
parliament and the States of Holland and West Friesland held competitions about the correct solution
of the longitude problem 23 .
7. Finding the latitude
Finding the longitude was a problem, finding the latitude however was relatively simple. The method
for that purpose comes from the antiquity and was already applied by the earlier-mentioned
Hipparchus of Nicaea.
The astrolabe was used for this from the 4 th century AD. This instrument was further improved by the
Arabs 24 . At the beginning of the 14 th century Levi Ben Gerson (Gersonides 25 ) should have invented
an alternative for the astrolabe, the cross-staff 26 . Frisius and others have described the method and the
use of the cross-staff (or Jacob's staff). At the beginning of the 17 th century Willem Blaeu also
described this method clearly in his mariner's guide “Licht der Zee-vaert”. This work is entirely on the
Internet 27 .
In the night one could take the height of the Pole Star to measure the latitude. The lower the Pole Star,
the more South one was. At the Equator the Pole Star was directly on the horizon.
By day it was necessary to measure exactly at twelve noon 28 the height of the sun above the horizon
with an astrolabe or cross-staff. The Dutch called it "to shoot the sun". The degrees of height found
had then to be corrected by using a table.
Let’s assume that the sailor was north of the equator. Between September 23 and March 20 the sun is
south of the Equator. In that case the table showed some extra degrees, depending on the date.
If the sun was north of the Equator the table showed how many degrees fewer the sailor had to take for
every day.
Thus the table indicated exactly how many degrees one had to deduct or to add for each day. A new
table was published annually. That was necessary because of the difference between the calendar year
and the tropical year 29 . By this way the sailor knew exactly the latitude.
8. The circumference of the earth
Another Dutch mathematician, Willebrord Snellius (the Dutch Eratosthenes 30 ), went further and
calculated the circumference of the earth. First he determined the latitude of the Dutch cities Alkmaar
and Bergen op Zoom. The difference in latitude between these cities determined Snellius to be 1° 12'.
20 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simon_Stevin
21 A digitized version can be found here: http://www.xs4all.nl/~adcs/stevin/weerelt/hv-en.html
22 Eric Jorink, Wetenschap en wereldbeeld in de Gouden Eeuw (Hilversum, 1999) 43.
http://books.google.nl/books?id=IqrZqFTX6_QC&lpg=PA37&dq=Stevin%20%2B%20wetenschap&pg=PP1#v
=onepage&q=Stevin%20+%20wetenschap&f=false
23 http://www.xs4all.nl/~adcs/stevin/varia/resoluties.html
24 The Jewish scholar Abraham ben Meir Ibn Ezra (1089 - 1164), who lived in the Islamic part of Spain, wrote a
treatise, De Nativitatibus. Magistralis compositio astrolabii. Here entirely:
http://fondosdigitales.us.es/fondos/libros/137/1/de-nativitatibus-magistralis-compositio-astrolabii/
25 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gersonides
26 http://www.maritiemdigitaal.nl/md2011/index.cfm?event=search.getdetail&id=101013823
27 It takes some patience to read the 17 th century Dutch (also because of the fracture), but the Inleidingh tot het
Verstandt can still be used for understanding navigation without GPS.
28 Natural time, so when the sun reaches its highest point in the sky.
29 http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schrikkeljaar
30 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eratosthenes
209

Then he measured, by means of triangulation, the distance between both cities 31 . By this way he
determined the size of latitude. He multiplied this size by360. Thus he calculated the circumference of
the earth at 38,660,364 km (converted from Rhineland roods by which Snellius worked).
9. The Mercator projection
A cartographic problem was how to project the spherical earth on a flat map. The Fleming Gerard
Kremer (Mercator 32 ), a student of Frisius, came up with the solution: the Mercator projection 33 .
Mercator was the first person to use the name “Atlas” for his volume of maps.
10. First real printed atlas
This projection is used in the first real printed atlas in book form, namely of Ortelius 34 in Antwerp.
Until the middle of the 16th century separated maps were printed, some of which were compiled into
an atlas. Ortelius used these maps but redesigned them in the same format. Also, he added geographic
descriptions to it. His Theatrum Orbis Terrarium 35, 36 (Theatre of the globe, 1570) was, in form and
content, the example for atlases later released in Amsterdam.
The Cologne canon Georg Braun and the engraver Hogenberg, originating from Mechelen, added to
the Atlas of Ortelius a number of city books, under the name of Orbis Terrarum Civitates 37 . It
contained plans of all major cities of the world. This city book became also an example for later city
books, including that of Joan Blaeu.
11. The Dutch revolt
Antwerp became the main staple market and trading centre of Western Europe in the 16 th century.
However, a revolt broke out in The Netherlands against the Spanish rule of King Philip II, in 1568.
This revolt led to an independent republic in the northern part of the Netherlands, known as "Republic
of Seven Provinces". Antwerp was also in the northern camp. The rest of the Southern Netherlands
remained in the hands of the Spaniards.
12. Amsterdam became a centre of trade and cartography
Amsterdam had an important port in previous centuries. This was due to its central location in Western
Europe. Another cause was that the Dutch peaty soil was not suitable for growing grain. For this
reason the Dutch farmers specialized in commercial crops, like flax, and dairy products. Dairy and
herring were exported and grain was imported from the Baltic Sea area.
In 1585 Antwerp was reconquered by Spanish troops. Ships from the north then blocked the port of
Antwerp. Many traders and scientists fled from Antwerp to the North, especially to Amsterdam. After
the fall of Antwerp the trade of Amsterdam was intensified and diversified. Amsterdam became the
new cartographic centre. All of Europe was provided with maps from Amsterdam. The maps were
precisely, but also beautiful. These precise maps were necessary in a world of increasing contacts.
31
http://geodesie.woelmuis.nl/boek02.html and: http://geodesie.woelmuis.nl/boek06.html
32
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerardus_Mercator
33
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercator_projection
34
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham_Ortelius
35
Look here for all maps:http://www.orteliusmaps.com/index.html
36
Look for an entire version, de Theatro de la tierra universal de Abraham Ortelio, from 1588:
http://bibliotecadigital.rah.es/dgbrah/i18n/catalogo_imagenes/grupo.cmd?path=1005980
37
There are three volumes of the Civitates. Part 1 can be seen and downloaded: http://diglit.ub.uniheidelberg.de/diglit/braun1582bd1
Part 3: http://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/braun1582bd3?sid=519f9906038ebc51774829be2bcad016
210

13. Dutch expansion overseas
Because of the war with Spain and Portugal the spice trade was impossible for the Dutch. Portugal was
annexed by Philip II in1580. Now Portugal had to keep, like Spain, the trade embargo of Philip II
in1585. Therefore, the Dutch searched for a seaway to India and they took over many Portuguese
trading posts in Asia.
The cartographer Plancius was the initiator of the first voyages to the East Indies. His maps were
based on the Itinerario 38 , a travelogue of Jan Huygen van Linschoten 39 . This Dutchman had travelled
in the service of the Portuguese to the Indies and copied many secret Portuguese nautical charts and
coastal side-views.
Also for the trade to America sailors had a strong need for good and detailed maps. In the beginning
Spanish and Portuguese sailor's guides provided this need.
14. Sailor's guides
The Spaniard Pedro Medina made previously a sailor's guide, the Arte de Navegar, 1545 40 . The
Portuguese Pedro Nunes 41 published a comprehensive treatise on navigation, De arte atque ratione
navigandi, 1573 42 . He is also the inventor of the rhumb line.
The idea of the sailor's guide was perfected by Lucas Jansz Waghenaer 43 . This steersman and
cartographer of the Dutch city Enkhuizen published his “Spieghel der Zeevaerdt” 44 in 1584. It was the
first European sea-atlas. A combination with navigation instructions made it more special.
A captain who went sailing a longer route had maps with (brief) sailing directions at his disposal.
Besides these maps there were also coastal profiles 45 , so that the skipper could recognize the place he
was. Depths and currents of the North Sea were described as well.
It was also in other respects a guide for the steersman. It explained how to make and use a cross-staff 46
and a nautical chart. Other skills such as determining the timing of the new moon were also discussed.
The work was quite expensive, because it was printed in large folio. All European coasts were
described, except the Mediterranean. A new version, "Thresoor der Zeevaert" 47 had the advantage of
being smaller and cheaper. Therefore, it shall be used on more ships. Besides, the shores of the
Mediterranean were also included. This was due to the sailor and cartographer Willem Barentsz, who
had mapped this sea 48 .
38 Digitalized work: http://fondosdigitales.us.es/fondos/libros/880/11/itinerario/
39 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jan_Huyghen_van_Linschoten
40 Entire work:
http://bibliotecadigitalhispanica.bne.es:80/webclient/DeliveryManager?pid=210636&custom_att_2=simple_view
er
41 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pedro_Nunes
42
Entire work: http://purl.pt/14449/1/P1.html
43
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucas_Janszoon_Waghenaer
44
Entire version: http://bibliotecadigital.rah.es/dgbrah/i18n/catalogo_imagenes/grupo.cmd?path=1005974
45
http://www.geheugenvannederland.nl/?/nl/items/ZZM01:005038
46
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacob%27s_staff
47
Look for entire version (published by Cornelis Claesz) of 1606.: http://trobes.uv.es/record=b1518084~S1
48
A full version of the Sea Atlas of Willem Barentsz. Nieuwe beschryvinghe ende Caertboeck vande
Midlandtsche Zee can be found here:
http://bibliotecadigitalhispanica.bne.es:80/webclient/DeliveryManager?pid=1906917&custom_att_2=simple_vie
wer
211

There were translations of this reference book in English 49 , Latin, French and German 50 . The work
greatly influenced the English navigation knowledge. As a result, for centuries, the English used the
expression “Waggoners” 51, 52 .
15. Sources of information for the cartographer
Because of the many trade contacts, there was also much geographical information available for the
nautical charts. A cartographer could use the notes of mates or skippers.
Maps were made in other countries too. These maps were taken to Amsterdam and there used by
cartographers. Purchase of copper plates also occurred.
In many cases maps were copied of fellow editors or from older issues (such as those of Ortelius).
Copyright did not exist. However, one could get a privilege from the Dutch States General, but this
privilege expired after, on average, 10 years 53 .
16. Publishing house Hondius-Janssonius
After the death of Mercator, his copper plates were sold to Jodocus Hondius 54 (1563-1612). He was a
refugee from the southern part of the Low Countries who had settled in Amsterdam. Hondius
republished the work of Mercator and added new maps to it. Besides a large atlas, Hondius released a
pocket edition: the Atlas Minor 55 . French and German translations followed. In 1612 Hondius sons 56
and his son-in-law, Johannes Janssonius (1588-1664) 57 , inherited the company.
17. Willem Blaeu
One of these sons, however, sold copper plates to Willem Blaeu. Because of this, Willem Blaeu
became a formidable competitor of the Hondius-Janssonius publishing house after 1630.
Willem Blaeu was born in Alkmaar (or Uitgeest, a place nearby Alkmaar) in 1571. His father was a
herring merchant. William however was not interested in the herring trade, but in science.
Alkmaar at the end of 16 th century has been an inspiring environment. The inhabitants were apparently
self-confidence, gained by their victory over the Spaniards. It was the city of land surveyor,
mathematician, astronomer, cartographer and fortress builder Adriaen Anthonisz 58 . He made the
design for the stronghold that stopped the Spaniards in their siege of Alkmaar. Anthonisz was then
49
Through most university libraries and National Libraries it is possible to access, with passwords, an English
copy on the website Early English Books Online (EEBO):
http://gateway.proquest.com/openurl?ctx_ver=Z39.88-
2003&res_id=xri:eebo&rft_val_fmt=&rft_id=xri:eebo:image:23119
50
Full work:
http://dziedzictwo.polska.pl/katalog/skarb,Atlas_morski_wybrzezy_Europy_Lucam_Johanem_Wagener_%28De
ss_Spiegel_der_Seefart_von_Navigation_des_Occidentischen_Meers_oder_der_Westseen_In_vielen_See_Carte
n_Durch_Lucam_Johannem_Wagener_T_I-II%29_,gid,405408,cid,1093.htm
51
http://www.jstor.org/pss/1150425
52
http://www.folger.edu/template.cfm?cid=1688
53
Marijke Donkersloot-de Vrij, Drie generaties Blaeu. Amsterdamse cartografie en boekdrukkunst in de
zeventiende eeuw ( Zutphen 1992) 24
54
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jodocus_Hondius
55
The entire Atlas Minor: http://digital.fides.org.pl/dlibra/doccontent?id=19&dirids=1
56
Fine reproductions of the work of Jodocus, like his son Henricus, can be found here:
http://cartanciennes.free.fr/liste_divers.php#mappemonde_roy.jpg
57
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jan_Janssonius
58
http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adriaen_Anthonisz
212

asked to design many other strongholds, including that of Naarden and Bourtange. He was the father
of mathematician and astronomer Adriaan Adriaansz. Metius 59 and Jacob Metius 60 . Especially
Adriaan 61 has acquired international fame. It was also the city of Cornelis Drebbel 62 , among other
things cartographer and alchemist. He invented the mercury thermometer and the submarine 63 .
To what extent these scientists had contact with Willem Blaeu is unknown 64 . However, it is certain
that Adriaen Anthonisz helped Willem Blaeu with its first celestial globe.
He followed his training by Tycho Brahe 65 . Brahe made on the Danish island Hven precise
observational data. He made his observations with the naked eye, but with the help of instruments like
the quadrant 66 (see also his Astronomiae Instauratae Mechanics from 1602 67 ). The telescope is
invented a few years later by the Dutchman Lipperhey 68 .
Tycho Brahe had his own cosmic system 69 , a sort of compromise between the Ptolemaic and
Copernican. The new telescope was first used by Galileo Galilei to watch the sky. By these new
observations, Galileo claimed that the heliocentric theory of Copernicus 70 was correct.
Willem Blaeu, although a supporter of the Copernican system, was cautious. In his books he
mentioned the Copernican model as one of the existing theories, besides the Ptolemaic and
Tychonic 71 . It will not only save him for confrontations with religious people, but this attitude was
also beneficial for his sales.
Thanks to this exact knowledge acquired from Brahe, Blaeu was able to make tables for sun
declination which the older Portuguese exceeded 72, 73 . Willem also learned from Brahe to make globes
and instruments like the quadrant.
59
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adriaan_Adriaanszoon
60
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacob_Metius
61
Adriaan Metius wrote also a book about the art of navigation and new instruments, it was published by Willem
Blaeu in 1626. Here you can find it entirely (in Latin):
http://fondosdigitales.us.es/fondos/libros/3579/8/adriani-metii-alcmar-prof-mathes-acad-frisiorum-de-genuinousu-utriusque-globi-tractatusbadjecta-est-nova-sciatericorum-artis-navigandi-ratio-novis-instrumentisinventionibus-illustrata/
62
http://sites.google.com/site/aboutdrebbel/
63
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cornelius_Drebbel
64
The sons of Adriaen Anthonisz. and Cornelis Drebbel and were contemporaries. Adriaan Metius and Willem
Blaeu were even both born on December 9, 1571.
65
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tycho_Brahe
66
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quadrant_%28instrument%29
67
The entire book can be downloaded here: http://www.univie.ac.at/hwastro/rare/digiBookIndex.htm
In addition, a full copy in color can be seen here:
http://www.kb.dk/en/nb/tema/webudstillinger/brahe_mechanica/brahe_fsi.html?page=4
68
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hans_Lippershey
69
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tychonic_system
70
The complete works of Copernicus, De Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium, can be found here:
http://www.rarebookroom.org/Control/coprev/index.html
71
http://www.leidenarchief.nl/home/collecties/verhalen/bladeren-door-blaeu/blaeu , in book 1, folio 6r, Blaeu
mentioned more theories. They followed the Latin school in Alkmaar.
72
W. Blaeu,“Licht der Zee-vaert”, Amsterdam, 1608, Inleidinghe tot het Verstandt, capittel 5, university of
Marburg, Germany. The complete work can be found here: http://dfgviewer.de/show/?set[mets]=http%3A%2F%2Farchiv.ub.uni-marburg.de%2Feb%2F2010%2F0007%2F/mets.xml
73
That he acquired his knowledge of declination tables from Brahe is explicitly acknowledged by Blaeu in his
“Het Licht der Zee-vaert”: http://dfg-
213

Willem moved to Amsterdam in 1599. He produced his first terrestrial and celestial globes, pascaerten
(nautical charts), sailor guides and navigation instruments. His first terrestrial globe dates from 1599 74 .
Later, he even wrote a manual for making globes 75 and sundials 76 .
He published his seaman's guide Licht der Zee-vaert 77 (Light of Navigation). A translation was
published in English 78 . With the strong increase of shipping, there was a great need for this kind of
information. For this reason several editions followed 79 . Besides the work of Waghenaer, this also had
a large influence on the navigational skills of sailors from all over Europe 80 .
Willem Blaeu had his own book and map shop In de Vergulde Sonnewijser on the Damrak 81 in
Amsterdam from 1605. On Damrak, at that time a canal in the centre of Amsterdam, he had direct
contact with sailors. Their reports must have been important to him for his map making.
His publishing house got a boost because he could buy a large part of the heritage of Cornelis
Claesz 82 . Cornelis Claesz. was the pioneer of cartography in Amsterdam from 1578, where he had
issued the work of Waghenaer, Plancius and others.
His competitor Janssonius opened a store next to William’s on the Damrak 83 around 1615. Much of
Willem Blaeu's work was copied by Janssonius. Janssonius probably even offered them cheaper 84 .
However, there are some maps of Janssonius which appeared earlier than the same of Blaeu. That
means that Blaeu was also guilty of copying.
viewer.de/show/?set[image]=17&set[zoom]=max&set[debug]=0&set[double]=0&set[mets]=http%3A%2F%2Fa
rchiv.ub.uni-marburg.de%2Feb%2F2010%2F0007%2F%2Fmets.xml
74 http://www.museumboerhaave.nl/AAcollection/english/M03V35_V03100.html
75 A later globe (1621) of him can be seen here:
http://bibliotecadigital.rah.es/dgbrah/i18n/catalogo_imagenes/grupo.cmd?path=1009438
76 Here you can find his Tweevoudigh onderwijs van de Hemelsche en Aerdsche globen:
http://www.xs4all.nl/~adcs/blaeu/ond-1.html
77 http://archiv.ub.uni-marburg.de/eb/2010/0007/
78 You can find the Light of Navigation on the website of Early English Books Online (EEBO, see note 49):
http://gateway.proquest.com/openurl?ctx_ver=Z39.88-
2003&res_id=xri:eebo&rft_val_fmt=&rft_id=xri:eebo:image:24796
79 Look here for a beautiful full example Willem Blaeu’s Zeespiegel, Inhoudende Een korte Onderwysinghe inde
konst der zeevaert from 1631:
http://bibliotecadigitalhispanica.bne.es:80/webclient/DeliveryManager?pid=1905180&custom_att_2=simple_vie
wer
Others went on the profitable market of seaman guides, too. Like Gietermaker. It is possible to download his “'t
Vergulde licht der zee-vaard, ofte konst der stuurlieden” entirely:
http://www.archive.org/details/verguldelichtde00giet
Moreover it is also possible to download the full popular sailor guide “Toortse der Zee-vaert” of Dierick
Ruiters from 1624: http://books.google.nl/books?id=-
WgDAAAAQAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=Toortse_der_zee_vaert_om_te_beseylen&hl=nl&ei=LdeNTa_eFN
P_4AaB9dX0Cw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCkQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=fals
e
80 In the Netherlands his work was a long time used. Blaeu's work was sometimes (partly) copied, like by Jacob
Loots-man in 1670. His Zee-Spiegel (Sea-Mirror) can be found here:
http://fondosdigitales.us.es/fondos/libros/3436/5/nieuw-en-groote-loots-man-zee-spiegel-inhoudende-de-zeekusten-van-de-noorsche-oostersche-en-westersche-schip-vaert-veele-zee-karten-met-noch-een-instructie-dekoust-der-zee-vaert/
81 now Damrak 45. The real name was at that time: “Op ’t Water”, the Damrak was the canal beside of it.
82 Marijke Donkersloot-de Vrij, “Drie generaties Blaeu. Amsterdamse cartografie en boekdrukkunst in de
zeventiende eeuw” ( Zutphen 1992) 24.
83 Damrak 46.
84 Donkersloot-de Vrij, Drie Generaties Blaeu, 24
214

The competition of Janssonius also produced a change of name of Willem. Until then his name had
been Willem Jansz., in Latin: Guilelmus Janssonius. To avoid confusion with his neighbour, he took
the nickname of his grandfather 85 : Willem Jansz. Blaeu (sometimes also written as "Blaeuw”). In
Latin: Guilelmus Janssonius Caesius 86
Willem Blaeu was not only active in the field of cartography and navigation. As a printer, he
published works including that of famous Dutch writers like P.C. Hooft and Joost van den Vondel. His
printing had an international high reputation.
Blaeu was prepared to publish everyone’s work. Although he had Remonstrant sympathies, he printed
books for Catholics, Jews and various Protestant groups. Counter-remonstrants, Remonstrants,
Baptists, Socinians or dissenters, as for printing it made no difference for Willem. However, because
of caution he published under another name and Cologne was given as place of issue. Because of his
large publisher's list he opened an extra printery on the Bloemgracht in 1635. His tolerance provided
him at least a large income.
The new Dutch East India Company (VOC) appointed Willem Blaeu as their map maker. The maps he
made for the VOC, however, were secret. Blaeu also gave lessons to the mates of the VOC.
Willem Blaeu is most famous for his atlases. These were popular throughout Europe. Willem Blaeu
published the first two parts of the Theatrum orbis terrarum sive atlas novus 87 (The theatre of the
world or a New Atlas) in 1635. As mentioned above, William had used copper plates for this atlas that
he bought of Henricus Hondius. Why Henricus sold these plates to the competitor, to the dismay of his
brother Jodocus Hondius and brother-in-law Janssonius, is unclear.
Willem died in 1638. He was buried in the Nieuwe Kerk (New Church of Amsterdam). The company
was continued by his sons, Joan (1596-1673) and Cornelis (c. 1610-1644).
18. Joan Blaeu
Joan was born in 1596 in Alkmaar. He studied in Leiden and took his doctoral degree in law at 1620.
Then he made his Grand Tour of Italy. Joan Blaeu succeeded his father, not only in business but also
as head cartographer of the Dutch East India Company. He continued the tolerant press tradition of his
father. The successful Joan Blaeu belonged finally to the “regenten” (the rulers of Dutch cities) after
1651. Joan held all kinds of administrative functions and was a member of the town council.
Joan and his brother Cornelius published the following four volumes of the Atlas Novus (New Atlas)
88 . Joan Blaeu also added a book of cities, Toonneel der Steden 89 (Theatre of cities), in 1648. It
contained maps of all cities of the North and South Low Countries.
Competition with the publishing house of Hondius-Janssonius was fierce. Both issued more new
atlases and books of cities 90 . Beside Latin there were also Dutch, English, French and German editions
85 “blauwe Willem”
86 Donkersloot-de Vrij, Drie generaties Blaeu, 25
87 The entire Atlas Novus: http://www.leidenarchief.nl/home/collecties/verhalen/bladeren-door-blaeu/blaeu
88 Another digitalized Atlas Novus you can find here:
http://www.library.ucla.edu/yrl/reference/maps/blaeu/index.htm
The parts of the Netherlands can also be downloaded (at the University of Granada, Spain):
Novum ac magnum Theatrum urbium Belgicae Foederatae, 1649: http://hdl.handle.net/10481/3187
Novum ac magnum Theatrum urbium Belgicae Regiae, 1649: http://hdl.handle.net/10481/3384
89 To see here: http://www.let.rug.nl/~maps/
215

of these atlases.
Janssonius was assisted by his son-in-law, Johannes Janssonius van Waesberge. Johannes
distinguished of Joan Blaeu by publishing a sea- 91 , star- 92 and history atlas 93 .
When competitor Johannes Janssonius came with an Atlas Maior of ten volumes Joan wanted to
exceed him. In 1662 he also came with an Atlas Maior 94 (Great Atlas), but with 11 folios containing a
total of 600 maps and 3000 pages of text. Initially it was in Latin 95 , but later a Dutch, French and an
(incomplete) Spanish edition followed. This atlas was the most expensive book of the 17 th century, but
also the best! With coloured maps it costed ƒ450, -. This was five years' salary for an unskilled
worker 96 .
A disaster took place in 1672. Joan Blaeu's printery (the "Typographia Blaviana”) at Gravenstraat
burned down. Not only was a large part of the Spanish editions of the Atlas Maior lost, but also many
copper plates. Some of the rescued copper plates were bought by other publishers, like Frederick de
Wit.
The fire meant the end of the golden age of the Blaeu publishing house. Joan Blaeu died in 1673. His
sons continued the publishing house until 1712.
19. Other publishers
The families Blaeu and Hondius-Janssonius were not the only map makers. Beside them there were
other publishers who often produced splendid work. Like the Visscher family. Claes Jansz.
Visscher 97 (1587-1662) produced especially maps with war and news reports 98 . His son Nicholas I 99
90
The book of cities of Janssonius can be downloaded in PDF format (again at the Universityof Granada,
Spain). Northern Netherlands: http://hdl.handle.net/10481/3427
Southern Netherlands: http://hdl.handle.net/10481/3426
91
Possible to download in PDF format (University of Granada): http://hdl.handle.net/10481/3424
92
Johannes Janssonius was the publisher of the star atlas, Harmonia macrocosmica, made by the rector of the
Latin school in Hoorn, Andreas Cellarius. The Latin version can be downloaded in PDF format (University of
Granada): http://hdl.handle.net/10481/3425
or (university of Heidelberg): http://digi.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/diglit/cellarius1661
93
A Latin version of the Atlas Novus of Johannes Janssonius can be downloaded in PDF format (Universtty of
Granada): http://hdl.handle.net/10481/3423
94
You can see and download the maps of the first edition of the Atlas Maior o Geographia Blaviana. Thanks to
the University of Seville! (compressed as ZIP-file it has a size of 1.1 GB):
http://fondosdigitales.us.es/fondos/libros/3617/1/geographia-blauiana/
95
These Latin Latijnse volumes can be downloaded in zijn te downloaden in (high-quality) PDF format
(University of Granada) together about 7GB:
North Pole, Norway and Denmark, Part 1: http://hdl.handle.net/10481/3440
North Pole, Norway and Denmark, Part 2: http://hdl.handle.net/10481/3414
Southern and the Northern Netherlands: http://hdl.handle.net/10481/3416
Great Britain: http://hdl.handle.net/10481/3417
France and Switzerland: http://hdl.handle.net/10481/3418
Scotland and Ireland: http://hdl.handle.net/10481/4148
German Empire: http://hdl.handle.net/10481/3415
Three parts of Italy:1. http://hdl.handle.net/10481/3412 2. http://hdl.handle.net/10481/3419
3. http://hdl.handle.net/10481/3411
Spain, Portugal and Africa: http://hdl.handle.net/10481/3420
America: http://hdl.handle.net/10481/3422
Asia: http://hdl.handle.net/10481/3421
96
http://www.nrcboeken.nl/recensie/land-in-zicht
97
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claes_Jansz._Visscher
His world map: http://nla.gov.au/nla.map-ra10-s12
216

(1618-1679) and grandson Nicolaes Visscher II (1649-1702) published maps and atlases too. But
unlike the Blaeu and Janssonius atlases, they had no covering texts.
In the field of charts 100 the family van Keulen acquired great reputation. Johannes van Keulen 101
published in 1681 the Nieuwe Lichtende Zee-Fakkel 102 . Johannes worked together with the
cartographer Vooght 103 and the engraver Jan Luyken 104, 105 . His shop, “De Gekroonde Lootsman” 106
at the Nieuwebrugsteeg in Amsterdam, remained until 1880.
Furthermore atlases were published, among others, by Carel Allard 107 , Petrus Bertius 108 , , Justus
Danckerts 109 ,Hendrik Doncker 110 , Pieter Goos 111 , ,Joannes van Loon 112 , Pieter Motier 113 . Petrus
Schenk 114 , Gerard Valk 115 and Frederick de Wit 116 .
20. The Vingboons family
A different story concerning the cartographers of the 17th century is that of Johannes Vingboons. He
was a member of a famous family of architects, painters, illustrators, engravers and cartographers. His
98 http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0f/Decaptitation_of_Johan_van_Oldenbarnevelt_-
_Onthoofding_van_Oldenbarnevelt_%28Iustitie_aen_Ian_van_Oldenbarnevelt_geschiet_%29%281619%2C_Cl
aes_Jansz._Visscher%29.jpg
99 Some maps: http://catalogue.nla.gov.au/Search/Home?lookfor=author:%22Visscher,%20Nicolaes,%201649-
1702%22&iknowwhatimean=1&filter[]=access_type:%22All%20online%22
100 Before Johannes van Keulen large-scale production of charts was already started by Hendrik Doncker¸ Pieter
Goos and Joannes van Loon. Look for examples note 110, 111 and 112.
101 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johannes_van_Keulen
102 http://www.maritiemdigitaal.nl/index.cfm?event=search.getsimplesearch&database=ChoiceMardig&needima
ges=YES&searchterm=Zee-
Fakkel&allfields=&title=&keyword=&creator=&collection=&shipname=&invno=&museum=&startrow=1
Also on the website “het Geheugen van Nederland”:
http://www.geheugenvannederland.nl/?/en/zoekresultaten/pagina/1/Series/isPartOf%20=%20%22NESA01:02%
22/
103 http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bf/Vooght_-_Paskaart_vande_zee_kusten_van_Niew_Nederland.png
104 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jan_Luyken
105 http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b2/Nova_totius_terrarium_orbis_%28De_Wit%2C_Luyke
n%2C_De_Hooghe%29.jpg
106 see: E.O. van Keulen (ed.) “In de Gekroonde Lootsman: het kaarten-, boekuitgevers
en instrumentenmakershuis Van Keulen te Amsterdam 1680 – 1885”. Utrecht, 1989.
http://www.bol.com/nl/p/nederlandse-boeken/in-de-gekroonde-lootsman/1001004002608910/index.html
107 http://www.atlascoelestis.com/allard%20pagina.htm
108 Zie hier zijn Commentariorum Rerum Germanicarum libri tres:
http://www.uni-mannheim.de/mateo/camenaref/bertius1.html
109 Look here for his beautiful worldmap: http://nla.gov.au/nla.map-rm3976
Here his map of the Spanish region Galicia: http://nla.gov.au/nla.map-rm1580
110 A beautiful example “De Zee Atlas ofte Water-Waereld”, 1659 of Hendrik Doncker, in full view:
http://nla.gov.au/nla.map-ra10
111 An example of the work of Pieter Goos:
http://blog.sl.nsw.gov.au/dixsonmaps/index.cfm/2009/12/11/rare-map-by-pieter-goos
112 His Klaer - Lichtende Noort - Star ofte Zee – Atlas can be found entirely here:
http://dziedzictwo.polska.pl/katalog/skarb,Atlas_morski_Joannes_von_Loon_%28Klaer_Lichtende_Noort_Star_
ofte_Zee_Atlas%29_,gid,415773,cid,1094.htm
113 http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Covens_en_Mortier
114 http://www.legends.mapsofworld.com/medieval/peter-schenk.html
and: http://www.scripophily.nl/curiosa/PeterSchenk.php
115 http://www.nmm.ac.uk/collections/search/listResults.cfm?Maker=Gerard%20Valk&SortBy=maker
116 Look for his city atlas: http://www.kb.nl/bladerboek/stedenboekflash/browse/book.html
Here for his worldmap: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/37/1670_Nova_Orbis_de_Wit.JPG
217

other Philip Vingboons is still a well-known leading architect. Father David Vingboons designed
several cartouches and decorations for maps of Willem Blaeu.
Johannes was a water colourist. His works were intended for the international company of princes and
wealthy collectors and were often hung on the wall in their palaces. He also produced atlases for
Cosimo II de Medici and f.e. two globes for Christina of Sweden.
From 1640 Johannes worked closely with Joan Blaeu. Johannes had his workshop at the St.
Anthoniesbreestraat 117 in Amsterdam.
Vingboons got his information not only from steersman but also from special artists who accompany
expeditions of the Dutch East India and the West Indian Company, like Nieudorp 118 and Nicolaas de
Graaff 119 . Although Vingboons made images of cityscapes, city maps, ports, castles and coastal maps
of around the world, he didn’t go out of Amsterdam. The maps of Vingboons are exquisite 120 and 121 .
21. Customers of maps
The most important customers for sea maps were, of course, the steersman and captains or their
employers (like the Dutch East Indian and the West Indian Company). In addition, merchants also
wanted to know where their products came from and went to.
Atlases were something for wealthy citizens, like van der Hem en van Loon. Moreover, especially
the Blaeu atlases provided the owner status.
22. Collected Atlases (Factice Atlas)
The customers of these atlases were mostly wealthy citizens. They bought not only out of curiosity,
but mainly out of ostentation. Therefore they wanted editions with many beautiful maps.
Particularly in the second half of the 17 th century unbound editions of the Atlas Maior were sold. It
was possible to add many other maps to these volumes.
The most famous is the Atlas Blaeu- van der Hem 122 . The Amsterdam lawyer van der Hem gathered as
many as 46 volumes with 3000 graphics maps and other images. It is now in the Austrian National
Library in Vienna. It is listed as a UNESCO world heritage.
The Atlas van Loon 123 is also an example. The rich citizen of Amsterdam Frederik Willem van Loon
composed it from the Atlas Maior and the city atlases of the Netherlands and Italy. It was a
combination of atlases by Joan Blaeu, but van Loon added also the “Zee-atlas ofte water-wereld”
(Sea-Atlas of the Water-World) by Pieter Goos and the “Zeeatlas” (Sea-Atlas) of Janssonius.
Another example is the “Atlas van Hagen 124 ”. Finally, the example of the "Atlas Beudeker" is
interesting 125 . This was namely an atlas composed by a sugar bread baker ", Christopher
Beudeker 126 . His sugar loaves must have tasted very well that he could afford this luxury.
117 now no. 64
118 http://www.digischool.nl/ckv2/burger/burger17de/nieuhof.htm
119 http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicolaas_de_Graaff
120 http://beeldbank.nationaalarchief.nl/nl/afbeeldingen/thema/24
121 http://www.nationaalarchief.nl/amh/detail.aspx?page=dpers&lang=nl&id=289
122 http://www.blaeuvanderhem.com/
123 http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Atlas_van_Loon?uselang=nl#mw-subcategories
124 http://www.kb.nl/hrd/digitalisering/archief/atlas-hagen-beudeker.html
125 http://www.geheugenvannederland.nl/?/en/collecties/atlassen/over_de_atlassen
218

23. Production of maps
Most maps were engraved on copper plates. This was precise work and it had to be drawn in reverse
on the copper plate. It was possible to make many prints of these engravings.
The more expensive maps / atlases were also coloured. This was done mostly by women and children
at home. Sometimes this was done by a master colourist.
24. Decorations on maps
It is the time of the baroque, which is reflected in the rich decorations. In the margins of the maps
were allegorical performances made, putti, weapons of cities and monarchs etc.
Also cartouches with information about used distance measure (the scale bar). At the top of such a
cartouche is usually illustrated with a compass 127 . The most commonly used scale bar is the German
miles (7.4 km), 15 German miles are equivalent to the distance between two latitudes. It is a very
logical distance measurement.
In addition, compass roses with lines were also important. These lines (rhumb lines or loxodromes 128 )
made it possible for the skipper to work with triangle and compass and draw a straight line to the next
port and calculate its distance. These charts were called “pascaerten”, after the Dutch words for
compass (passer) and map (caert).
Of course, the degrees of latitude and longitude were also given on these maps. For the longitude,
Blaeu used the “Pico del Teide” 129 as the prime meridian 130 .
The maps from Amsterdam were both precise and beautiful. These precise maps were necessary in a
world of increasing contacts. However, the great beauty made them desirable too.
25. Dutch leading role taken over by the French.
The old maps of the previous period were often reprinted after 1670. New geographical knowledge is
not incorporated therein 131 . The customers wanted impressive maps and were not interested in maps in
which the latest geographical knowledge was processed.
By this it was possible that the leading role of the Dutch in cartography was taken over by the
French 132 . The "Académie des Sciences", founded in 1666, was directed at improving maps. Paris
became the new cartographic centre. Dutch charts, however, remained much in demand during the 18 th
century.
During the seventeenth century Dutch cartography dominated Europe. The highlight was the Atlas
Maior of Joan Blaeu. It is the crown on the work of Dutch cartographers from the 16 th and 17 th
centuries, truly a contribution to the European heritage.
126
The address of his bakery “De Drie Suikerbroden” (“The Three Sugar Loaves”) was between Rokin 87/89
and Nes 100 in Amsterdam.
127
See for a combination of compass and putti:
http://beeldbank.nationaalarchief.nl/nl/afbeeldingen/indeling/detail/start/2/trefwoord/Serie_Collectie/Kaartcollec
tie%20Bergsma
128
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhumb_line
129
Vulcan on the isle of Tenerife, one of the Canary Islands.
130
http://www.leidenarchief.nl/home/collecties/verhalen/bladeren-door-blaeu/blaeu, book 1, Inleiding.
131
Exceptions, f.e., were the charts of van Keulen.
132
Here you can find beautiful French maps: http://cartanciennes.free.fr/liste_divers.php#mappemonde_roy.jpg
219

Bibliography
Besides the books mentioned in this article, which you can study by using the hyperlinks, you can read the following (Dutch)
books:
P.J.H. Baudet, Leven en werken van Willem Jansz. Blaeu (Utrecht 1871). Complete work here:
http://www.archive.org/details/levenenwerkenvo00pjgoog
C. Bosters (ed.), Kunst in kaart : decoratieve aspecten van de cartografie (Utrecht 1989)
P. v d Brink en J. Werner, Gesneden en gedrukt in de Kalverstraat : de kaarten- en atlassendrukkerij in Amsterdam tot in de
19e eeuw (Utrecht 1989)
M. Donkersloot-de Vrij, Drie generaties Blaeu : Amsterdamse cartografie en boekdrukkunst in de zeventiende eeuw
(Zutphen 1992)
M. van Egmond, Covens & Mortier : a Map-publishing House in Amsterdam 1685-1866 (Houten 2009)
S.J Fockema Andrea en C. Koeman, Kaarten en kaarttekenaars (Bussum 1972)
J. Goss, De Geschiedenis van de cartografie (Lisse 1994)
H.A.M. van der Heijden, Eenheid op papier : de Nederlanden in kaart van keizer Karel tot Willem I (Leuven 1994)
E.O. van Keulen (ed.), In de Gekroonde Lootsman: het kaarten-, boekuitgevers en instrumentenmakershuis Van Keulen te
Amsterdam 1680 – 1885 (Utrecht 1989)
P.C.J. van der Krogt, Advertenties voor kaarten, atlassen, globes e.d. in Amsterdamse kranten 1621-1811(Utrecht 1985)
P.C.J. van der Krogt, Globi Neerlandici : The production of globes in the Low Countries (Utrecht 1993)
P.C.J. van der Krogt, Joan Blaeu, Atlas Maior of 1665 (Cologne 2005)
P.C.J. van der Krogt, Joan Blaeu, Atlas Maior of 1665: Belgica Regia & Belgica Foederata: De Lage Landen (Cologne
2006)
C. Koeman, Geschiedenis van de kartografie van Nederland : zes eeuwen land- en zeekaarten en stadsplattegronden (Alphen
aan den Rijn 1985)
C. Koeman, Joan Blaeu and his Grand atlas (Amsterdam 1970)
W.F.J. Mörzer Bruyns, Konst der Stuurlieden. Stuurmanskunst en maritieme cartografie in acht portretten, 1540-2000
(Zutphen 2001)
W.F.J. Mörzer Bruyns, Schip recht door zee. De octant in de Republiek in de achttiende eeuw (Amsterdam 2003). Complete
on the Internet:
http://www.knaw.nl/Content/Internet_KNAW/publicaties/pdf/20031017.pdf
Ruud Paesie, Zeeuwse kaarten voor de VOC : het kaartenmakersbedrijf van de Kamer Zeeland in de 17de en 18de eeuw
(Zutphen 2010)
R. Putman, Nederlandse Zeekaarten uit de Gouden Eeuw (Abcoude 2005)
R. Putman, Oude scheepskaarten en hun makers (Amsterdam 1983)
J. Werner, Inde Witte Pascaert :Kaarten en atlassen van Frederick de Wit, uitgever te Amsterdam (ca. 1630-1706)
(Amsterdam 1994)
E. Bos-Rietdijk e.o., Lucas Jansz. Waghenaer van Enckhuysen : de maritieme cartografie in de Nederlanden in de zestiende
en het begin van de zeventiende eeuw (Enkhuizen 1984)
220

221

222

Licht der Zee-vaert of Willem Blaeu
Pictures of Linda Timmer for the Grundtvig project. By courtesy of the The Special Collections Department
of the University of Amsterdam.
The Blaeu family produced all kind of maps and Atlases.
Beside it produced navigators for sailors. Out of these navigators sailors learned
how they could find their position on sea (by measuring, for example, the height
of the sun at day and the stars at night). Also the learned out of these navigators
how they could find the harbor of their destiny.
[1] Part of the map of the former “Zuyderzee”, now named “IJsselmeer”.
In the cartouche is written that the description, measurement and the
sound of the depths are perfectly done in this map. So sailors can trust it.
This map is made by order of the rulers of the city of Medemblik, a town at the Zuyderzee
[2]Map with two islands,Texel and Vlieland, in the Wadden Sea.
The Wadden Sea is a body of water located between the Dutch islands
and the Dutch mainland. You can see the sound of the depths.
[3]First page of “Licht der Zee-vaert” (Light of Navigation)
[4]
Explanation how to work with an astrolabe (left) or cross-staff (right),
instruments used for measuring altitudes (navigation)
[5]Another exampel how to measure the altitude. In this figure P is the North Pole,
and G the South Pole, E H the equator, A B the Horizon, Z the Zenith and D the Sun.
The measured height of the Sun is 40 °(DB). We have to add 20 ° (ED).
The sun is 20 degrees south of the equator (it is autumn or winter).
This means that one is located at 60 ° north latitude (40 ° + 20 °).
223
.

[6]Plan by an instruction how to make a cross-staff
[7]Another exampel how to measure the altitude
[8]Design of an instrument to find find the hours of the night, all times of the year.
You can move the handle to the right day and then look to the Pole Star.
[9]Second front page of “Licht der zee-vaert” (Light of Navigation)
[10]Coast side view of some towns of the province of Zeeland. For the sailors
were these coast side views important, they could recognize in this way their position.
[11]Coast side view of some towns of the Nothern part of the province of Holland.
[12]Nautical chart of the coast of Holland
224

GENERAL HISTORY OF ART DURING THE 17 TH CENTURY
by Jan Melkert
In history there are periods in which economic, scientific and cultural developments
coincidence. They are the cause of an unmatched flowering period. The 17 th century in the
Netherlands was such a period.
We focus on the situation in the cultural sphere. When you realise, that the total number of
works of art, made in the Netherlands during the 17 th century, is estimated on more than two
million pieces of art works (paintings as well as prints), you can only look with admiration to
this century.
In the Dutch history this 17 th century has received the epithet, the “Golden “ century.
In spite of the fact that the epithet “golden” has to be restricted to the first 60/70 years of that
century, there is undoubtedly an incredible grow of welfare. It is also astonishing, that these
economic flow happened in a relatively small country(territory) and that these provinces
(gewesten) could grow to such an economic power. In another aspect these Netherlands were
unique: namely the fact these provinces were an united republic and not a monarchy, as was
the case in other countries.
And when we look to the arts, we can only recognize in admiration, that such a small region
gave birth to such a big number of famous painters. Only to mention the most famous:
Rembrandt, Vermeer, Frans Hals, Govert Flinck, etc.etc. The fact that the Netherlands were a
republic without a central authority/government like a monarch in a monarchy, had no
negative influence on the state of arts. For in history the central royal court always played the
role of a place of a stimulation. The nobility at the court was important, as they gave the
orders for the paintings and furniture etc.
But in the Netherlands the role of a rich class of nobles was fulfilled by the so called
“regenten”. This was a class of rich merchants and later a class of political elite in the cities of
Holland, Zeeland and Utrecht. This region in the north/western part of the Netherlands with
the trade activities, with the shipping activities, was the dynamic centre of financial/economic
devolepments.
A negative element for the arts was the fact that the protestant religion preached a lifestyle of
modesty. And the ideology of Protestantism had led to the vanishing of religion sculpture and
paintings in their churches. So artists could not expect orders from the protestant clergy.
In the 17 th century Dutch (but also in other European countries) painters specialized in
categories. So there were the following themes/categories:
1. Biblical themes
2. Mythological/historical themes
3. landscapes/ winter landscapes
4. still lives / vanities paintings
5. portraits of the rich economic/political elite
6. portraits of the city guards (schutterstukken)
7. marine paintings
Is it possible to characterise 17 th century Dutch painting in a few words? Yes: We could use
the word REALISM.
Another element of the 17 th century was architecture; Based on the classical/Renaissance
building principles there was an intensive building activity, which can still be admired in
Amsterdam and other cities. The so called “herenhuizen” along the famous canals, the
Amsterdam City Hall, built in the years from 1648 (nowadays the royal palace), the building
of a number of churches are the witnesses of the cultural flowering of the “Golden” century
of the Netherlands.
225

Rembrandt van Rijn (1606-1669)
Around 1900 the total number of pictures attributed to Rembrandt by connoisseurs
(professionals) of the Works amounted to about 1000 paintings (only the paintings, not the
drawings).
Nowadays the number of works attributed to Rembrandt amount to some 250. This is the result
of the increased knowledge of the works of Rembrandt. Art historians are now able to
distinguish work of the master himself from the works of his pupils. Many of the works formerly
attributed to Rembrandt are now seen as works of his pupils. Rembrandt had a lot of pupils when
he was at the height of his fame. Pupils also meant a part of his income.
Knowledge of the life of Rembrandt is at the first place based on indirect sources such as the
papers of his bankruptcy in 1656.
On the Latin school in Leiden Rembrandt learned about classical history and mythology. The
knowledge of these disciplines he could use in his work as a painter. Rembrandt was
nevertheless a man who stood in the reality of life. He was an observer of the behaviour of
people. And you can see that used his observations in his work.
His education as a painter he received in Leiden, where he was born. After the Latin school he
chooses for a painter’s education. His master was Jacob van Swanenburgh. Rembrandt leaves
Leiden in 1624. He went to Amsterdam for a learning period of a year with master Pieter
Lastman. Here he learned to how to paint Bible stories, classical mythology and profane history
pieces and portraits of the city police (schutterstukken). One of Rembrandts earliest pictures is a
scene from the Bible. He painted it in 1626. From 1628 -1630 he works together with Jan
Lievens, also a student. From 1630 Rembrandt is himself a master with pupils and his own
working place (atelier). One of his early pupils is e.g. Gerard Dou.
Constantijn Huygens, the secretary of the stadtholder prince of Orange Frederik Hendrik, visited
during the period of 1630 Rembrandt in his working place. There is conserved a very little part
of correspondence between Constantijn Huygens and Rembrandt. Nine letters about payments
for an order by Frederik Hendrik to Rembrandt to paint four pictures. It concerned four scenes
from the Bible.
The typical essence of the style of Rembrandt can be seen in the early works of Rembrandt. In
other words: there is a continuity of style in the works of Rembrandt. That typical characteristic
style of Rembrandt is the contrast between light and dark: the “clair-obscure” contrast.
This style is not totally new, for Caravaggio e.g. worked in this style before Rembrandt. Another
characteristic of the manner/style of Rembrandt is the rough manner in which he puts on the
paint on the surface of the picture. In his manner the result is a rough surface. You could say that
Rembrandt painted in the manner of what in the 19 th century was called the impressionistic way
of painting. Fast painting with an light stroke of the brushes. It was this way of painting,
certainly in the later years of his life (from 1650), that Rembrandt became less popular. For the
taste of the average people, buying pictures was totally different. People preferred paintings in
the classical way. Clear paintings, straight colours, transparent figures. Clear drawing like
paintings.\ with clear colours. “Fijn schilderen” it is called in Dutch.
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Rembrandt went to Amsterdam in 1631. This city was the centre of economic development with
a rich upper class, who could afford to buy paintings. Here in Amsterdam he worked together
with his (later) father in law Hendrik Uylenburgh. Hendrik Uylenburgh was a merchant in art (he
had a what we now should call a gallery). In the years 1630 to 1650 the fame of Rembrandt grew
also outside the Netherlands. He married a niece of Hendrik Uylenburgh, Saskia Uylenburgh. In
1639 he buys a house in the Antoni Breestraat (it is nowadays the Rembrandt museum), an
expensive house at that time, which Rembrandt in fact could not afford. Here he paints his
masterworks (except the Nachtwacht, which he painted somewhere else in 1640/1641). After the
death of Saskia (and two children), there follows a difficult time as to his personal relations. He
twice started a relation with his servant maids. Relations which led to problems with the council
of the protestant church and with the city council. In 1656 Rembrandt went bankrupt, which is
partially a consequence of his expensive lifestyle and less orders.
In this later period his self portraits and other works become more and more realistic. This means
for instance that paints himself as an old man with all the signs of his age. He had to move to a
smaller and cheaper apartment. The selling of his works becomes more difficult. And in this later
period his only son Titus died a few years before the death of Rembrandt himself in 1669.
IMPORTANT WORKS OF REMBRANDT
1. The return of the lost son1622
2. The rape of Ganymedes 1635
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3. The blind making of Samson 1636
4. The anatomical lesson of Professor Tulp 1632
5. The Night Watch 1642
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6. Bathseba 1654
7. Bathing woman 1655
8. The Jewish bride 1667
229

9.
The Sampling Officials1662
FRANS HALS 1583 (Haarlem) - 1666 (Haarlem)
Frans Hals was born in Haarlem. His father worked in the textile industry as a specialised
workman. He originated from Flanders. Presumably Frans Hals was an apprentice of Carel
van Mander. Haarlem was an important city in the 17 th century. Frans Hals became a member
of the painters guild, called Saint Lucas guild, in 1610. The earliest dated work of Hals is
from 1611. Hals developed himself as a painter of portraits. The art of making portraits
(individual as well as group portraits) became the most important element of his work as a
painter. Group portraits were the so called “schuttersstukken”. These were a kind of
municipal policemen. The men on the group portraits were the officers. Hals used his painters
brush in a smooth, quick and accurate manner. His living was dependent from the orders he
got from the well to do citizens. His fame and popularity grew, so that the number of orders
grew as well. With the years his virtuosity increased. He painted an impressive number of
group portraits. A number of them can still be admired in the FRANS HALS MUSEUM in
Haarlem. Well known group portraits are the members of the Saint Joris guild, the guild of
hand bow marksmen, etc. In former times these men were real marksmen/policemen, but the
character of the groups changed in social clubs of well to do citizens. The way in which they
were painted and how they were depicted at the dining tables did not match with reality any
more. In general they were painted in black cloth and dependent from the place on the
painting, you had to pay. The colours on the painting came from the sashes and banners. In
Haarlem there lived quite a few other painters such as Hercules Seghers, Willem Buytewegh,
Jan van de Velde, Essaia van de Velde, Jan van Goyen and Jacob van Ruysdael. After 1625
became the most important city and Amsterdam became the place to be for painters and other
art craftsmen. A famous portrait of Hals is the LAUGHING CAVELIER 1
from 1624.
Virtuous in style, brilliant in colours, a well made head, smooth brushstrokes vary with precise
ones. Hals also got orders from citizens in Amsterdam. Another famous portrait is MALLE BABBE 2
.
In his family there were a few other painters. The most important was his brother Dirck Hals.
Frans Hals was a steady worker and kept painting on high age. Quite a number of paintings he
made after 1650. In the end he must have sold less paintings, for municipal documents show
that he received a benefit from the city administration. In these late years he paints like
Rembrandt in a smooth impressionistic way and with more light/dark contrasts. The latest
orders were from the administration of the poor old men houses.
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1
JACOB VAN RUISDAEL 1628(Haarlem) - 1682(Amsterdam)
Jacob was the sun of a merchant in art, who was also a painter. Jacob grew up in a very
stimulating environment for beginning painters. His uncle Salomon was also a painter of
landscapes. And Haarlem was at that time, certainly in the beginning of the 17 th century, an
important city. Presumably he received lessons in painting from his father and uncle. His
earliest works date from around 1645/1646. These works show an influence from Cornelis
Vroom. Jacob specialized, like his uncle, in landscapes. At first he painted the neighbourhood
of Haarlem, such as view of woods and dunes. He painted with eye for details. Trees and
leaves are minutely painted. He painted in a realistic way. You could say he painted what he
saw. He observed the striking of the light. One of his most famous paintings is the
BLEKERIJEN VAN HAARLEM 3 . These views on Haarlem even got a nickname, namely:
HAARLEMPJES VAN RUISDAEL 4 . A kind of specialization within a specialization. He
made some journeys to Germany and made sketches of the landscapes he observed there.
Around 1656 he moved to Amsterdam. Here he stayed until his death in 1682. In Amsterdam
he had apprentices such as Hobbema. Here also he extended his repertoire. There is a problem
in reconstructing the chronology of his works, for he did not always date his paintings. In fact
he can be seen as a precursor of the 19 th century romantic painters. Typical for his landscapes
with views on cities like Dordrecht are the full clouds in the air. Almost half of these
paintings consist of air clouds . He also painted wonderful winter landscapes.
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2
3
4
JOHANNES VERMEER 1632(Delft) - 1675 (Delft)
Johannes Vermeer was born in Delft. His father was an worker in the silk industry and he also
owned an inn. It is not known where Vermeer received his school education and later on his
lessons in painting. It is possible that he received his painter education from Leonard Bramer,
who was an important painter at that time in Delft. Vermeer married with Catharina Bolnes,
who came from a higher social class than Vermeer. He became member of the Saint Lucas
painters guild in 1653. There are possible relations between Vermeer and the so called
caravaggists in Utrecht such as Dirck van Baburen. Caravaggists are painters in the style of
Caravaggio, a Italian famous painter. On the basis of documents on the life of Vermeer it is
possible to sketch a rather accurate portrait of Vermeer. But much of these documents have a
financial character. We can conclude from these documents that his financial position varied
from rather well to less well. Vermeer himself traded in pictures and in the service of Gerrit
Uylenburgh, a son of the well-known merchant in art Hendrik Uylenburgh in Amsterdam, he
was an adviser for Italian art. After 1672 his financial position became worse and after his
untidy death in 1675 he left behind his wife and eight children in a bad financial position. As
to the chronology of his works, it is also difficult to get a good view of it, for only three
pictures are dated. In total there are left only 35 pictures of Vermeer. Really a small oeuvre.
Most of his oeuvre consists of interior scenes of houses with women in a certain position in a
room. Often these women are doing something, e.g. reading a letter, of they have a music
lesson or a certain handling made by a maid. They often stand in the same room, the same
position. So it is quite certain that Vermeer used his own house and room for the scenes. And
there is always the light coming in from the left side through the window. In this respect the
works do remind us of the work of Pieter de Hooch. One often speaks of the „‟DELFTSE
SCHOOL”. The technique of Vermeer is brilliant, unsurpassed. In the beginning of his career
he worked with thick layers of paint, later on he became a real precisely painter with clear
contour lines and transparent colours. After 1656 Vermeer emphasized more on the figures in
the rooms with one or two figures. And the interior became more important as composition.
The window motive became a important characteristic of his work. As we look at the picture
we are drawn, so to speak, into the picture. Vermeer is causing this by putting a still life in the
foreground. The deceitful reality of the painting is getting stronger. Because of the fact that
the persons on the paintings are captived in their handlings, these pictures give a certain
measure of rest. After the death of Vermeer, he fell in oblivion. Only in the 19 th century
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Vermeer was rediscovered. Two of his most famous paintings were no interiors, but views of
the city of Delft: VIEW ON DELFT 5 and VERMEER‟S LITTLE STREET 6 .
There is still one unsolved problem: whether or not Vermeer used a camera obscura.
JAN STEEN 1625(Leiden) - 1679(Leiden).
Jan Steen was the son of a merchant and owner of a brewery. Like Rembrandt he visited the
Latin school. The reputation of Steen is partly due to the biographer Houbraken, who a
hundred years after the death of Steen, emphasized the so called loose lifestyle of Jan Steen.
Our view and ideas on Jan Steen are coloured by the scenes and motives of the merry
households. During his life Steen did not meet the same appreciation as he received after his
death. He left an enormous oeuvre and seeing this oeuvre you can hardly imagine that Steen
could have lived in the way Houbraken depicts him. He was a hardworking painter. His
popularity nowadays is based on a combination of a number of attractive qualities. The open,
5
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merry and narrative character of his paintings, the perfect technique and the use of the
colorize possibilities. His works are persuaded of moral lessons. Many of his works show in
the form of textual additions moralizing sayings. „SOO GEWONNEN, SOO VERTEERT 7 ”
(YOU WIN, YOU LOOSE)and “ZO VOOR GEZONGEN, ZO NA GEPEPEN 8 ‟(
CHILDREN LEARN THINGS FROM THE OLDER ONES), and „DE WIJN IS EEN
SPOTTER 9 ‟(WINE IS A MOCKER). These are moral messages, warnings against
excessiveness on every field. Often these are commonplaces, clichés, but derived from
ordinary life. It often makes you think of theatre of the people and the Italian Commedia
dell‟arte. For the people of the 17 th century these moral allusions were more clear than they
are for us. Jan Steen is able to mix several elements into a coherent whole; elements like
technical precision, use of colours, composition and use of the paintbrush. Together with the
expression of the figures it made brilliant scenes, full of figures, families, drinking people in
7
8
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inns etc. After his unfinished course at the Latin school, we encounter him as one of the
founders of the saint Lucas guild in Leiden. It is unknown who were his masters. He was
married with a daughter of the painter Jan van Goyen. Steen lived for some time in The
Haque, later on in Delft. In this town he explored a brewery in order to increase his income.
This brewery was not a financial success and via Warmond, Haarlem he settles definitely in
Leiden again after the death of his father. The works of Jan Steen, like other 17 th century
painters, are rarely dated, so that a chronology is difficult to establish. In his early works
Steen used a less broad scale of colours. Brown and gray ground tones are predominant. His
later works show a varied use of colours. His works become lighter. Besides the works with
the motives of the daily life he also painted scenes from the bible.
GERARD DOU 1613(Leiden) - 1675(Leiden)
Gerard Dou, born in Leiden, was in 1628 mentioned as an apprentice of Rembrandt, who was
at that time 22 years. When Rembrandt moved to Amsterdam, Dou settled as an independent
master painter. Dou stayed and worked his whole life in Leiden. Of course Rembrandt as a
master teacher had influence on Dou for instance the handling of the play of light. The
precise, detailed way of painting, these elements on which the reputation of Dou is based, is
also traceable in the works of the early Rembrandt. But where Rembrandt changed his way of
painting, Dou held on to the precise manner. And he perfected it in such a way, that we can
say that these two manners of painting are two mainstreams in 17 th century painting.
Rembrandt as a representative of the loose way of painting and Dou as a representative of the
other, the precise way. Dou became the father of the so called Leidse school of
“fijnschilders”. The popularity of the “fijnschilders” was increased and Dou could make a
good living as a painter. During the life of Dou his works were already collected. Later in the
19 th century and further on these painters received more critical reviews. The technique was
too predominant, was one of the criticisms 10 .
10
10
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GOVAERT FLINCK 1615(Kleef) - 1660(Amsterdam)
There is very little known from the early years of Flinck. It is known that he received lessons
in painting in Leeuwarden. The master painter in Leeuwarden was Lambert Jacobsz, painter
and merchant in art. In 1632/1633 Flinck came to in service as an apprentice with Hendrik
Uylenburgh in Amsterdam. Uylenburgh had relations with Lambert Jacobsz. In Amsterdam
Flinck met Rembrandt, whose apprentice Flinck became. In 1636 Flinck settled as a
independent master painter. He developed himself as painter of portraits with a growing
popularity 11 . He also painted history pieces. Of course we can see the influence of Rembrandt
in his early works as well in his portraits as in his history pieces. As a prove of the influence
of Rembrandt on Dou as to the portraits, there is the case of one portrait, which was attributed
to Rembrandt, but after restoration the sign of Dou became visible. After 1640 the style of
Flinck is changing. His brush strokes become smoother, faster, with more elegance. His
paintings become more clear. He also receives orders for group portraits (schuttersstukken)
and he receives the honourable order to make a considerable part of the decorations of the
new built city hall of Amsterdam. The reason why Rembrandt did not receive this order, had
all to do with the way of painting Rembrandt had followed in these years. The style in which
Flinck (and Dou and others) painted was more popular in those days.. His untimely death in
1660 did not enable him to finish his work on the decorations of the Amsterdam city hall.
PIETER DE HOOCH 1629 (Rotterdam) - 1684 (Amsterdam)
Of the early years of de Hooch there is little known. He could have been an apprentice of
Claes Berchem in Haarlem. In 1653 he is mentioned in documents as servant and painter in
the service of Justus de la Grange, a merchant in textiles, who lived in Delft and Leiden. In
1655 de la Grange possessed ten paintings of de Hooch. In 1654 de Hooch married with
Jannetje van den Burch and a year later he became member of the Saint Lucas guild. He lived
until around 1600 in Delft and afterwards he moved to Amsterdam. After 1672 we loose sight
of de Hooch until the mention in the documents of his death in a hospital of psychiatric
patients in 1684. Together with the works Johannes Vermeer the works of de Hooch are
mentioned as the “Delftse school”. His earliest dated paintings are from 1658. The motive, the
scenes on his paintings are: waiting rooms, inns with soldiers and citizens. His precise style
and these motive make that unsigned paintings are attributed to de Hooch. His early works
11
236

have a dark, brown/yellow scale of colours. In Delft he specialized in scenes of interiors;
interiors of houses/rooms of well to do citizens 12 . Often we see the woman of the owner of the
house with a servant doing some household handlings. He also made paintings of views on
little courtyards. Little intimate pictures with views(doorkijkjes) through gates. The interiors
are minutely painted, the figures seem to be less important than the environment in which
they are painted. The mutual influence between Vermeer and de Hooch is an interesting topic.
The colours of the Hooch in his later years become more transparent, without losing the warm
tones. His works becomes more vivid by using the views through gates and open doors his
work gets an strong illusionistic character. His work gives a harmonious view on a little
aspect of daily life in the households of 17 th century Dutch burghers/citizens 13 .
12
13
237

VOC
By Wieze van Elderen
The Dutch East India Company was founded in 1602 and remained active
until 1799. The Dutch name was Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie,
what literally means the United East Indian Company. Formed as a
combination of mercantile organizations from various cities in Holland
and Zeeland, the Company was involved in commerce in Asia itself, as
well as between Europe and Asia. 1 The VOC is generally considered to
be the first multinational and the company to issue stocks. 2 It grew to
become the largest trading and transport enterprise in the world.
In the sixteenth century trade with Asia was mostly controlled by
Portugal. By the end of the century the English and Dutch also managed
to get a hold on trade in Asia and broke the Portuguese supremacy. The first Dutch ships completed
the return voyage from Asia in 1597. Soon after more expeditions to Asia were organized. To be able
to compete with the English and the Portuguese, the government under the leadership of
Raadspensionaris (Land's Advocate) Johan van Oldenbarnevelt, took the initiative to establish a
cooperative venture out of the small trading companies and granted them a monopoly to trade with
Asia. 3
This new company, the VOC, was organized as a shareholder
company. The so-called Kamers (chambers) of the company, where the local
tradesmen had their interests, where placed in the cities Amsterdam,
Middelburg, Rotterdam, Delft, Hoorn and Enkhuizen. Each city formed their
own chamber. The board of executives was called the Heren XVII (the Lords
Seventeen). Eight of the members were from Amsterdam, four from
Middelburg and one from each other city. The seventeenth seat was filled
either by the province Zeeland or the smaller cities. 4 The head office of the
VOC was at the East India House in Amsterdam. 5 The chairmen of the board
were all rich and important men. For instance the VOC chamber of Hoorn
consisted entirely of mayors, bailiffs and aldermen. 6
The competition for the trade with Asia was fierce. Where first the
Portuguese had the hegemony, the VOC tried to take over their position in
Asia. This resulted in confrontations. One of these occasions led Hugo
Grotius to write his famous treatise on the freedom of the seas Mare
Liberum, which was published in 1609. Het formulated the principle that the
sea was international territory and all nations were free to use it for seafaring
trade. By doing so, he made a case the VOC breaking up the position of the
Portuguese and then establishing their own monopoly. 7 The VOC drove away
East India House in
Amsterdam
the Portuguese from Indonesia and protected their monopoly carefully. The Dutch States-general gave
the VOC sovereign power to rule over Indonesia. The supreme VOC functionary in the Dutch East
Indies was the governor-general. He was aided by five members of the Council of the East Indies.
After the demise of the VOC the office of governor-general remained until 1945. The Rijksmuseum
has a series of official portraits of the governors-general. 8
1
http://www.rijksmuseum.nl/aria/aria_encyclopedia/00048214?lang=en
2
Herman Beliën en Monique van Hoogstraten, De Nederlandse geschiedenis in een notendop, (Amsterdam
2003)53.
3
http://www.rijksmuseum.nl/aria/aria_encyclopedia/00048214?lang=en
4
Beliën, De Nederlandse geschiedenis in een notendop, 54.
5
http://www.rijksmuseum.nl/aria/aria_encyclopedia/00048214?lang=en
6
Ruud Spruit, J.P. Coen, Dagen en daden in dienst van de VOC (De Houten 1987)20.
7
John Merriman, A History of Modern Europe: From the French Revolution to the Present (New York, Londen
2004) 182.
8
http://www.rijksmuseum.nl/aria/aria_encyclopedia/00048214?lang=en
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The VOC built up a network of hundreds of bases in Asia. These could range from simple
offices and warehouses to large fortresses used to control the inlands. At first Bantam on the island of
Java was the centre of the VOC activities, but the fourth governor-general, Jan Pierszoon Coen, settled
himself in the recently conquered Jacarta in 1619. The city was renamed Batavia in honour of the
legendary ancestors of the Dutch people. The Molukken and a part of Java were placed under direct
control of the VOC. They also build forts and settlements in Malakka, Ceylon and India. The VOC
traded in spices, tea, silk and porcelain from South-east Asia and cottons from India. 9
VOC ship "De Batavia".
Links:
www.rijksmuseum.nl
www.bataviawerf.nl
www.westfriesmuseum.nl (only Dutch)
9 Beliën, De Nederlandse geschiedenis in een notendop, 54.
239

History of the Dutch East India Company
The Asian part
By Henk Rijkeboer.
A first expedition under the command of Cornelis de Houtman 1 and Peter Dirkz Keijzer sailed to "the
East" in 1595/1596. Result: the Dutch had
their sea route to the Indies. The Indies was
everything east of the Indus River. Several
companies were started for trade with the
east. They competed fiercely with each
other. This decreased profits and no one
could stand against enemies such as the
Portuguese.
Therefore under political pressure from
Maurits (Stadtholder 2 ) and Oldenbarnevelt
(Land's Advocate 3 ) all companies were
united to the Dutch East India Company
(V.O.C.,1602).
This commercial enterprise had the
exclusive right (patent) on driving trade
from the Netherlands to all land east of the
Cape of Good Hope 4 .
The V.O.C. founded factories 5 Nicolaes Visscher "Indiae Orientalis".
in the east. These are fortified trading settlements with warehouses,
administration of justice, law, etc.
Starting from these factories the VOC obtained spheres of influence or even occupied territories. In
this way the VOC, which was in the Netherlands only a trade company, had real sovereignty rights in
these territories of the “East”. So, the VOC had the right of declaring war and concluding a peace treaty.
All this is dominated by trade, namely to obtain spices for the lowest possible price. For this aim, contracts
were signed with native princes. In such a contract was fixed that spices only should be delivered to the VOC.
In exchange, the native rulers were military supported by the VOC.
1 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cornelis_de_Houtman
2 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stadtholder
3 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Land%27s_Advocate_of_Holland
4 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cape_of_Good_Hope
5 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Factory_%28trading_post%29
240

Victory over Kochi on the coast of Malabar.
By mutual rivalry between two princes the VOC offered aid to one of them, mostly the weakest. Only
with the help of the VOC this prince could go on fighting. The VOC didn’t give so much support that
he really could win his war. So he was dependent. His opponent also started negotiations with the
VOC to get rid of the problems. But every kind of VOC support had his price; exclusive delivery of
spices for a low price.
If a prince didn’t fulfill his "obligations" (spices were "smuggled", delivered to a concurrent) than a
punitive expedition was organized. Notorious was the punitive expedition to the Banda Islands 6 in
1621. Only here you could find nutmeg and mace! An exclusive contract gave the VOC a monopoly
on these spices. The Bandanese however sold secretly to the Portuguese and the English. The punitive
expedition was severe, the population was largely exterminated! Now old V.O.C. employees got small
plantations with slaves on the Banda Islands. The VOC trade of nutmeg and mace was highly
profitable.
The VOC sought for more monopolies. Only on the Maluku Islands 7 cloves were produced. By the
conquest of these islands on the Portuguese the VOC obtained this monopoly, too.
Beside the Banda and Maluku islands, the V.O.C. controlled the Cape Colony 8 (South Africa),
Batavia 9 on Java (now Djakarta, Indonesia), Ceylon 10 , parts of the coasts of India 11 (Coromandel 12 )
and Malacca 13 . Large parts of the Indian archipelago belonged to the Dutch sphere of influence.
6 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banda_Islands
7 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maluku_Islands
8 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cape_Colony
9 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Jakarta
10 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kandy
11 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dutch_India
12 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sadras
241

DutchEmpire
The trading posts in the East Indies had a mixed culture with both
European and Asian elements. This was mainly due to Dutch men who
started relationships with Indian women (usually the housekeeper, the
Njai).
The VOC had the exclusive right of trade on Japan through Dejima 14 .
The Dutch were the only allowed traders with Japan from 1641 until
1853. From the Dutch Japanese learned about western science.
For the VOC the inter-Asian trade was important and gave large
profits. From India cotton and from Bengal opium 15 was transported to
China. Here Porcelain was bought. Tea from Ceylon and China was
again brought by the VOC to Dejima. The Japanese paid the VOC in copper and silver. With this
metal, spices were bought in the Indonesian Archipelago. Finally these spices
were sold with big profit in Europe.
The V.O.C. had almost a world monopoly of spice trade, in the period
between1621and 1670. Hereafter the competition increased, especially of the
English.
The governing board in East India was centralised in Batavia (the current
Jakarta, Indonesia) from 1619. At the head in Batavia, there was a Governor
General with his administration. This was in contrast to the decentralised
character of the chambers in the Netherlands itself. Batavia was founded by the
Governor General Jan Pieterszoon Coen 16 . He was the same Governor General
that organized the punitive expedition to the Banda islands in 1621.
13 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dutch_Malacca
14 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deshima
15 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinsurah
242
View of Dejima.
Jan_Pieterszoon_Coen_by
_Jacob_Waben.

The V.O.C. had increased competition, particularly from the English, in the 18 th century. This reduced
the revenues from the East Indies. Corruption, underinvestment in combination with high dividend
payments (to keep the shareholders satisfied) undermined the position of the VOC, too.
In fact the death blow came from the Fourth Anglo-Dutch War 17 (1780 -1784). The English made in
this war Dutch trade oversea impossible. Dutch ships out of the Indies were captured by English navy.
Officially the V.O.C. was declared bankrupt in 1798. Her possessions became colonies of the Dutch
state.
16 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jan_Pieterszoon_Coen
17 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fourth_Dutch_War
243

Hugo Grotius
Father of international law
by Chloë Fonk 1
The legitimacy of the Dutch Revolt (1568-1588, read our article on this subject) against Filips II was
partially justified by natural law arguments. The Dutch Republic kept defending her position with
natural law arguments, even in the following period.
With natural rights we mean universal rules that are always applicable, anywhere in the world. This is
not to be mistaken with norms that are tied to a certain culture or a certain period.
Perhaps this is why it is not surprising that one of the most important representatives of the idea of
natural rights was a Dutchman, Hugo Grotius.
Hugo Grotius at the age of 15, drawing of Jacob
de Gheyn 1599. Picture of the Amsterdam Historical
Museum 2
Hugo Grotius (also called ‘Huig de Groot’, ‘Hugo Grocio’ or ‘Hugo de Groot’) was born in Delft in
1583. His family belonged to the prominent citizens. Hugo was gifted and mastered Greek and Latin at
a young age. At the age of eleven, he went to study at Leiden University. His giftedness was also
noted abroad. In 1598, when he was fifteen, he participated in a Dutch delegation that visited the
French court. King Henry IV of France received Hugo with the words: ‘‘Behold, the miracle of
Holland’’. The same year, Hugo graduated in Orléans (France) and obtained his doctorate in law.
1 In collaboration with Henk Rijkeboer.
2 http://ahm.adlibsoft.com/ahmonline/advanced/dispatcher.aspx?action=search&database=ChoiceCollect&search
=priref=3000
244

In 1599, Hugo settled in The Hague as an attorney at the Court of Holland. This was the highest court
in the province of Holland. He was appointed judge-advocate (prosecutor) at this Court.
He used his great knowledge of the law of Holland to write a standard on this subject, called
‘Inleydinghe tot de Hollandsche Rechtsgeleerdheydt’ (1631) (translated from Middle Dutch:
‘Introduction to Dutch Law’). Noteworthy is that he wrote this work in Dutch. He normally wrote his
books in Latin, the international language of science. However, with this work he wanted to prove that
Dutch was also suitable for science.
Hugo Grotius did not only occupy himself with law. Like many scholars of that period, he was
engaged in other studies too. In 1610, his history of Holland ‘De antiquitate Reipublicae Batavicae
(Tractaet vande oudheyt vande Batavische nu Hollandsche Republique)’ was published (translation:
‘The Antiquity of the Batavian, now Dutch Republic’). In this work he defended the conception that the
Regional States have always possessed sovereignty in the Low Countries. Counts were mere officials
who were appointed by the States to protect them against the claims of European kings.
These ideas were not tenable, but they did well with the regents. The regents were powerful merchants
who called the shots in the cities. Every city had its own representatives in the Regional States. The
States of Holland consisted almost entirely of these representatives of cities.
In 1613, Hugo Grotius became a member of the States of Holland, as a representative of the city of
Rotterdam. He would soon become the right of the Dutch Land's Advocate of Holland,
Oldenbarnevelt. The Land's Advocate had to execute the decisions of the States of Holland. Holland
was the wealthiest and most powerful region of the Dutch Republic. Inevitably, this made
Oldenbarnevelt one of the two most powerful people within the Republic.
The stadtholder, Maurits, was the other powerful person. He was the commander of the armed forces
and he was also entitled to appoint regents for many important functions. The stadtholders were the
descendants of the great Revolt leader William the Silent (Dutch: Willem van Oranje).
Things did not go well between the Land's Advocate and the stadtholder. Eventually, this would lead
to a fierce power struggle between the two. Hugo Grotius also wrote tragedies and the conflict that
would follow would make him one of the leading roles in his own tragedy.
Peace talks were held with Spain in 1607. Spain, along with Portugal, demanded the exclusive right of
trade with India (the areas east of Cape of Good Hope). The Spaniards based this on the treaties of
Tordesillas (1494) and of Zaragoza (1529). Under the mediation of the pope, divisions of Asia and
America were made between Spain and Portugal.
However, the Dutch East India Company (Dutch: VOC) was established in the Republic. The VOC
also traded with the Asian regions. The demand of the Spaniards meant that the VOC would have to
cease her activities.
Therefore, the VOC asked Hugo Grotius to defend her rights to navigate in India. Hugo Grotius used a
chapter from his earlier book on the law of capture (De iure praedae commentarius). This chapter
developed into a separate book, Mare Liberum.
The plea of Hugo has the natural law as principle. The natural law is, according to Hugo, the general
human idea that regulates society. It would therefore also apply to the coexistence of people and thus
on the use of the sea.
245

The essence of this book is that the sea belongs to everyone. Every nation has the right to sail on all
seas and to trade with anyone. He wrote: ‘‘The purpose of this essay is to show that the Dutch, the
residents of the Republic of the United Netherlands, have the right to navigate to Asia and to trade
with the inhabitants. It is a basic right of all states to go to another country and to trade with them.
Countries that undermine this right, affect the natural law. The oceans are all created by God and may
therefore be freely navigated by everyone. The winds blow in all directions and they bring ships from
all regions to their location.’’
One of the arguments he argued to defend his thesis was that possession could only be obtained
through labor. The sea cannot be edited and can therefore be no one’s possession (res nullius).
Everyone may use it.
In his book, Hugo uses the term ‘international law’ for the first time.
The peace talks with Spain resulted in a Twelve Years' Truce (1609-1621). Oldenbarnevelt and many
of the regents in the province of Holland were in favor of this truce, but they had rather made peace.
Peace is advantageous for trading and thus advantageous for the interest of the regents, who were also
merchants.
The stadtholder did not have interest in this truce. His influence as commander of the armed forces in
times of peace would decrease. The stadtholder had a lot of support from people in the non-Dutch
regions. Even the populace in Holland often supported the stadtholder because of dissatisfaction with
the power of the merchants.
A discussion about the predestination theory erupted within the Calvinist Reformed Church.
Theologian Arminius argued that there was indeed a free will and that man could make his own
decisions. God only knew in advance what choices a person would make in his life. However, his
opponent Gomarus stuck to the doctrine of Calvin. God determined the entire life of man and therefore
who would be chosen to join him in heaven (predestination theory).
The followers of Arminius, called Remonstrants, wanted a tolerant Protestant church. Multiple other
conceptions ought to be allowed within the tolerant Protestant church. The supporters of Gomarus,
called Counter-Remonstrants, were fiercely against.
Hugo Grotius belonged to the Remonstrants. He continuously pleaded for tolerance and against
dogmatism in his works. He was a typical representative of the Dutch regents, who wanted the power
to be carried out by the States of Holland as much as possible. Being the right of Oldenbarnevelt, the
country lawyer, he would continuously defend the interests of the regents and of the Remonstrants
during the Twelve Years' Truce.
The tensions reached a peak in 1518. Supported by the armed forces and a large part of the remaining
regions, Maurits seized power. He incarcerated Oldenbarnevelt and his most important faithful ones.
Oldenbarnevelt was executed after a mock trial. Hugo Grotius got life imprisonment and was
transferred to Loevestein Castle.
246

In castle of Loevestein Hugo Grotius was put
in prison from 1619.
He knew a spectacular way to escape in 1621. He was allowed to read books in prison. These books
were brought to him in a heavy chest. With the help of his wife and maid, who were allowed to stay
with him in prison, he hid himself inside the chest when they came to pick it up. He fled to France,
where he was cordially received by King Louis XIII.
In a book chest Hugo Grotius managed to
escape the castle in 1621.
He wrote De jure belli ac pacis (English: On the Law of War and Peace) in exile. This book would
make him the founder of international law.
The natural law is obviously used as a guideline. In the introduction he wrote: ‘‘to prove the (natural)
law, I also used the sayings of philosophers, historians, poets, even orators, not because they are
unconditionally trustworthy because the parties only wish to prove their case with evidence; it is
because, when many people from different periods and places stick to the same, this indicates a
universally valid ground.
Because Hugo Grotius applies the natural law to states, it must also be applied to wars between those
states. This generates the laws of war.
Two types of wars exist according to Hugo: the righteous and the unrighteous.
247

Righteous wars are wars that are carried out to defend, wars to get back what was taken away and wars
for punishment of crimes. This definition also means that one of the warring parties always enters an
unrighteous war.
The best is when wars are prevented by means of conferences and arbitration. These ideas of Hugo
would have an enormous influence on later thinkers and they would eventually be realized.
A peace conference was held in The Hague in 1899 on the initiative of the Russian Tsar Nicholas II.
Nicholas II supported the idea to prevent war by means of arbitration. The establishment of a Court of
Arbitration was decided upon during the conference. The Permanent Court of Arbitration has been
housed in the Peace Palace in The Hague since 1913. The Peace Palace is also home to the
International Court of Justice, part of the United Nations.
The American professor Woodrow Wilson (1856-1924) was an admirer of Hugo Grotius and he
devoted his classes to his ideas. He became president of the United States of America in 1913. In
1917, he was responsible for the fact that his country participated in the First World War. At the end
of this war, during the peace conference of Paris, he would defend the ideas of Hugo Grotius to realize
these. This leaded to the establishment of the League of Nations, the predecessor of the United
Nations.
Hugo tried to get back to his fatherland during his life. Much to his grief, he remained a persona non
grata.
His motto was ruit hora (time flies). He was an ambassador of Sweden in France eventually. During
his return journey from a visit to Sweden, his ship was caught by a storm in the Baltic Sea. Hugo
survived, but died on 28 August 1645 in Rostock of exhaustion due to the wreckage. His time was
gone. Yet, his ideas are far from gone. His legacye, international law, is of inestimable significance.
The Hague, once his city, with several international courts is still a center of that right.
248

The Dutch revolt
In medieval times, the Netherlands were part of the larger Duchy of Burgundy. With the death of
Charles the Bold in 1477, the Duchy passed to Maria of Burgundy. She married with Maximilian of
Austria, thus combining the Duchy of Burgundy with the Habsburger assets. Their grandson, Charles
V, became the ruler of the Netherlands in 1515. One year later, he succeeded his grandfather as king of
Spain and the Spanish Americas, and in 1519 he inherited the German Empire from his other
grandfather. Charles extended the Burgundian territory with the annexation of Tournai, Artois,
Utrecht, Groningen and Guelders Thus Charles V became the ruler of a vast realm, the Holy Roman
Empire, witch contained all of the modern-day Netherlands. In 1548, Charles issued a Pragmatic
Sanction, declaring the Low Countries to be a unified entity, called the Burgundian Circle. 1
In order to manage his extensive lands, Charles was forced to install a strongly centralized
government, carried out by trusted representatives, Stadtholders. For the Netherlands he installed the
Governess Margaret of Austria. She was assisted by three councils, Conseil d'Etat (Council of States)
which had an advisory task, Conseil Secret (Secret Council) which handled justice and home affairs
and the Conseil des Finances(Financial Council). At the head of every province, Charles placed a
stadtholder. All the provinces got a seigniorial court and he re-established a supreme court in
Mechelen. 2 The Dutch were not enthusiastic about these reforms. Every province used to have their
own rights and privileges. It was not easy for Charles V to submit them all to one centralized rule. 3
One of the first problems Charles encountered in the Netherlands was the Reformation that started in
Germany. While Charles was a convinced Catholic, the Reformation impressed many of his subjects.
Charles fought the spread of Lutheranism and Calvinism as best as he could. 4 Through ordinances
Charles made it known that there were severe penalties for heresy. However, his strict policy did not
prevent the spread of the reformation in his realm. Especially Calvinism became very popular in the
Netherlands. 5
In 1555 Charles V, tired of ruling, abdicated his throne. His realm was divided between his son, Philip
II of Habsburg, King of Spain, and his brother, Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor. The seventeen
provinces of the Netherlands went to his son, the king of Spain. He installed his half-sister Margaret of
Parma as Governess of the Netherlands. 6 The first agitation created by Philips II was the church
reforms. The Netherlands did heretofore not have an Archdiocese of their own. The Netherlands were
under the rule of the archbishops of Cologne, Reims and Trier. Now Philip divided the Netherlands in
three Archdioceses, Utrecht, Mechelen and Cambrai, and fourteen dioceses. He also determined that
only theologians could qualify for the position as bishop. This vexed the noble families, who were
used to provide their younger sons with this function. 7 He also resumed the hard line his father drew
against the Protestants in his realm.
Philips did accommodate the noble families somewhat, by giving them functions in the Council of
States. He also appointed some nobles as stadtholder. For instance William of Orange, who became
stadtholder of the provinces Holland, Utrecht and Zeeland. However, this was not enough. The nobles
wanted a more prominent role in the government. Led by William of Orange, they managed to sway
Margaret of Parma in dispelling the much disliked archbishop Granvelle in 1564. On the other hand
they were most unsuccessful in persuading the king in adapting a milder policy in his actions against
Lutherans and Calvinists. In 1565 some lower noblemen became public when they entered into a
covenant. They offered Margaret a petition, asking her for more leniencies against Protestants. One of
1
H. Beliën, De Nederlandse geschiedenis in een notendop, (Amsterdam 2003) 40.
2
Beliën, De Nederlandse geschiedenis in een notendop, 39.
3
J.C.H. Blom, E. Lamberts, red. Geschiedenis van de Nederlanden (Baarn 2002) 105.
4
http://entoen.nu/karelv/po-docent
5
Beliën, De Nederlandse geschiedenis in een notendop 43.
6
T.F.X. Noble, B.S. Strauss, ed, Western Civilisation, the continuing experiment (Boston New York 1998) 556.
7
Beliën, De Nederlandse geschiedenis in een notendop, 44.
249

the councilmen of Margaret called them les gueux, beggars. 8 They adopted this name as an honorary
title for their group and later for everyone who resisted against Spain. Margaret promised that the
prosecution of heretics would end for the time being, hoping peace would settle again. This resulted
rather in a more open practice of faith by the Protestants. 9
In the summer of 1566, Protestants in Flanders destroyed the statues of saints in many catholic
churches. In many places this example was followed, resulting in the Beeldenstorm (Statue storm).
Philips was much angered by these events and decided on a very harsh approach. He sends his general
the Duke of Alva with an army to the Netherlands. When her arrived in 1567, he replaced the
governess and installed a special court to judge the offenders of the Beeldenstorm, later called the
Blood council. Markedly, the peace was mostly returned to the Netherlands by the time Alva arrived.
His untimely arrival was seen as another provocation. 10 William of Orange, who had also disliked the
Beeldenstorm, had largely succeeded in ending it. He did not wait for the arrival of Alva and fled the
country among thousands of others. His fellow high noblemen Egmond and Hoorne were not so
fortunate. They thought they would be treated respectfully because of their high status and remained in
court. They were both executed in 1568 in Brussels. 11 The Blood council proclaimed thousand
seventy-one death sentences and eleven thousand hundred and thirty-three banishments, accompanied
with confiscation of lands and assets. 12
Willem of Orange (1533-1584), leader of the Dutch revolt against Spain. Photo of the Amsterdam
Historical Museum 13
William of Orange meanwhile prepared himself in his ancestral land Germany to invade the
Netherlands. 14 He pawned all his effects in order to raise a small army. His attacks failed immensely,
and Orange was bankrupt. All he could to in order to continue the resistance was to issue letters of
marques. With these he gave his followers, called the Watergeuzen, permission to enter Spanish ships
and to plunder them. On the first of April, 1572, they attacked the city Den Briel. This incursion was
the beginning of the Dutch revolt. Some cities in the provinces Holland and Zeeland sided with the
rebels en pledged their allegiance to William of Orange. This happened either trough pressure of the
8 http://entoen.nu/beeldenstorm/po-docent
9 Beliën, De Nederlandse geschiedenis in een notendop, 44.
10 Blom, Geschiedenis van de Nederlanden, 109.
11 Beliën, De Nederlandse geschiedenis in een notendop, 45.
12 Blom, Geschiedenis van de Nederlanden, 110.
13 http://ahm.adlibsoft.com/ahmonline/advanced/dispatcher.aspx?action=search&database=ChoiceCollect&search
=priref=38924
14 http://entoen.nu/willemvanoranje/po-docent
250

armies outside the city walls or when inside supporters of Orange took over the power inside the cities.
In 1573 Alva’s forces headed north to recapture the revolting cities. He took the cities Mechelen,
Zutphen and Naarden and massacred the population. Later that year he conquered Haarlem. However,
at Alkmaar Alva’s siege failed. At sea the Watergeuzen had a great victory over the Spanish ships. In
October 1574, the Spanish also had to end the siege of the city Leiden. Meanwhile, William of Orange
managed to unite al the provinces of the Netherlands in one cause. The rebelling provinces made an
agreement with the States General, the Pacification of Gent. The principles of this treaty were that the
Dutch would accept Philips II as their liege, if he would remove all his forces from the Netherlands.
On the matter of religion they could not agree. 15
The Duke of Alva (1507-1582), Leader of the Spanish forces against William of Orange. Photo of
the Amsterdam Historical Museum 16
The treaty did not last. The new governor of the Netherlands, the duke of Parma, made an agreement
in 1579 with the southern provinces, Namur, Luxembourg, Limbourg, Hainault and Artois, to end the
rebellion against the Spanish king. This treaty was called the Union of Arras. 17 In response the
Northern provinces and the large Flemish and Brabant’s city joined in the Union of Utrecht, against
the Spanish king. However, Parma managed to capture one Flemish city after the other, thus forcing
them to join the Union of Artois. 18 In 1580 Philips II declared William of Orange outlaw. Orange
responded with an extensive letter of Vindication, claiming that the king himself had breached the
contract between lords and vassals and that he was therefore a Tiran. 19 Nobody owed their allegiance
to a Tiran. Hence Orange opened negotiations to find another liege for the Netherlands. 20 Possible
candidates were the Duke of Anjou and Queen Elisabeth of England.
In 1581 the rebelling provinces decided to become independent. Until that time they proclaimed that
they did not rebel against their liege lord, but against his corrupt advisors and his plundering forces.
They still respected the king. But with the Plakkaat van Verlatinghe (Act of Abjuration) they officially
15
Noble, Western Civilisation, 558.
16
http://ahm.adlibsoft.com/ahmonline/advanced/dispatcher.aspx?action=search&database=ChoiceCollect&search
=priref=38925
17
Blom, Geschiedenis van de Nederlanden, 114.
18
Beliën, De Nederlandse geschiedenis in een notendop, 45.
19
http://entoen.nu/willemvanoranje/po-docent
20
Blom, Geschiedenis van de Nederlanden, 114.
251

denounced Philips II as their sovereign. William of Orange, still declared outlaw, survived an attack in
1582 in Antwerp, but in July 1584 in he was shot in Delft. 21 For a while after this event, the States
General still tried to look for a new liege. But when this search finally produced futile, the States
General decided in 1587 to try and govern the Netherlands by themselves. Thus was created the
Republic of the Seven United Netherlands. 22
21 http://www.parlement.com/9291000/biof/10091?gclid=CNj1tMHX3K4CFUcntAodlU-lVw
22 Beliën, De Nederlandse geschiedenis in een notendop, 51.
252

The siege of Alkmaar
by Andrea Visser
The siege of Alkmaar lasted from the 21st of August till the 8th of October 1573. Alkmaar was
besieged by the Spanish army, led by Don Frederic, the son of the Duke of Alva. The siege ended
when the order was issued that the dikes around Alkmaar were to be breached. This made it
impossible for the Spaniards to continue the siege. Their withdrawal is now known as the delivery of
Alkmaar. Alkmaar was one of the first cities from Holland to be liberated. Till this day this event is
celebrated every year at the 8th of October.
Alkmaar used to be a city of great strategic value, being the gate to the northern part of Holland. In
that time the polders Beemster and Schermer were not yet reclaimed, so any traffic to the north had to
pass Alkmaar. After the siege of Haarlem, the Watergeuzen went to the Alkmaar, under order of
William of Orange to enter the city. Alkmaar initially refused the Watergeuzen entrance, but when the
Spanish army also appeared at the Gates, they chose to side with Orange. The Watergeuzen took
garrison in Alkmaar and decided to defend the city against Don Frederic.
The exhaustive description of the siege of Alkmaar was provided to us by Nanning van Foreest , a
protestant nobleman in the employment of the city council at the time, who wrote a detailed chronicle
of the siege, called “Een cort verhael van ‘t belegh van Alcmaer bij de Spaengiaers in ‘t jaer 1573
strengelick belegert, ende met schande ende schade derselver naeghelaten”.
At first the siege did not look good for Alkmaar. Theirs defences were not in good repair, and they had
to make rushed adjustments. Fortunately the Spanish troops had suffered heavy losses at the siege of
Haarlem. Furthermore the ground around Alkmaar was very wet and marsh like, making it difficult for
the Spanish to move their siege equipment.
At Monday 13 July the Watergeuzen asked to enter the city. The council was still considering this.
The next Thursday, they entered the city because the Spanish army is approaching. It is unknown
whether this was accompanied with force. At Wednesday the 5 th of august the Spanish soldiers get
paid extra after a mutiny. Friday 21th, Alkmaar is being surrounded. The next day was the first attack
on the city, causing casualties on both sides. The defenders kept the Spaniards at a distance with
boiling tar and burning branches. At Sunday the leader of the Watergeuzen, Cabeliau, wrote a letter
too Diederik Sonoy, the governor of Orange. He asks for support and he requests that the lands around
Alkmaar were put under water. Tuesday 25 th August; the Spaniards plan a feigned attack on the
Kennermerpoort (gate) to cause confusion with the defenders. Meanwhile the Alkmaarder courier van
der Meij had reached Sonoy. At Friday 15 th September the Spanish army stage a great attack at the
walls of Alkmaar. The cause a lot of damage at the city. Three times they stormed the Friese Poort
(gate), but the assaults were warded off. The turning point of the battle was when Sonoy ordered the
sluices to be opened and the dikes to breach. The surroundings of Alkmaar became flooded and the
Spaniards had to end their siege. Finally at the 8 th of October the whole Spanish army had left and
Alkmaar was free.
253

Siege of Alkmaar in 1573, seen from the south. Painting by Pieter Adriaensz Cluyt from 1580. In the
foreground left the Spanish army camp with Don Frederick, commander of the Spanish army and son
of the Duke of Alba, on horseback.
©This image is put at disposal for this project by the Stedelijk Museum Alkmaar. All rights are
reserved for the Stedelijk Museum Alkmaar.
Siege of Alkmaar in 1573, seen from the north. Painting by Pieter Adriaensz Cluyt from 1580. Spanish
soldiers are storming the city. In the foreground a cartouche containing a text to an image of a
pontoon bridge as used by the Spaniards
©This image is put at disposal for this project by the Stedelijk Museum Alkmaar. All rights are
reserved for the Stedelijk Museum Alkmaar.
254

Battle of the Zuiderzee
The Siege of Alkmaar was the turning point of the struggle against the Spaniards ashore. The Battle on
the Zuiderzee, 11 and 12 October 1573 (for a few days after the Siege of Alkmaar), brought the
change at sea.
In the city of Hoorn there are 3 houses on which facades this battle is depicted. These images are
shown below. The commander of the Spanish fleet, Bossu, was after the victory brought as a prisoner
to Hoorn. Hoorn was one of the rebellious cities.
Details house 1
Details house 2
Details house 3
255
The 3 houses at Slapershaven

The Romans in the Netherlands
Only when the Romans came from the south to the region now known as the Netherlands, these lands
emerged from pre-history. It was in 57 B.C. when Julius Ceasar first entered Gaul. In the following
years he claimed to have managed to annex the whole region to the vast Roman Empire. 1 In reality in
was only in 12 B.C., under the rule of Emperor Augustus, that the Roman general Drusus brought the
southern part of the Netherlands under Roman rule. 2 About two thousand years ago, in 47 A.D, the
border of the Roman Empire ran through the Netherlands. 3 The Rhine river was the northern border,
the Limes. The Rhine flowed from Colonia Ulpia Trajana (Xanten, Germany) in the east, via
Traiectum (Utrecht) en Albaniana (Alphen aan de Rijn) to Lugdunum Batavorum (Katwijk) at the
coast.
North of the river was were the uncivilized world began. There lived Germanic and Celtic tribes. The
main tribes were called the Chamavii and Frisii (Frisians). These Germanic and Celtic tribes shared a
common language, a culture and religion. However, they did not share an overall governing
institution. With the coming of the Romans, the Netherlands became a place where various groups,
like soldiers and merchants of different ethnical backgrounds, from all over the Roman empire came in
contact with the local Celtic and Germanic tribes. 4
The Frisians where allies of the Romans and paid them taxes. The remained true till 28 A.D. when
they revolted. They destroyed a Roman camp near modern-day Velzen, probably the camp Felvum. 5
From 47 A.D. onwards, they were part of the free Germania north of the Limes. 6
South of the Limes, on Roman territory, lived the tribes called Batavii (Batavians) and the Caninefates
(Cananefates). They lived in peace with the Romans as allies, foederati. That means that though the
tribes did not gained Roman citizenship, many Batavians and Cananefates served in the Roman army
as soldiers. Their territories were turned into Civitates, Roman administrative units. However, in 69
A.D. the Batavians revolted against the Romans, making use of the unrest and disorder in the realm
following the death of Emperor Nero. The leader of the rebels was Julius Civilis. He was a Batavian
who had served in the Roman army for 25 years. For a while the revolt seemed to have worked, but
after a few months, the Batavians were put down by the Romans. 7
The Romans brought with them a new form of organization. The left of the river Rhine was the
province Germania Inferior, with its capital city Colonia Claudia Ara Agrippinensium (now the
German city Cologne). This province enclosed today’s Luxembourg, southern Netherlands, parts of
Belgium, and the Northern part of Germany left of the Rhine.
1
J.C.H. Blom, E. Lamberts, red. Geschiedenis van de Nederlanden (Baarn 2002) 3.
2
H. Beliën, De Nederlandse geschiedenis in een notendop, (Amsterdam 2003) 12.
3
Blom, Geschiedenis van de Nederlanden, 3.
4
Blom, Geschiedenis van de Nederlanden, 3.
5
Beliën, De Nederlandse geschiedenis in een notendop, 12.
6 www.limes.nl/de-limes-toen
7 entoen.nu/romeinselimes/vo-docent
256

Map of the modern coastline of the Netherlands, Germany, and Denmark, showing the Germanic
peoples that lived there c. 150 AD and shipbuilding techniques they used (clinker-built and carvelbuilt).
Source: Wikimedia Commons 8
The Romans must have made a great impression on the locals, both because of their impressive attire
and their advanced architecture. By the introduction of the latter, the surroundings of the Roman
camps, changed considerably. 9 They build for instance large villas with bathhouses and central
heating. 10 The Germanic tribes adopted several Roman habits witch suited them best. This process of
8 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Continental.coast.150AD.Germanic.peoples.jpg
9 Idem
10 Beliën, De Nederlandse geschiedenis in een notendop, 14.
257

mixing the cultures was called Romanization. Among other things, the Romans introduced the concept
of a city, the written word and practice of Roman law. Also the agriculture changed, for the Romans
brought with them larger breeds of cattle, rye and bread wheat. They also introduced wine and olive
oil and other heretofore unknown foodstuffs. 11 The Rhine was not just a border, it was also a very
important transport line for the Romans. Many products were transported to and from the forts in the
Netherlands by ship. 12 The presence of the army resulted in a flourishing trade in food and luxuries.
For the first time, the Netherlands came in contact with a monetary system. 13
In the third century the German raids increased. Also the sea level rose, making a large part of the lowlying
parts of the Netherlands uninhabitable. 14 This resulted in a withdrawal of the Roman forces
behind the Alps. 15 After the abandonment of the Romans, the population of the Netherlands dropped
considerably. The economy became largely self-sufficient again. Both Roman law, the language and
the knowledge of the written word disappear, among many other Roman inventions, only to reappear
in Medieval times or even later. 16
Several Dutch villages and cities along the Rhine descend from the Roman time. On a regular base
archeological excavations reveal this history. 17 In the Tabula Peutingeriana or the Peuringer map there
one can find the names of many forts and cities in the Netherlands.
The cities are Forum Hadriani/Aellium Cananefatum (Voorburg), Colonia Ulpia Noviomagus and
Batavorum (together now Nijmegen), Colonia Ulpia Trajana (Xanten, Germany) and Coriovallum
(Heerlen).
The most important forts are Flevum (Velsen), they’ve also found a Roman harbour here, Lugdunum
Batavorum (Brittenburg), Praetorium Agrippinae (Valkenburg), Matilo (Leiden-Roomburg),
Albaniana (Alphen aan den Rijn), Laurium (Woerden), Traiectum (Utrecht), Fectio (Vechten),
Levefanum (Wijk bij Duurstede), Carvo (Kesteren) and the biggest one, Noviomagus (Nijmegen). 18
11
www.limes.nl/de-limes-toen
12
entoen.nu/romeinselimes/vo-docent
13
www.limes.nl/de-limes-toen
14
Beliën, De Nederlandse geschiedenis in een notendop, 14.
15
entoen.nu/romeinselimes/vo-docent
16
www.limes.nl/de-limes-toen
17
entoen.nu/romeinselimes/vo-docent
18
Bosatlas van de Wereld-geschiedenis, 36 B.
258

Roads and Towns in Germania Inferior. Source: Wikimedia Commons 19
In the Netherlands there are several museums and theme parks dedicated to the roman history of our
country:
Rijksmuseum voor de Oudheden in Leiden
www.rmo.nl
Museum het Valkhof in Nijmegen
www.museumhetvalkhof.nl
Allard Piersonmuseum in Amsterdam
www.allardpiersonmuseum.nl
Het Archeon in Alphen aan de Rijn
www.archeon.nl
Openlucht museum Eindhoven
www.historisch-openluchtmuseum-eindhoven.nl
Archeologiehuis Zuid-Holland in Alphen aan de Rijn
www.archeologiehuiszuidholland.nl
19 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Germania_inferior_roads_towns.png
259

The Roman Temple of Elst
by Eline de Bruijn
It is known that since 1947 that the big church of the city Elst, near Nijmegen en Arnhem, is built on
two Roman temples. In the Second World War, the monumental church was heavily damaged. So
when they rebuilt the church in 1947, they made an important discovery: under the church remnants of
Roman stone buildings were found. It turned out to be two so-called Gallo-Roman temples, which had
stood after each other on the same place. The last temple was built at the end of the first century, after
the Revolt of the Batavian. It is the largest (30,9 x 23,1 m) known Roman temple north of the Alps and
is of international importance.
In 2002 another Roman temple was discovered by the preparing of building a new housing estate,
named Westeraam. This temple was also rebuilt, so we know these days a total of four temples in Elst,
less than 600 metres from each other. That is pretty much, as we know that in the Netherlands only in
Empel (near Den Bosch), and in Nijmegen that these temples stood. So, Elst seems to have been an
important religious centre.
Before the arrival of the Romans, there was earlier a cult place on the place where the church stands
now, from the Batavian people. They were a mix of the Chatti tribe, who came from the German
‘Hessen’, and tribes that earlier lived there. The Romans reveal civilization to the Batavians by
building them a temple made of stone.
The temple had the size of 11,5 by 8,5 metres. About the year 100 is the temple probably replaced by
order of Emperor Traianus by a bigger one: 31 by 23 metres. The temple was of the Gallo-Roman
type, with a high central sanctuary, a cella, within a colonnade. Unlike the average Gallo-Roman, the
temple had a rectangular sanctuary and it stood on a platform. Therefore, the building had more the
shape of a ‘classical’ Roman temple. Scientists see this as a political-religious act: The Batavians were
good friends of the Romans and were therefore considered to be more Roman than other tribes.
For the construction of the temple limestone and volcanic tuff was used. Soldiers of the well-known
10 th legion, which was based in Nijmegen, got the limestone from quarries near Metz in present day
North France. Tuff came from the Eifel. The foundation of the cella rested on hundreds of oak piles.
The temple was more than 15 metres high and was, like the big church now, visible in the wide
surroundings. It stood on a walled area of 70 x 83 metres, the temenos. This was the meeting place for
people en gods. For the entrance of the temple was the altar, here sacrifices took place. In the area are
several pits found with remains of animals: the skulls of a sheep (ovis in Latin), a pig (sus in Latin)
and a bull (taurus in Latin), probably for a suovetaurilia offer: a purification ritual, possibly at the
inauguration of the second temple. They are the silent witnesses of what took place here. In the third
century, the temple became out of use. The ruins could still be seen until the eighth century.
260

The Roman Temple of Elst. Photo of the Museum het Valkhof, Nijmegen. 1
1 http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bestand:Tempel_Elst.JPG
261

HIGH TECH ROMANS
by Chloë Fonk
Computing
Accurate measuring equipment was vital for the construction of waterworks, streets and tunnels.
Surveyors used a hodometer to measure distances, a chorobates to measure height differences and a
dioptra to measure vertical angles. The groma helped them mark out right angles and they had an
advanced sort of abacus with which to make arithmetical calculations. Merchants weighed out goods
on two kinds of scales: beam scales and steelyards. The largest unit in the Roman system of weights
was the libra or pondus (327.45 grams) and the smallest was the uncia (27.29 grams).
In Great-Britain, ounces are still in use for weighing.
The first computer
A century ago, sponge divers found a 2,000-year-old analog ‘computer’ in the wreck of a ship off the
Greek island of Antikythera. It has 30 bronze gear wheels, together forming a complex transmission.
Until recently, nobody knew exactly what it was. Now, scientists think it was a calendar for
determining the position of the sun, the constellations and the moon. It could be used to calculate the
dates of lunar and solar eclipses and of the Olympic games. Roman sea captains probably also used
devices of this kind.
Right angles
The Romans planned every new town or military camp with a rectangular grid of streets. This was
based on two main axes: one north-south (cardo maximus) and the other east-west (decumanus
maximus). All the other streets were built parallel to these axes. To do this, Roman land surveyors
The pictures of this article are taken in the Valkhof Museum, Nijmegen (Holland). The text is
based on the explanations of this museum by the exhibition High Tech Romans.
262

used a surveying instrument called a groma. For that reason, the junction of the two main axes was
also called the groma.
The pictures of this article are taken in the Valkhof Museum, Nijmegen (Holland). The text is
based on the explanations of this museum by the exhibition High Tech Romans.
263

Crane
The Romans used ingenious cranes and lifting gear, both on building sites and to load and unload
ships. This kind is called a tripastos: a crane with three pulleys. Operated by just two men, it could
easily lift and move blocks of stone weighing up to 300 kilos. There were also cranes with more
pulleys, enabling them to lift even heavier loads. The most powerful crane of all had a treadmill
instead of a winch, in which slaves produced the needed force.
The pictures of this article are taken in the Valkhof Museum, Nijmegen (Holland). The text is
based on the explanations of this museum by the exhibition High Tech Romans.
264

Crafts
In the field of crafts the Romans focused on innovation and the development of new production
methods.
Potteries were often industrial-scale enterprises in which crockery was produced by the thousands.
This increased production was possible because of standardisation. For example, the use of moulds
meant that luxury items in glass, earthenware and metal could be produced on a larger scale. Roman
artisans were highly experienced in the use of natural pigments, leather, textiles, wood, stone, metal,
glass and earthenware.
The woodworking joints used in buildings and furniture were so good that they are still in use today.
Mass production
There were moulds for objects in earthenware, bronze or glass. First they made a model of the object.
Then they pressed it into clay or plaster, so that it left a hollow impression. To make a lamp, they
needed a two-part mould: one part for the top and one for the bottom. Lumps of clay were pressed into
the moulds, then taken out and fitted together. Each mould could be used many times and the results
were identical.
Mosaic
A real mosaic can contain up to 10,000 pieces (tesserae) per m². the Romans used various kinds of
stone, coloured glass and ceramic to make the different colours. We think they had books of standard
designs because some images have been found in several different places, like the dog and the words
‘‘Beware of the dog’’.
A computer screen works in the same way as a mosaic: it uses lots of small coloured dots (pixels) to
make up the image. A screen uses around 400 pixels per cm² or 4 million per m².
The pictures of this article are taken in the Valkhof Museum, Nijmegen (Holland). The text is
based on the explanations of this museum by the exhibition High Tech Romans.
265

The pictures of this article are taken in the Valkhof Museum, Nijmegen (Holland). The text is
based on the explanations of this museum by the exhibition High Tech Romans.
266

Bathhouses
Under floor heating
Floors which had to be heated rested on pillars made of round or square tiles. The warm air spread
under the floor.
Rectangular hollow tubes, which were built into the walls, ensured that the warm air was removed and
that the walls were heated.
Large tiles were placed on top of the pillars which had been joined together. A cement layer was then
applied, onto which sometimes a mosaic floor was laid. The mosaic stones were made of stone, brick
and glass.
A hole was made in a flat roof tile, and a chimney with holes was placed on top of this.
The pictures of this article are taken in the Valkhof Museum, Nijmegen (Holland). The text is
based on the explanations of this museum by the exhibition High Tech Romans.
267

Food and drinks
The Romans imported their favourite food and drink: wine, olive oil, fish sauce, olives as well as
preserved fruits.
Keys and locks
The pictures of this article are taken in the Valkhof Museum, Nijmegen (Holland). The text is
based on the explanations of this museum by the exhibition High Tech Romans.
268

The pictures of this article are taken in the Valkhof Museum, Nijmegen (Holland). The text is
based on the explanations of this museum by the exhibition High Tech Romans.
269

Other crafts
Celtic mirror
Amphorae
The pictures of this article are taken in the Valkhof Museum, Nijmegen (Holland). The text is
based on the explanations of this museum by the exhibition High Tech Romans.
270

The pictures of this article are taken in the Valkhof Museum, Nijmegen (Holland). The text is
based on the explanations of this museum by the exhibition High Tech Romans.
271

Water
To supply their towns and cities with water the Romans built waterworks and aqueducts.
These carried fresh water from natural springs to distribution points on the edge of town. From there,
pipes made of lead, ceramics or wood carried the water to bathhouses, public toilets, drinking
fountains and affluent private households. Like us, the Romans drew their water from taps, usually
made of bronze. Wastewater was removed by extensive sewer systems and discharged into rivers or
the sea. The Romans improved on ancient Greek inventions like the Archimedes’ screw and the piston
pump and made large-scale use of them.
Waterproof roof
To make their houses waterproof, the Romans used two kinds of roof tiles. The whole surface of the
roof was covered with big, flat rectangular tiles with raised sides, called tegulae. The narrow, curved
tiles, called imbrices, were used to waterproof the joints. Because Roman roofs were flatter than ours,
the heavy tiles stayed in place and there was no chance of leaks. Roman roof tiles came in standard
sizes and were turned out in huge batches by special tile works.
The pictures of this article are taken in the Valkhof Museum, Nijmegen (Holland). The text is
based on the explanations of this museum by the exhibition High Tech Romans.
272

On the road
All the provinces in the empire were linked by an extended network of roads.
To speed up travel, the roads were built as straight as possible. Along the roads milestones were
erected to indicate the distance to the next major town. Many modern highways follow the Roman
trails.
Goods were transported by road on carts drawn by mules or oxen. Passenger vehicles even had
springy suspension systems: leather straps supporting the body of the vehicle. On the rivers and at sea,
fast wooden naval vessels guarded the navigational routes.
Milestone
Along Roman roads, travellers would pass by milestones. These stated the distance to the nearest city,
and honoured the emperor with an inscription. If a new emperor carried out maintenance work to the
roads, new milestones were installed. However, the old milestones remained in situ out of respect for
the emperor’s ancestors. And it is so that there are four milestones in one single location in the
Netherlands. These milestones refer to Forum Hadriani, which is currently known as Voorburg. Here
you see a cast of one of those milestones, honouring emperor Caracalla.
The pictures of this article are taken in the Valkhof Museum, Nijmegen (Holland). The text is
based on the explanations of this museum by the exhibition High Tech Romans.
273

Hadrian’s Wall (15)
Hadrian’s Wall is in the north of England. It is 117 kilometres long and, until the middle of the 2nd
century A.D., it marked the northern boundary of the Roman Empire. Surveyors used the groma and
other measuring equipment to plot the line of the wall with its associated ditches, forts and gateways.
The pictures of this article are taken in the Valkhof Museum, Nijmegen (Holland). The text is
based on the explanations of this museum by the exhibition High Tech Romans.
274

The Romans in the Netherlands
The pictures of this article are taken in the Valkhof Museum, Nijmegen (Holland). The text is
based on the explanations of this museum by the exhibition High Tech Romans.
275

The pictures of this article are taken in the Valkhof Museum, Nijmegen (Holland). The text is
based on the explanations of this museum by the exhibition High Tech Romans.
276

The pictures of this article are taken in the Valkhof Museum, Nijmegen (Holland). The text is
based on the explanations of this museum by the exhibition High Tech Romans.
277

The pictures of this article are taken in the Valkhof Museum, Nijmegen (Holland). The text is
based on the explanations of this museum by the exhibition High Tech Romans.
278

The pictures of this article are taken in the Valkhof Museum, Nijmegen (Holland). The text is
based on the explanations of this museum by the exhibition High Tech Romans.
279

Table of contents
1. Kannisstraat 1
2. The Big Church
3. The Big Church
4. The Old Cityhall
5. ‘De Waag’
6. The House With The Bullit
7. The Fishmarket
8. The ‘Kapelkerk’
9. The Vigilantie
10. The Accijns Tower
11. ‘Hof Van Sonoy’
12. ‘Hofje van Splinter’
13. ‘Piet’s Mill’
14. The Channels
KANNISSTRAAT 1
Probibly the oldest building in Alkmaar. It was build around 1540.
'Big St.Laurens Church' was build between 1470 and 1520 for Catholics and is
one of the most historic buildings in Alkmaar.
280

THE OLD CITYHALL
281

282

Greece
283

Lesvos
284

Georgiadou, Ifigenia - Team Coordinator
The Greek Team
285
Sotiropoulos, Christos

The Greek School
286

Agenda
Friday, April, 29th 2011
Arrival of the dutch group to Lesvos island
Finalizing the Agenda with the coordinator
Sightseeing of the island
Dinner
Saturday, April, 30th 2011
Arrival of the Spanish group to Athens
Arrival of the German group to Athens
Sunday, May, 1st 2011
Arrival of the participants
The Lesvos Project Meeting (2011)
21:00
Welcome dinner at the hotel - paticipation in a wedding party
Monday, May, 2nd 2011
Working Session I.
09:30
Welcome - Ice breaking games
10:00
Introduction of learners & partner organisations: our activities,
other projects etc.
11:00
Coffee break
11:30
short overview on the project (by the coordinator); discussion
on the Agenda of the present and the next meetings
12:00
Workshop:
presentation of Lesvos/Greece, local culture
13:00 - 14:30
Lunch at local "Kafenio", Skala Loutron
18:00
European Heritage in Action:
Visit to Asia Minor Museum of the village Skala Loutron,
meeting local people from the village
20:00
dinner in Koudouroudia taverna
Tuesday, May, 3rd 2011
Working Session II.
09:00
Presentation of the project subjects:
all partners present their work (part I)
12:15
Discussion on the website:
287
ideas/suggestions about the website; New subjects for the next
year: What topics each partner likes to do next year
13:00
Lunch at Zaira Hotel
13:50
Departure from Loutra to Mytilene by bus
14:30
European Heritage in Action:
Departure by bus from Mytilene to Theofilos and the Teriade
Museum - Greek and International Painting
18:00
Visit to the Adult Education Center of Mytilene
Cultural visit to Mytilene, the capital of Lesvos Island
free time for shopping
20:30
Dinner in Mytilene - Diavlos Traditional Cafe
Wednesday, May, 4th 2011
Working Session III.
09:40
Departure from Loutra to Mytilene by bus
11:00
Departure from Mytilene to Agia Paraskevi
European Heritage in Action:
Visit to the Agro touristic Women Cooperative of Agia
Paraskevi village
Lunch at the Women´s Cooperative traditional restaurant
European Heritage in Action:
Visit to Olive museum of Agia Paraskevi village
15:40
departure from Agia Paraskevi to Mytilene
18:00
Coordinators´ meeting:
Administrative and financial matters, dissemination stratgy,
evaluation strategy
Distribution of tasks, next project steps
fix the dates for further meetings
Preparation of the interim report
Learner´s meeting:
the learners prepare the new subjects and / or finalize the
presentation of the subjects that are being already produced,
upload them in the website, communicate through the moodle
free time
20:00
Dinner
Thursday, May, 5th 2011
09:30
Continue with the presentation of projects subjects:
all partners present their work (part II.)
11:30
evaluation of the meeting and of the project so far

12:30
Certificates of attendance, signatures
14:00
Lunch at Zaira Hotel
18:30
Boat trip to Taverna Balouchanas, a good practice example for
cultural tourism
dinner at Perama village
288
Friday, May, 6th 2011
Departure day of the participants
Media
A Lesvos-Video made by Louis Schmidt:
http://animoto.com/play/vqSD5nDDnEL0Sf5N7hQxrA

y Virginia Cogotti
and Ifigenia Georgiadou
Since the Mesolithic Age, “the Aegean islands used to form a
single entity in combination with the coastal region of Asia
Minor on the opposite side” (1), providing a link between the
people of that region, from where they could control the
seaways.
Lesvos is part of this entity and built its own characteristic
identity through the past centuries, with the contribution,
welcomed but often imposed, of the rulers that succeeded one
after the other in the domination of the island. Its geographical
location, so faraway from the Greek continent and adjacent to
the coast of Asia Minor, allowed it to develop a peculiar
culture with the strong influence coming from Orient, that
rebounded on the choice of political systems, leaning mainly
to oligarchy.
Ancient Times: Lesvos between Mythological accounts and
Archaeological evidence.
Αrchaeological excavations lead by Winifred Lamb in the
1930, provided evidence of its almost uninterrupted habitation
since the Neolithic period and its similarity to the Trojan and
Mycenaean civilization.
During the Bronze Age, when the North Aegean civilization
reached its peak, the island progressed and prospered
considerably. The construction of cities, such as Thermi of
Lesvos, is a sure piece of evidence.
Around the midst of the 2nd millennium BC, Pelasgians lead
by Xanthus from Argos, settled in Lesvos. They renamed the
Island from “Issa” to “Pelasgia”, but several names where
given through centuries such as “Imerti” (the name was related
to its dissolute mores), “Lassia” (because of its lush
vegetation), “Aethiope” or “sunny land”, ruled by the
Amazons from Ethiopia and also... “AEOLIS”!!!
As usual, Mythology and ancient traditions try to explain the
origins in order to answer and give explanations to human
questions and doubts, when History sources and Archaeology
evidence cannot give any information about. “We may say that
the Pelasgians could be considered for us the population of
transition, after Amazons and Eraclids, from mithical times to
heroic and historic times”. (2)
The island was also named Makaria when Makaras, after the
deluge of Deucalion, came to the island. According to the
Mith, he was the son of the Sun, the ancestor who founded the
race. The legend tells that, he killed one of his brothers and
decided to banish himself to Lesvos, where the population
welcomed him as “an enlightened sovereign” (3).
He came from Achaia with other supporters of its community
and mainly Ionians. The fairness of his government allowed
him even to extend its domain to the neighbouring islands,
which gave up without a struggle.
Makaras launched the construction of Mytilini, Issa, Antissa,
Mithymna and Avrisi and named them after his five daughters.
Eressos took its name after his son, but the name of the island
comes from the son of the Lapiths, Lesvos, who came from
Thessaly and finally became father-in-law of Makaras, when
History of Lesvos
289
their two folks became one.
Other accounts tell us that in ancient times there was a town
called Lesvos and the island was named after it. This site
could correspond to Lisvorios on the bay of Kaloni, where
archaeologists also found relevant traces of a settlement dating
back to pre-historic times.
As Louis La Croix remarks: “all these names are more often
the result of poets’ fantasy then of truthful historical accounts”
(4).
The island was under the domination of the Achaeans between
1393-1184.
Homer mentions Lesvos when he describes the fight between
Odysseus and King Philomileidis and when Achilles enters in
Mithymna with the support of the king’s daughter, but finally
chooses and abducts Brysiida.
In 1140, when the Hellenic region is traversed by an intensive
flow of migrations, Lesvos is colonized by Aeolians, who
blent their language and culture with those of the local
population.
Six city states dominated the territory of Lesvos but soon
Mytilini and Mthymna stood out.
Between the 8th and the 5th century BC, with a acme in the
7th and 6th century BC, the population spread and the island
became an important alive centre where economic, trading,
artistic, philosophical activities flourished. Some intellectual
features such as the philosofer Pittacus, one of the Seven
Sages, and as the poets Sappho and Alcaeus are the most
emblematic of this positive period of great achievements. and
a great maritime power as well, able to settle cities in Asia
Minor. This was even called “Lesbia Chora” and “Mytilenians
Aeghialos”, Coast of the Mytilenians, extending its power
until the current Dardanelles, and even to some centres in
Thrace and Egypt.
In the 7th Century BC city states around the coast were under
the control of a King and formed an amphictyony or league,
lead by Mytilini. Their fortifications served for defence not
only against attacks from the sea, but also from the other city
states of the island, because of their constant rivalry. Later the
power passed from Monarchy to Oligarchy.
The family of Penthelids, (whose name comes from Orestes’
son, Penthilus) ruled in Mytilini.
As they became very proud and arrogant because of their
noble birth, conflicts and strikes started, especially between
the popular and the aristocratic party. Their power was
deposed and several tyrants took the power one after the other
until the defeat of the tyrant Melanchrus by Pitthacus, to
whom the population accorded the Tyranny, called
“aesymnety”, that means that the tyrant had power for a short
time and only until the accomplishment of his goals. His aim
was pushing back the exiled and set the situation right.
Lesvos’ ability in the control of maritime trade routes in the
Aegean Sea and along the coast of Asia Minor, became soon a
reason of conflict with the Athenian maritime dominion and
clashed with it, especially when Athens claimed the area of

Ilion, provoking the battle of Sigeum, that finally fell into its
hands.
At a point, the Persian Empire started imposing in those areas.
Ionians and Aeolians were forced to pass from Croesus’ hands,
King of Lydia, into Emperor of Persia’s hands, Cyrus.
In 546 BC, the cities and the islands adjacent to Asia Minor
were already under the rule of the Persians and only 2 years
later, in 544 BC, Lesvos was in revolt, but as in the end it
became part of the Achaemenid Empire, the island was forced
to support his campaigns: Kamvysis sent troops against Egypt
(527 BC) and a fleet was sent from Lesvos. When a military
campaign against the Scythians was sent by King Darius (513
BC), Mitylenians supported him by joining the expeditionary
force and eventually accorded the tyranny to his friend Koes,
but Greek poleis only waited that the opportunity arose to
remove tyrants from the political scene and get back their
independence.
In 499 BC, the revolt of the Ionians exploded and was mainly
supported by the Lesbians with their powerful navy, but in 492
BC the Persian army crushed the strikes.
When Xerxes I the Great, Darius’ son, attacked Greece,
Lesvos was already part of his empire and was forced to
support him during this campaign against Greek city – states.
In 479 BC, the Persians were defeated in the battle of Mykalis.
Lesvos allied itself with Athens and became a member of the
nautical Ally of Athens or Attico-Deleian League (468 BC)
with some prerogatives and privileges: the island was allowed
to hold its independence from the Athenian power, its
oligarchic government and the exemption from the payment of
tributes.
In 456 BC, Lesvos was dominated by the Persians once more,
when they moved again to conquer Lydia. The location of
these areas in Asia Minor was easily exposed to attacks by the
Medians, but the island came soon under the control of Athens
in the League until the beginning of the Peloponnesian war
(429-404 BC). Still it made an alliance with Sparta as soon as
Attica was invaded by Spartan armies, except Mythimna that
stayed on Athens’s side.
When Athens was able to take control over the island (427
BC), traitors were harshly punished. The island lost its
privileged position in the Athenian Confederacy and its
independence: Lesvos island, its domains on the mainland and
its navy belonged now to the Athenians. In the aftermath the
inhabitants tried to rebel several times, begging help to Sparta,
but came every time under the Athenian rule again.
In the following years the island passes scores of times from
the Athenian to the Spartan rule. After the Spartan victory at
Aegos – Potamos (405 BC), it was seized by the Spartan
Lysander and an oligarchic government was established. After
the battle of Cnidus in 394, Athens had again the supremacy
on Mytilini and soon the other cities too yielded.
With the Peace of Antalcidas, stipulated between the Spartan
Antalcidas and Artaxerses, the island is again under Spartan
rule, but later, when Sparta and Athens are allied against the
Persian King, it will be submitted again by the Athenian
supremacy.
At the time of Alexander the Great…
In 338 BC, the Battle of Chaeronea saw the triumph of Philip
II of Macedonia over the Greek poleis (city-states) allied
against him. This final victory lead to the extension of its rule
290
over Greece, but especially the eastern part of its dominion,
the territories in Asia Minor, were still the most vulnerable to
the Persian threat. That is why, in 334 BC, after the battle of
Granikos, fought between Philip’s son, Alexander, and Persian
troops of satraps, Lesvos and other poleis in Asia Minor took
part to the anti-Persian Alliance of Alexander. Anyway, some
personalities in the island always supported the Persians,
especially those from the oligarchic parties.
Nevertheless, Darius III kept on getting Memnon to continue
his military campaign and he managed to conquer all the main
cities of Lesvos, except for Mytilini. In 333 BC, Alexander’s
and Darius’ armies clashed at Issus. The battle marked the
victory of Alexander, but the next year he sent another
expedition, lead by Hegelochus, to free those territories
subdued to the Persian oppressor. He assigned to Laomedon
from Lesvos the command of the territories of Syria and his
brother Erigyios from Lesvos was charged of the command of
the cavalry.
When Alexander died, as all the territories of the Macedonian
Empire had been split among Alexander’s successors, Lesvos
passed to the Ptolemies of Egypt and knew a quite positive
period under the rule of the Diadochus Lysimachus.
Lesvos under the patronage of the Julio – Claudian
dynasty:
After the death of Alexander the Great (333 BC) Lesvos
history is less rich in events and it’s more difficult to find
information about what happened in the centuries that came
next. It seems that “during the Roman occupation the island
was used as a place of exile for eminent figures who had fallen
into disfavour”. (3)
Between the end of the 3rd and the first twenty years of the
2nd Century BC, the Koinon or Confederacy of the Lesbians
was established by the four cities Mytilini, Mithymna, Antissa
and Eressos. Every city was independent from the others and
free to make its own decisions, but when a common and
specific issue arose cities were supposed to solve it together, in
respect of the general decisions accepted when the treaty was
stipulated. The agreement dealt with military and defence
questions.
First connections with Rome started from the beginning of the
2nd Century BC. Flaminius granted the independence of the
island in 196 BC, only for those cities that were been engaged
against Antiochos III in the previous conflict.
In 167 BC, Antissa is absorbed by the neighbour Mithymna ,
with the Roman agreement in order to punish the city for
having supported Perseus in the previous Macedonian war.
The dependence of Mythimna from Rome, more then the other
Lesbian cities, started now, when the city became part of the
tangled Roman system of clientelism. The Koinon was slowly
deprived of its meaning by the Roman supremacy and strong,
but subtle influence.
Now the island territory was splat under the power of
Mithymna, Mytilini and Eressos. A treaty between Rome and
Mithymna was established in 129 BC. Sooner or later all of
them came under roman control. Guy Labarre mentions about
an “easy adaptation of the Greeks to the Roman system of
clientelism: to the Roman concept of patronage corresponds
the Greek concept of welfarism”.(5) Even if it could seem a
contradiction, that was a way for the Lesbian cities to preserve
their autonomy, but of course it was for Rome the opportunity
to maintain the control over the territories in the east. The

conditions of the treaty weren't egalitarian de facto, but the
island realized that there was no possibility to avoid the
Roman power and this could be also an opportunity to benefit
of some advantages, even from a subdue position.
Nonetheless, soon all the cities of the Aegean Region revolted
against Rome and allied with King Mithridates of Pontus, an
enemy of the Romans, who easily found agreement of the
population in those areas. Almost every city in Lesvos
welcomed him, but some - like Mytilini - were more devoted
to his cause, some others less and soon abandoned the
struggle, fearing Rome’s violent reaction or because of their
tight relations of political patronage, as it was the case of
Mithymna.
“That was a universal defection to the Roman cause, a breakup
of populations, a denial of faith: and for many a race to the
rescue against the old oppressors”.(2) Mytilenians decided to
propose an alliance to Mithridates and hand over the Roman
Proconsul M. Aquillius, who was finally assassinated. The
alliance with Mithridates lasted from 88 BC until 84 BC, but
even at this point Mytilini refused to surrender and continued
his struggle against the Romans lead by Minucius Thermus,
resisting until 80 BC, when they finally took again the rule of
the island and harshly punished Mytilini by plundering and
demolishing it. The aftermath was also that Lesvos was
merged to the Province of Asia (founded in 129).
The situation changes when in 62 BC Gnaeus Pompeius
Magnus came to Mytilini and finally decide to give back
freedom and some privileges to Mytileneans, thanks to his
friendship with the historian and philosopher Teophanis of
Lesvos. Some poetry contests, based on Pompey's deeds, were
organised for this occasion in order to honour him. He enjoyed
the performance, admired and commissioned the construction
of a similar theatre in Rome following the model of the
Mytilenean one, but with bigger dimensions.
When the conflict with Julius Caesar and the civil war started,
Mytilini loyally supported Pompey, who leaving for the battle,
kept in safe his wife Cornelia and his son in Lesvos, but he
was later defeated in the battle of Pharsalus in Alexandria,
killed by Tolomeus.
Anyway, Mytilenians became aware that it was necessary now
to ally themselves with Caesar in order to keep away
retaliations and maintain the privileges gained with Pompey in
62 BC. Some embassies were sent from Mytilini and other
Greek cities just before Pompey's defeat and death in 48 BC,
to beg Caesar's pardon and honour his triumph.
Pardon and privileges were accorded but, as usual, there is no
lack of paradoxes: only Roman citizens and the leisured
classes had tax immunity, because of their tight relations of
clientelism with Rome. Taxes were paid only by the other
lower classes or those social categories that supported
Pompeius and were before under his patronage.
After Magnus Pompeius, another big personality that left is
mark in Lesvos in Roman times is Quintus Marcellus. He was
consul and denounced some Julius Caesar's illegal and
despotic behaviours and when Caesar finally took the power,
Marcellus voluntarily exiled himself to Lesvos and never
came back to Rome. Sextus, Pompeius’ son, came also to the
island and had a very good welcome as well as is father, when
the population gave him shelter after his defeat by Agrippa.
The influnce of the Julio - Claudian dynasty was very strong
in the island of Lesvos and more then any other family had
before. A new patronage system developed under Caesar,
mainly with the intercession of some evergetes. “They were
291
auxiliaries of the local and provincial administration that
Rome needed and in the same time the best propagators of the
Hellenism to the Romans and in Rome”.(6) That was why they
climbed up the social ladder and gained special, privileged
positions from were they could de facto keep all the
community under control. Potamon is the leading figure in the
contacts between Lesvos and Rome at this time.
In 25 BC a new agreement is stipulated between Augustus and
Mytilini. Mytilenians wanted to improve their autonomy in the
Province of Asia and restrain the active participation of the
governor, turning it only to some specific matters. What about
the Koinon of Lesbians? Some historians believe that its end
was marked when the island became part of the Province of
Asia and only common religious questions of the Koinon were
maintained; some others uphold that the idea of a Koinon
revival is not to be discarded and it was maybe established by
the terms of independence of the new treaty with Augustus.
Also Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa moved from Rome and came
to Lesvos, when Augustus chose Marcellus as imperial
successor in place of him. During his stay, he benefited the
city of Mytilini and Mytilenians dedicated him a monument to
honor him and be thankful.
Germanicus and Agrippina also passed some time in Lesvos,
where we know from sources that their daughter was born in
18 AD.
The Apostle Paul came to the island in 52 AD, in order to
encourage Christian conversion. From 70 AD, in the time of
the Emperor Vespasian, Lesvos lost its independence and had
it back only under Hadrian’s rule. “The island continued to
prosper into the first centuries of the Christian era, as
witnessed by the 57 early Christian basilicas whose ruins have
been unearthed to date.” (7)
The Romans left again their mark in Mytilini with the
construction, between the 2nd and the 3rd Century AD, of the
huge aqueduct in Moria, some parts of which are still standing
with their magnificent arches and columns. It was constructed
with the "emplekton" building method: walls filled with soil
and debris. Three arches lay upon each other in every opening,
supported by pillars and capitals, reaching a height of 27 m.
They were built with local marble. Its building characteristics
are more classicistic and therefore it is believed that the
construction was carried out under Hadrian.
Today only 170 m (seventeen arches) of the Aqueduct are
visible in Moria, but when it was functional it was able to
convey water for 26 km in order supply the city of Mytilini. Its
starting point was in Agiassos, located in the heart of the
island. The aqueduct was filled with Mount Olympus’ springs
and it was being loaded with water from other sources during
the journey. According to the experts’ opinion, the aqueduct’s
capacity was up to 127.000 m3 per day. Excavations have not
been carried out, but the monument was submitted to
interventions for the improvement of its stability in 1995.
In 395 AD, after the division of the Roman Empire into East
and West, Lesvos was incorporated into the East section, in the
Insular Province (Cyclades, Sporades etc..).”Finally, North
Aegean islands followed the fate of the entire Helladic region
and became a part of the Roman Empire”.(1) From that
moment, Lesvos didn’t show signs of its liveliness for some
time.
Lesvos island, a neglected part of the East Empire, the
Byzantine State

During the Byzantine period, the Aegean region had only
occasional contacts with Constantinople, that almost forgot the
island and especially used it to exile important undesirable
personalities. Nevertheless Lesvos was always the most active
reference point of the Empire’s fleet. In spite of this stalemate
and abandonment, intellectual life was not dead and some
personalities arose in these times, like the poet and
epigrammatist Cristophorus from Mytilini. During this period,
peace and security prevails.
“Fortifying island settlements was unnecessary during the first
years of the Eastern Roman Empire. Although Alaric’s Goths
put mainland Greece into trial in the late 4th century, sea
domination remained almost steadfast. Demonstrative is the
fact that in Procopius’s De Aedificiis, where the fortresses
built by Justinian (527-565 AD) are mentioned, no island
fortifications are mentioned.” (8)
The situation changed when the Arabs started attacking
Lesvos and after them, even if it belonged to the Byzantine
Empire, several other populations occupied and raided the
island, as the Slavs (769 AD) and Saracens pirates (821 AD,
881 AD, 1055 AD). Precariousness and danger increased as
Crete became the Arab naval base. The population abandoned
its posts on the sea coast and was pushed to move to the
inland, where many fortifications and fortresses were erected
to facilitate defense. In 961 AD, the Byzantines took back the
rule over the Aegean and Mithymna of Lesvos - current
Molyvos - is an example among others, of fortifications in this
period.
After 1204 at the time of the Fourth Crusade, Crusaders
invaded Lesvos and caused the twilight of the Byzantine
dominion. Constantinople came then under the rule of the
Franks and they launched an extensive program of harbors’
fortification. Then the lordship of the island was in Baudouin‘s
I hands.
In 1224 Lesvos passed to the Byzantines once more and it was
ruled by Ioannis III Doukas-Vatatzis, eventually turning to be
a Byzantine Province in 1261, when Genoeses stipulated a
treaty that allowed their commercial activities, benefiting of
some prerogatives.
Several areas in the Aegean finally fell into the Venetian and
Genoese domain. Therefore North Aegean islands developed
their maritime disposition, improving commercial activities
and benefiting a demographic and financial growth.
In 1355 the island was passed by Ioannis V Palaiologos to
Francesco Gattilusio and was part of the Gattilusi’s dominion.
During this time the Gattilusi renovated and extended the
castle of Mytilini and Molyvos.
As Turkish and pirates invasions became more frequent and
dangerous, Venice and Genoa - the contending naval forces in
the Aegean - were pushed into action to avoid and move away
those dangers, choosing good geographical locations to
increase defense. “In most cases, the old Byzantine castles
underwent radical repairs and additaments. The vast majority
of the extant mediaeval castles in the Aegean comprises of the
numerous new forts built during the Latin Rule.” (8)
Nevertheless, after the fall of Constantinople in 1453 and
when the Ottoman Empire was set, the Turks managed to
occupy Lesvos and they easily took the place of the Gattilusi
family, seizing the island in 1462.
292
Lesvos in modern times: from the Turkish domination to
Freedom.
From that moment on, Lesvos was under the supremacy and
oppression of the Turks. In 1824 it took part to the Greek
Revolution, but this rising provoked a strong violent reaction
by them. At this point, European countries also intervened on
Greece’s behalf.
Lesvos, and the other islands that were close to the Turkish
territories, were freed later from the Ottoman Empire than the
territories in the continent, because of their geographical
location. The island gained its freedom only in 1912 and
became officially part of Greece in 1923 with the Treaty of
Lausanne.
The Greek-Turkish War that took place from 1919 and 1922,
also known as “Asia Minor Catastrophe”, came to an end with
the defeat of the Greek army. These fights were the aftermath
of the Treaty of Sèvres (1920) that conceded to Greece to take
the rule over Adrianoupolis (Edirne today) and Smyrne
(Ismir). Greece’s control spread soon in other territories of
Thrace and Anatolia. The Campaign was supported by
Greece’s allies and mainly Great Britain.
As a consequence of the defeat, Greece lost again all the
territories gained after the World War I. This involved the
destruction of Smyrne and the exchange of populations,
mainly Greek communities of Asia Minor that were suddenly
forced to move away.
Eastern Thrace and the Bosporus stood under the control of
British, French and Italian allies with the Armistice of
Mudanya, which just preceded the Treaty of Lausanne, which
ratified the Independent Republic of Turkey.
“According to Turkish sources 20,826 Greek prisoners were
taken. Of those about 10,000 arrived in Greece during the
prisoner exchange in 1923. The rest presumably died in
captivity and are listed among the "missing".”(9)
Statue of the “Asia Minor Mother” or “Mikrasiatisa mana”,
representing the refugee mother forced to move by the
oppressor, commemorate this dramatic event of Lesvos history
and the victims who fell under the Turkish cruelty.
It represents also the Asia Minor Mother rescuing herself and
its family, while finding shelter in the new country.
This immigration of communities from Asia Minor worsened
the poor conditions in the island, which already suffered
having lost its economic connection with Asia Minor and as a
result, many refugees were forced to move again.
The World War II brought Lesvos to her last domination by
the Germans and the island definitively gained its so
yearningly pursued freedom in 1944.
In spite of some past historic events, that saw often the island
forced to submit and suffer several oppressors, Lesvos always
tried to benefit of those situations and never forgot to fight for
its independence. As a consequence, the mark of all the
populations that passed in the island during its eventful history
is now very evident in Lesvos rich, colourful and multifaceted
culture and traditions.
Notes
1 www.northaegean.gr/english/MS_70.html Culture – History

2 Lauria, Giuseppe Aurelio.“Creta--Rodi--Lesbo/ Studj per
Giuseppe Aurelio Lauria”, Napoli, Tipi di R. Avallone, 1873.
3 www.lesvos.com/history.html
4 Lacroix Louis, “L'Univers. Histoire et description de tous les
peuples. Iles de la Grèce/ par M. Louis Lacroix”, Paris, Firmin
Didot Frères, 1978.
5 Labarre, Guy. “Les cités de Lesbos aux époques
hellénistique et impériale”, Institut d'Archéologie et d'Histoire
de l'Antiquité: Université Lumière Lyon, 1996; p. 83, III
Chapter: L' indépendence et les premiers contacts avec
Rome”.
6 Labarre, Guy. “Les cités de Lesbos aux époques
hellénistique et impériale”, Institut d'Archéologie et d'Histoire
de l'Antiquité: Université Lumière Lyon, 1996; p. 115, II
Chapter: “Lesbos sous les Julio – Claudians”.
7 www.greeknet.com/history1.htm
8
www2.egeonet.gr/aigaio/FORMS/fLemmaBodyExtended.aspx
?
lemmaid=10516&boithimata_State=true&kefalaia_State=true
#chapter_1
9 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greco-Turkish_War_
%281919%E2%80%931922%29
References
Labarre, Guy. Les cités de Lesbos aux époques hellénistique et
impériale, Institut d'Archéologie et d'Histoire de l'Antiquité:
293
Université Lumière Lyon, 1996.
Lacroix Louis, “L'Univers. Histoire et description de tous les
peuples. Iles de la Grèce/ par M. Louis Lacroix”, Paris, Firmin
Didot Frères, 1978.
Lauria, Giuseppe Aurelio.“Creta--Rodi--Lesbo/ Studj per
Giuseppe Aurelio Lauria”, Napoli, Tipi di R. Avallone, 1873.
Lesbos: Tourist guide – Useful information – Map / text Eleni
Palaska - Papastathi , Athens, Adam, 1994.
“The Municipality of Mytilene. Touring routes, archaeological
sites, monuments and museums.” Texts by Stratis Anagnostou.
“The Municipality of Mytilene. The city and the municipal
districts.” Texts by Stratis Anagnostou.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greco-Turkish_War_
%281919%E2%80%931922%29
www2.egeonet.gr/aigaio/FORMS/fLemmaBodyExtended.aspx
?
lemmaid=10516&boithimata_State=true&kefalaia_State=true
#chapter_1
www.greeka.com/eastern_aegean/lesvos/lesvos-history.htm
www.greeknet.com/history1.htm
www.lesvos.com/history.html
www.lesvos.co.uk/history.htm
http://www.magiceuropeanshores.com/?p=7402
www.northaegean.gr/english/MS_70.html Culture – History
http://www.travel-to-lesvos.com/place.php?id=19

If some voyager walked along the streets of the town at the
end of 19-th century he would be happily surprised and
certainly she would think how a little European town anchored
in the world of Asia.
The architecture of the big buildings of the town (residences,
public buildings, banks, trade buildings, churches) resemble
more an European town than a capital of a small isolated
island in the Otoman Empire.
Where we are and what we talk about.
The topic of this essay is Τhe Mansions of Mytilene town and
what we´ll try to understand is how they were built in such a
glory compared with the houses of the past, where the
architects or civil engineers who built them were inspired of,
what were the prototypes they used and how they evolve it
according to the house needs.
The houses that we´ll talk about where built from 1850-1930.
There was not such a house or country house built afterwards
as the erection of that type of houses could only happen in that
period as we can understand from the historical, social,
political retrospective study of that time.
Lesvos island has been under the Turkish occupation from the
15-th (1462) to the 20th century (1912). This period was not
prosperous at all for the Christian natives of the island as there
was not any education, developing opportunities or wealth.
The Christians used to have small properties (olive fields) and
were obliged to give the 1/5 of their income (olive oil) to the
governor of the island. Those four centuries have been very
dark for Greek recent history; the development of the island
was reduced.
The Ottoman Empire started collapsing at the end of 19th
century. In its last efforts to survive the English, French,
German, Russian embassies and companies where involved
with the political system for the reorganization and
modernization of the Ottoman Empire called Tanzimat. The
Tanzimat made proposals for development concerning trade,
construction of roads, railways, town buildings, harbours and
bridges. Therefore, the reform of Tanzimat (1839-1876)
boosted the:
- Development of trade.
- Industrialization of the production.
- Road construction and sea transportation network.
- Consolidation of the personal property right.
- Population was increasing from 1850-1912.
The application of the Tanzimat was the onset of Christian
citizen freedom, prosperity and wealth. The Christians from
now on could have properties and were legally able to deal
with property, products, trade and industries. The Ottomans on
the island were a minority and were never involved into trade
and exportation of products.
In 1838, the monopoly of trade from the Ottoman Empire had
been repealed, so every Christian could get the products and
trade them on the Ottoman Empire or in any other country
(Europe, Asia).
The Christians were able to open shops in the market place of
the town and as their property was growing they started
investing into companies of the continent or arranged their
Mansions of Mytilene Town
294
trade business with branches , and founded their own
transportation with ships that started journeys from Mytiline`s
harbour to Istambul, Izmir, Egypt, Marseille, Trieste, South
Rusia...etc.
There was frequent transportation from Mytilene harbour to
many international destinations. In the town 4 international
post offices were in use (Austrian, French, Russian and
Egyptian). The Christians natives business started from trade
and cooperative family business and expanded to factories.
Therefore companies of Lesbians erected in immigration
places as Egypt, Romania, Russia, Marseille and Istanbul. At
the end of 19th century bank branches settled in Mytiline as
the imperial Ottoman bank, Agricultural bank of the East and
other minor banks.
Accordingly with these changes a new urban class of traders,
merchants and landowners appeared and succeed in Lesvos.
Banks and Consulates from European countries were
established in Mytilene. Numerous people of Lesvos spread
their commercial activities abroad and settled there. In this
way Mytilene changed into a commercial and financial centre
in the Aegean as well as a meeting place between East and
West.
New artistic and western trends began to emerge in the
architectural style of the mansions in Mytilene. They were
luxurious homes, which were primarily built as country homes
by the wealthy urban class of Mytilene and wanted to express
the superiority of the prominent class of landowners and
merchants, through elegance and sometimes extravagance.
The mansions date to the late 19thcentury and early 20th
centuries like a result of the profits gained by Mytilene’s big
olive-oil merchants. They were created in a completely
different way to the traditional architecture of Lesvos
(Influenced by Macedonian and Turkish trends).
Most of these buildings not only have noticeable neoclassical
influences, but also European ones. The archetypes were
directly brought from European countries (England, Italy and
France). Architects were combining both western and ottoman
architectural models. The many-sided structures of the
mansions made known the wealth of the owners in the small
community of the island. The disparate styles (mainly baroque
and neo-gothic) combine as never before in the history of
architecture to create a unique composition.
Some of the most important families of Mytilene were housed
in the mansions and some Public buildings were also
constructed by similar models, such as the church of Agios
Therapon, The Town Hall and the Mytilene High School.
Nowadays, if you take the south exit of the city, going uphill
towards the Sourada District, you could admire these
traditional town residences which have survived.
Information used for the text
The Municipality of Mytilene. Touring routes, archaeological
sites, monuments and museums. Texts by Stratis Anagnostou.
Book “Lesvos” the Crossroads of civilizations. Maria
Giagkou.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mytilene.

May 2011
We are all Greeks. Our laws, our literature, our religion, our
arts have their root in Greece.
P.B. Shelley
These words, declaimed by the English Romantic poet P.B.
Shelley, illustrate one of the conducting ideas of the
Anthropologist Eleana Yalouri’s book, The Acropolis: Global
fame, local claim: that, in the last centuries, Greece has
become the ancestor of Europe, and Greek ancient heritage,
the ‘World heritage’, in a process that has been linked to the
homogenization of European culture and the elimination of
national borders. As her work describes in detail, from the
establishment of the Greek state in 1830, and the politics that
have been carried out from then onwards throughout what it
has been considered to be ‘the West’, “Greek classical studies
have spread beyond Europe, and Greek antiquities have
become ‘the beloved heritage of many people around the
world’” (Loventhal, 1988, in 2001: 6).
This cultural diffusion, then, has converted Greek classical
antiquities in the patrimony of a world that uses them as a
vehicle of international values. In this sense, the Acropolis,
being the national Greek monument par excellence, the one
that symbolizes and condenses the Greek identity, has also
undergone this process of Europeanization and globalisation,
becoming a ‘world monument’ used to convey the image that
Europe wants to show of itself in front of ‘the Rest’(2001: 6-
7). Indeed, as we will see, since its construction, the Acropolis
has been “continuously enmeshed in negotiations of power
and in games of politics” (2001: 31).
Being originally a Mycenaean citadel, the Acropolis was “not
only a religious place and royal residence, but also an
administrative, commercial and military centre, and a refuge
for the population in periods of war” (Hurmit, 1999: 71-4, in
2001: 28). Nevertheless, as we will discuss later, although it
has undergone several changes in the way it has been used
throughout centuries, if it is famous worldwide it is because of
the buildings built during the Classical era, which we are
about to present in the following pages.
The Parthenon
It was built between 447 and 438 (during the Pericles era) to
honour goddess Athena Parthenos, protector and patron of the
city, as a token of gratitude for the city’s salvation and victory
over the Persians. It is the most important building of Classical
Greece remaining, and it has been historically considered the
culmination of the Doric order, although the Doric columns
are actually combined with an Ionic frieze above the cella,
which is not characteristic of Doric style.
The east pediment depicts Athena’s birth before an assembly
of the Olympian gods. Athena and Zeus are in the middle of
the pediment. As mythology tells us, Athena was born from
Zeus’ head, who after suffering a terrible headache asked
Hephaestus (god of fire and forge) to hammer his head open.
So he did, and Athena sprang out of Zeus’ head in full armour.
The west pediment depicts Athena and Poseidon’s dispute to
be the protector of the city. Poseidon is holding a trident with
Acropolis as a Part of the
European (and World) History
295
which he is stroking the floor and creating a wheel with salty
water, while Athena is sprouting an olive tree as a symbol of
prosperity and food. There are also other gods, heroes and
mythical kings of Attica depicted.
The metopes on the four sides of the Parthenon depict battles
with a common theme: the triumph of the Greeks and their
Gods over their adversaries. On the east side, we find the
Gigantomachy (Gods against Giants); on the west side, the
Amazonomachy (Greeks against Amazons); the capture of
Troy is on the north side, and the Centauromachy (Lapiths
against Centaurs) on the south, which shows how the drunken
Centaurs acted under the effects of wine during Peirithus’
(king of the Lapiths) wedding feast.
The frieze, which, as we have stated before, is an element of
the Ionic order, was added along the top of the cella. It
depicted the procession of the Panathenaic Games, an
Athenian festival in honour of Athena. Nevertheless, these
depictions were not attached independent sculptures, but
sculptures in relief, made directly on the frieze.
Inside the Parthenon stood the 12-metre long statue of Athena
Parthenos that was completed by Pheidias in 438 BC. The
sculpture, which was made of gold and ivory, shows Athena
dressed in full armour standing upright. According to
archaeological information, she was wearing a chiton, tied
around her waist by two snakes intertwining and Medusa’s
head on her chest, and a helmet; her shield, decorated with
snakes, was leaning against her left leg and she was holding a
spear in his left arm, while her right arm was holding a Nike.
On the pedestal there was a depiction of Pandora’s birth in
relief. The gold sheets covering the statue were removed in
296 BC and replaced by bronze pieces. It was damaged by a
fire in 165 BC and repaired afterwards, although it is believed
that by the 5th century AD it was finally lost due to a another
fire.
Temple of Athena Nike
The temple, which stands at the southeast of the sacred rock,
was part of Pericles’ project (426-421 BC). The
representations on the frieze of the temple depict the battle of
Plataia, in which the Greeks defeated the Persians. On the
eastern frieze there was an assembly of Olympian gods
watching the battles, while, according to archaeological
evidence, the western pediment depicted a Gigantomachy and
the eastern one had an Amazonomachy, but due to the
demolitions and destructions it has suffered it is quite difficult
to confirm.
When the temple was completed, the Athenians added a
protective marble parapet on the east side (409 BC) that
consisted of slabs in relief representing winged Victories
leading bulls to be sacrificed before Athena.
Erechtheion
Located in the north side of the Sacred Rock, it was built from
421 to 406 BC and named after the mythical king Erechteus.
Its particular structure and symbolic complexity is related to
the terrain in which it lays, which has a 3-metre difference in

height between the north and the west side.
The eastern part of the Erechteion was dedicated to Athena
Polias whilst the western was dedicated to Poseidon-
Erectheus. In fact, it has been historically considered the place
in which the dispute related to the choice of the city’s
protector took place. On the eastern side, there is an
impressive portico with six Ionic columns in which the cult
statue of Athena made of olive wood was standing, while four
Ionic columns linked by a rail decorates the western side.
On the other hand, the northern entrance porch has six pishaped
tall Ionic columns, four at the front and two on each
side, but the most impressive decoration is the six maiden
standing on at the southern porch, the so-called “porch of the
Caryatids”, five of which are in the Acropolis Museum, while
the sixth one is still in the British Museum. They represent the
importance and perfection of the female form besides
supporting the roof.
Propylaea
Built in 437-432 BC, after the completion of the Parthenon by
Mnesikles, it is the entrance to the acropolis, and it consists of
a main hall with two side wings. The north wing (on the left
side of the entrance) was the first art gallery with paintings in
the world. The south wing is symmetrically similar to the
north one, but quite smaller, and it gives access to the temple
of Athena Nike. The central section has an outer (west) and
inner (east) façades supported by Doric columns, whereas the
internal entrance to the wings (north and south) are flanked by
two inner colonnades of the Ionic order.
The Propylaea was never completed.
Athena Promachos
The Athena Promachos (Athena who fights in the front line)
statue was made by Phidias about 456 BC. Made of bronze
and 9-metres tall, she once stood in a strike pose but at ease,
although the exact details are not known. According to some
roman coins in which Athena Promachos was depicted, she
had her shield resting in an upright position against her left
leg, and she was holding a spear with her right arm.
Apparently, her left arm was outstretched, holding a winged
object that could be either an owl or a nike.
The bronze sculpture was so tall that the helmet and the
spearhead could be seen from Cape Sounion.
A thousand of years later the sculpture was stolen and taken to
Constantinople −capital of the eastern Roman Empire. Finally,
in 1203 it was destroyed by a superstitious mob of Christians.
Brauroneion
Situated in the southeast of the Propylaea, the Brauroneion
was a building dedicated to Brauronian Artemis (the protector
of pregnant women and childbirth). It was created in the 6th
century by Peisistratus, originally from Brauron.
The building was not a temple, but a shrine with a pi-shaped
38-metre long stoa with ten columns in the Doric style along
the façade and two rectangular wings attached at both sides of
the stoa. One of the wings had the wooden cult statue of the
goddess inside to whom pregnant women pleaded and draped
the statue with items of clothing. Today, the head of the statue
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can be seen in the Acropolis Museum and only the cuts in the
bedrock for the wall foundation remain on the Acropolis.
The theatre of Dionysus
In the 6th century BC, Peisistratus, an Athenian dictator,
brought the worship of god Dionysus to Athens. In the
beginning, there was a circular space in the Roman Agora in
order to dance and worship god Dionysus, but a small temple
with a statue of Dionysus was built on the southern slope of
the Acropolis and that original circular space was transferred
from the Roman Agora to the northern side of the temple.
Later on, the theatre was built in wooden tiers which were
replaced for the stone ones that still remain.
The theatre could hold up to 30000 spectators, and it is the
birthplace of tragedy and comedy, being the first theatre of the
Western world.
The Stoa of Eumenes
The 162-metre stoa ran from the theatre of Dionysus to the
Odeion of Herodes Atticus (originally it was shorter). It was
built by Eumenes II in the 2nd century AD and it resembles
the Stoa of Attalos at the Roman Agora which was built by his
brother. Unlike the former, the Stoa of Eumenes was designed
for promenading rather than business.
Odeon of Herodes Atticus
Built in 161 by Herodes, son of Atticus, in memory of his wife
Regilla, it is a small Odeon that resembles an amphitheatre
and holds about 5000 people. It still hosts musical events and
theatrical performances nowadays.
Man fear time, but time fears the Pyramids: The Acropolis
through the Ages
As Yalouri explains, during the Roman occupation, “the
Acropolis was among the very few monuments not stripped of
ornaments and offerings for the decoration of Rome’s public
buildings or villas of Roman officials” (2001: 32). Although
several changes were experienced −like the construction of a
small temple dedicated to Augustus in 27BC or the placement
of a monumental inscription praising Nero in 61BC−, they had
more to do with the use of the ancient buildings as a way of
legitimising the power and authority of the new conquerors
than with the need of reusing them for the sake of new
purposes.
In the 6th century AD, under the reign of the Byzantine
emperor Justinian, the Parthenon became a Christian church
dedicated to Virgin Mary, so it underwent several architectural
transformations and some fresco decorations were added, as it
happened with the temple of Athena nike and the Erechtheion,
which were also converted into basilicas. As a result of the
Fourth Crusade (1204-1456), Frankish conquerors “installed a
palace in the Propylaea and transformed the Parthenon into a
Roman Catholic church” (2001: 32), and in 1456 the
Ottomans transformed the Parthenon into a mosque by adding
a minaret in the north-western corner −of which in 1667 the
Turkish traveller Euliya Chelebi exclaimed: “there is no such
magnificent mosque in the whole atlas of the globe” (2001:
32)−, while the Ottoman administrator’s harem was settled in
the Erechtheion. So again, throughout all those centuries, the
Acropolis was enmeshed in political manoeuvres related to

dynamics of power and authority that conducted its main
transformations.
During the Turkish-Venetian war, the Acropolis was fortified
with the building materials from the temple of Athena nike,
which was demolished for this reason, but, in 1687, the
Venetians bombarded the Acropolis, and the Parthenon, which
was then used as a storage room for gunpowder, was blown
up, in what can be considered the largest attack against it.
Nevertheless, in the 18th century there was a resurgence of
Classicism, and the Acropolis was widely known, as a great
amount of Western Europeans started visiting it, although it
also meant that it became a victim of collector’s zeal. In the
same line, in the early-19th century, the British diplomat Lord
Elgin persuaded the Ottoman authorities to allow him to:
…erect scaffolding, to view and draw the buildings and
sculptures, to make moulds, to remove obstructions from the
monuments, and to conduct excavations, taking away anything
of interest which the excavations yielded (2001: 33), which, in
practice, enabled Lord Elgin to loot more than half of the
surviving panels of the frieze, several metopes and most of the
surviving figures of the Parthenon’s pediments, as well as a
Caryatid and a column from the Erechtheion, in order to sell
them to the British Museum. Finally, it was damaged again
throughout the two sieges that it suffered during the Greek
War of Independence.
Nonetheless, with the establishment of the Greek state in 1830
things started to change and the Acropolis, under the
administration of Greek Archaeological Service, underwent a
series of conservation and restoration works that have been
carried out until our days.
The Acropolis and its contribution to the building of
European identity
From its beginnings, Greek Ancient art became a model for
later art productions in both style and symbolic meaning.
Romans, claiming to be direct inheritors of Hellenic culture
and soul, widely used their architectural and sculptural motifs
in the construction of both sacred and official buildings,
although they lacked the organicity and relation between shape
and function that characterized Ancient Greek constructions.
As it can be easily noticed, even in a first glimpse to some
well-known Roman buildings, they made use of the same
materials and architectural elements as their predecessors,
although they introduced some innovations, as the round
temple or the curved arch.
During the Renaissance, a resurrection of both style and
iconographical motifs was again experienced. Ancient myths
became a widely used topic in pictorial and sculptural
artworks, which —unlike previous medieval artworks—
focused on the depiction of the human body; while some
architectural motifs were again in vogue in the construction of
churches and official buildings, in what was experienced as a
look back to their ancient roots, of which renaissance artists
were so proud.
And finally, Greek architectural motifs gain central attention
among artists again in the 19th century, when the rediscovery
of archaeological sites took place under the movement that
went all over Europe −linked to the “Grand Tour”−, and
archaeologists like Heinrich Schliemann start drawing
attention back to the Ancient architecture and sculpture,
making other artists become aware of the possibilities that
Ancient motifs had in relation to modern works of art.
297
Nevertheless, as we will see, art and symbolism are not the
sole contribution that Greek antiquities and, above all, the
Acropolis, have offered to the creation of European identity.
With the birth of the new independent state, Greece had to
deal with the issue of constructing a strong Greek identity, an
idea of Greekness that was actually being negotiated in the
international arena (2001: 13). “Torn between two opposing
stereotypes: the one of ‘Hellenes’ (idealized Hellenes of the
Classical past) and the other of ‘Romii’ (Christians of the
Byzantine and Ottoman periods)”, as Herzfeld stated (1987:
41, in 2001: 11), Greece had also to face the paradox of being
considered the cultural ancestor of Europe while on its
margins or periphery in recent times (2001: 11).
In this context, the Acropolis and the Classical heritage in
general played a key-role in negotiations between Greek
government and the rest of the world. Not without reason
Rizos Neroulos, the first president of the Archaeological
Society, exclaimed: “Gentlemen, these stones, thanks to
Pheidias, Praxiteles, Agoracritus and Myron, are more
precious than diamonds or agates: it is to these stones that we
owe our political renaissance” (2001: 34-5). Indeed, as Yalouri
states, “the raison d’etre of Greek archaeology at least in its
initial stages, was the justification of Greek national identity”
(2001: 35), so much so that the first preservation and
restoration works or archaeological sites grew up together
with the new state, and the first plans for ‘exporting’ classical
antiquities for exhibitions were established, as well as the first
claims over plundered antiquities, in an effort of placing Greek
identity and History on the world map (2001: 25).
Unlike previous times, it was then when Europe, or ‘the West’,
was associated with ideas of progress and modernization −and
was no more perceived as a hostile foreign presence− and
when it started to be “believed that −through
Europeanization− Greece could reach out to its past and
heritage” (2001: 11). Consequently, Greeks declared
themselves legitimate descendants of Ancient heritage, and the
European powers, which were supporting Greek independence
against the Ottoman Empire, identified this heritage with
democracy, arts and science, and took over Greek antiquities
as the origins of European heritage (2001: 35).
In the same direction, the first restorations of the Acropolis
were meant to free the site from any monuments or additions
other than the ones built during the Classical period. Two
young architects, the Greek Stamatis Kleanthes and the
German Eduart Schaubert, decided to create an archaeological
park surrounding the Acropolis which main objective was to
become an open museum without equal. Nevertheless, as
Argyro Loukaki explains in “Whose Genius Loci?:
Contrasting Interpretations of the ‘Sacred Rock of the
Athenian Acropolis’”,
The designers established several priorities:
(1) the belief that Greece had an important role to play as
curator of ancestral glory, (2) the need to advance the
development of archaeology,
(3) a conscious view of ancient monuments as spectacle,
(4) selective evaluation of past time, and (5) a view of
Byzantine architecture as a picturesque supplement to the
value of classical monuments (2010: 312), so all Medieval
Christian, Frankish, Turkish and early modern monuments
were demolished in favour of preserving and drawing
attention to fifth century BC buildings (2001: 36; 2010: 312).
Luckily, in the 20th century, archaeological policies changed
and curators were more aware of the importance of preserving
the surviving monuments the way they had arrived to our

times, maintaining subsequent evolutions and changes they
had undergone, so, in the following systematic archaeological
excavations, curators included the Byzantine heritage, for the
first time, in their conservation and restoration plans, also
because, as Dr. Eleana Yalouri explains,
Europe did not show the same philhellenic attitude any more,
so Greeks needed to renovate their cultural orientation in the
eyes of Europe; dangers also came from other Balkan
ethnicities which were forming their national consciousnesses
and claiming part of the Ottoman land (2001: 36).
In the sixties, the Acropolis underwent two more landscaping
modifications, one by the American School of Classical
Studies and the other by the Greek architect Pikionis, which
have resulted in the layout as seen today. They restored the
monuments on and around the rock, create (and recreate) a
Neoclassical Athens in the slopes of the Acropolis hill, and
pedestrianized the surrounding roads in what has become the
largest pedestrian promenade all around Europe (2010: 311).
However, as Loukaki explains, landscaping the Acropolis
involved much more the enveloping the archaeological site
and creatively mediating its position in the urban fabric. The
process was as much about the crushing dialogue of modern
Greek society with its ancient glorious past, about the
country’s place in the modern world, and about acceding to the
state the role of guardian of this invaluable human heritage
(with all the questions of property rights that this entails)
[2010: 315].
Indeed, the Acropolis, conceived as the symbol par excellence
of Ancient Greek cultural and artistic achievements, has
played (and still plays) a major role in the construction of both
Greek and European identities, being used, at the same time,
to promote the ideas of global community without boundaries
and Greek national difference. The Acropolis, as the idea of
Greekness, has still to find its place between local and global
identities, between “the world” and the Greek nation-state.
The dilemma, as the Greek painter Tsarouchis once stated, is
that
298
Greece, even if she [sic] is not so, or does not believe herself
to be so, is condemned to respond to a generalized, blurred
international opinion, that she still is a centre of aesthetic
radiation, even today. (1986: 171, in 2010: 315).
Bibliography
Loukaki, Argyro, “Whose Genius Loci?: Contrasting
Interpretations of the ‘Sacred Rock of the Athenian
Acropolis’”, Annals of the Association of American
Geographers, 87: 2, March 2010, pp. 306-329.
Tziovas, Dimitris, “Beyond the Acropolis: Rethinking
Neohellenism”, Journal of Modern Greek Studies, Volume 19,
Number 2, October 2001, pp. 189-220.
Yalouri, Eleana, The Acropolis: Global Fame, Local Claim,
Oxford: Berg, 2001.
Other Sources:
http://www.goddess-athena.org/Museum/Temples/Parthenon/
http://odysseus.culture.gr/h/2/eh251.jsp?obj_id=912
http://www.breathtakingathens.com/node/5000196
http://www.greece.org/parthenon/marmoles/children_sp.htm
http://www.pbs.org/empires/thegreeks/background/28b_p1.ht
ml
http://www.squidoo.com/acropolis-history
http://www.evere.co.uk/d%27evere/athens/01/43.htm
http://www.mlahanas.de/Greeks/Temples/Propylaea.html

The Greek Art of Painting
in the 19th Century
299

In General
Greek Painters of the 19th century
The history of Modern Greek Painters coincides with the
history of the independent Greek state. In December 31st,
1836, the “School of Fine Arts” is established by the new state
in Athens. It was open only on Sundays for free, where foreign
teachers, mostly German and French, taught the art of painting
and gave scholarships to students so they could continue
studying abroad. The Greek painters were sent in the “Arts
Academy of Munich”. During this first period of Modern
Greek art, the themes in the paintings are portraits, historical
scenes, moments of everyday life, people wearing local
clothes and sea sceneries. European centres which influenced
the Modern Greek Art apart from the Art Academy in Munich
where those of Italy, Austria, and France.
Famous Greek painters of that time are the following:
Theodoros Vrizakis
He was born in Thiva in 1814. His father was honked by the
Turk, as a soldier in the War of Independence, when he was 15
years old. He studied with scholarship in the Academy of
Munich. He was the first Greek painter who studied there. He
is one of the main representatives of historical paintings at that
time, with precise representations of Greek history. The
paintings he drew were made in order to promote heroism and
encourage the Greek spirit in the War and were used as
propaganda to reinforce the Greek spirit. In his images he
focused on the clothing of the people and the scenery setup
around them. He is considered to be the first Greek painter of
the Independent Greece.
He died in Munich in 1878.
Nikephoros Lytras
He was born in Tinos island in 1832. When he was 18 years
old he studied in the “School of Arts” in Athens for six years.
Then he continued in the Royal Academy of Munich with
scholarship. In 1866 he was appointed professor in the
”School of Arts” of Athens, where he taught for thirty-eight
years. He got married in 1879 and had six children. His art
mainly consists of themes concerning Dead Nature (seeds,
food and dead animals) and Ethography (customs and morals
of a nation or a place, shown as images). He painted moments
of people living in nature on their everyday life. Significant
amount of his paintings concern childhood images. He tries to
imprint moments of children wearing local uniforms doing
their activities. He was also the official portraitist of Athens’
high society.
He died in 1904 in Athens.
Nikolaos Gyzis
He was born in Tinos island in 1842. He began his studies in
the “School of Arts” in Athens when he was seventeen. In the
meanwhile he took lessons in block print and copper print. In
1865 Gyzis accepted a scholarship in Germany and started
300
studying in the Academy of Munich. Soon he got recognition
and success there. In 1873 he went on a trip with Lytras in the
East from where they both evolved artistically. He got married
in 1877 in Greece and returned to Munich where he became a
professor in the university. From 1886 he gradually turned
from the detailed realistic depictions towards compositions of
a singularly impressionistic character. Towards the end of his
life, around 1890s, he took a turn toward more religious
themes.
He died there in 1901 in Munich.
Konstantinos Volanakis
He was born in Heraklion, Krete in 1837, where he spent his
childhood. He moved to Tergest in 1856 as an accountant at
his uncle’s commercial house. He began his first drawings
there imprinting his impressions from the harbor. He studied
in Munich, in the Academy of Fine Arts for 3-4 years, where
he specified in painting seascape. In 1883 he returned to
Greece where he got appointed as a professor in the “School
of Arts”. His favorite subject is painting the sea, fishermen,
boats, mornings and sunsets, night in the moonlight. Sea is
present in almost all his paintings, although it is used as
background.
He died in Athens in 1907.
George Iakovidis
He was born in Lesvos island in 1853. He studied in the
“School of Arts” in Athens and he was an excellent student. In
1877 he continued his studies with scholarship in Munich. He
also opened a studio there after his studies where he painted
taking part in national exhibitions and wining various awards
and medals. In 1900 he returned to Athens where he undertook
the organization of the National Art Gallery. He also got
elected as professor in the “School of Fine Arts” and later on
he became Principal of the school. At the same time he
maintained a luxurious studio where he used for painting
portraits of the wealthy people of Athens. Amongst his most
significant paintings are the children’s scenes, where children
and grandparents are pictured in a symbolic way: people
getting old, meeting life, affection of the elder and children’s
egoism. Iakovidis is considered to be the “painter of the
children”.
He died in Athens in 1932.
“Georgios Jakobides” Digital Museum
The first difital art museum in Greece, located at Chidira, a
mountainous village on th eisland of Lesbos.
The Georgios Iakovidis Digital Museum, located at the
painter's birthplace, the village of Chidira on the island of
Lesbos, is the first fully digital museum of art in Greece.
Organized according to a special museological study based on
new technologies, it presents the life and work of the
renowned Greek painter through a variety of digital means.
The Georgios Iakovidis Digital Museum was created on the
initiative of the N. G. Papadimitriou Educational and Cultural

Foundation. It is intended to function as a meeting place for
Technology and Art, offering visitors of all ages a visual
experience that combines both pleasure and knowledge.
The ground floor offers an insight of Iakovidis's personality
and the major milestones of his life (1853-1932), through
digital applications using archive material illustrating family
events, his professional accomplishments and his social circle.
Also on this floor, the "Georgios Iakovidis, His Life and
Work" application offers visitors an alternative way of further
exploring the distinguished artist's life and work.
The first floor is devoted to Georgios Iakovidis's multifaceted
oeuvre, from his early years of study under his teacher
Nikiforos Lytras and the works he created in his mature years
in Munich, to the portraits of his grandchildren painted at the
end of his life. Mythological subjects, scenes of childhood,
landscapes, portraits, still life, flower compositions, come
alive through a variety of digital means, such as TFT screens,
touch screens, bilingual text panels with duratrance images,
holoscreens. Various tricks, like the magnifying lens pointing
out details on a painting, the illustration of significant
elements through interesting graphics and their comparison to
other works of Iakovidis himself, his teacher Nikiforos Lytras
and major German painters, are but some of the media the
Digital Museum uses to enhance the 'educational' aspect of art.
At the lower level, visitors can watch a video on Iakovidis
artistic career. The same space is also used for educational
activities.
The Georgios Iakovidis Digital Museum organizes educational
programs for groups of all school levels, as well as guided
tours for adults. The CD-Rom "Inside Georgios Iakovidis
Studio", designed especially for children, presents the painter's
works accompanied by interpretive texts and games. All
programmes aim at getting the visitor better acquainted with
the painter's multifaceted oeuvre, as well as at encouraging
children's creativity.
The Museum Shop offers CD-Roms, books, posters, cards and
objects related to Georgios Iakovidis work.
Simon (Simeon) Savvidis
He was born in 1859 in Pontos of Asia Minor. He studied in
Constantinople (Istanbul) then he continued in the
Commercial School in Halki. He started his art studies in
Athens when he was 19 years old, in “School of Arts”. Then
he left to Munich, in the “Academy of Fine Arts”, studying
archaic model sketching. During that time he met with Gyzis
and Volanakis who were also in Munich. He lived there for
forty-five years working and exposing his paintings there. In
his work he tries to represent reality the way he sees and
understands it. Light and colours are of great importance in his
paintings. He focused on the human form as well as the
301
eastern scenery. He painted authentic Oriental scenes, inspired
by his repeated trips to his fatherland, in which he captured
not only the atmosphere but also the light that enlivened the
profuse colour of the Orient.
He moved to Athens permanently in 1895 and died in 1927.
Polychronis Lembesis
He was born in Salamina island in 1848. When he was a child
he stayed in a monastery for two years, where he learned to
paint with the monks. His talent was detected there by a monk
who, with the financial help of the monastery, convinced his
parents to send him to Athens in the School of Arts. He went
to High School and studied at the same time. Then he
continued his studies in Munich and in 1880 he returned to
Athens where he started working there. He painted portraits,
the nature of Greece, the sun, the sea and the trees, scenes
from agricultural life. In his last years he painted for the
church (painting of Holy). He was a loner in his life, lived on
the side, most of the time in his studio, painting.
He died alone, poor and unknown in 1913.
Nikolaos Kounelakis
He was born in Crete island in Hania in 1829. He left with his
family in Odessa, a big commercial port if Russia, after the
Turk’s persecution. At the age of 12 he started studying in the
Academy of Fine Arts in Petersburg. There he was awarded
with the first prize in painting. He mostly drew perfect
portraits in romantic and strict poses. He also drew nude, in
severity, where the expression in the faces seems noble and
humble. After Russia he visited Italy, where he settled in
Florence. There he married Zoe Kabani, but she died a year
later. He travelled for some years and ended up in Cairo Egypt
where he died in 1869 at the age of 40.
Periclis Pantazis
He was born in Athens in 1849. He had his first studies there,
in the School of Fine Arts, with scholarship. He graduated first
in his class in 1871 having Nikephoro Lytra and Vicenzo
Lanza as teachers. Later he went to Munich only for a few
months. He preferred to go to Marseille where he stayed and
worked there with his brother for a few months. After that he
went to Paris, which was an international cultural center where
the impressionism popped out. In 1873 he went to Brussels
where he settled there permanently. He drew mainly
landscapes, seascapes, and portraits. His paintings are full of
sensitivity and vivid colors. At the same time he had a son
with Eugenie Philipette.
His health was getting worse and he died of consumption in
1884.

Greek Art on the 19th Century
Greek modern artists absorbed many elements from their other
European painters.
Studying abroad was imperative for Greek artists. Munich was
the place where the majority of them chose to study. Later on,
they would return to Greece and pass on their knowledge.
Georgios Iakovidis devoted his attention to infants, and
inspired mostly by the Greek sea. Other notable artists that
belonged to the School of Munich were Symeon Sabbides,
Yannoulis Chalepas, as well as quite a few modernist artists
who studied in Munich.
Biography
Georgios Iakovidis was born in Chydera on January 11, 1853.
He was a student of painting and sculpture at the School of
Fine Arts, between 1870 and 1876. His teacher was Nikiforos
Lytras, and then he received a scholarship to study in the
Munich Academy of Art.
He stayed in Munich Academy of Art several years after his
graduation, studying under Karl Theodor von Piloty. He lived
in Munich for 17 years, painting genre pictures, mythological
scenes and portraits. Influenced by German academic Realism,
his most famous paintings were of children. He won awards in
five international exhibits. He was a highly commercial
painter.
He returned to Athens with the Greek government's proposal
to manage a newly created National Gallery in 1900. At the
same time takes a few years later to teach a course at the
School of Oil Painting Fine Arts.
In addition to genre paintings, mythological scenes and some
landscapes, at this time he produced formal portraits of
eminent Greeks.
He opposed all new artistic tendencies, including
Georgios Iakovidis
ΓΕΩΡΓΙΟΣ ΙΑΚΩΒΙΔΗΣ
302
Impressionism and Expressionism. Iakovidis dominated Greek
painting for many years, becoming an important influence for
an entire generation of Greek painters.
“Iakovidis, peaceful and patient, expressing the thoughtful
contemplation of life, their own life goes down, the lives of
young shoots rises, [...]”
LAMPRAKI, M. 2005. Vima.
Gallery of Paintings: http://www.paletaworld.org/artist.asp?
id=11&pageNo=1
The Museum
The Georgios Jakobides Digital Museum is a simulation of a
real museum. There may not be any actual works, but the
Museum aspires to become a magnet for visitors to the island
and the locals, especially its younger residents. A place where
technology and art introduce visitors of all ages to the life and
work of Georgios Jakobides, man and creator.
With the activities offered in the museum, visitors can enjoy a
vast assortment of electronic systems used for digital
projection and interaction, such as TFT screens, touch screens,
bilingual backlit transparencies (duratrans), and projection
screens.
A simple museum visit is transformed into an entertaining and
informative visual experience.
The Digital Museum is a source of knowledge that becomes a
very positive experience. The ultimate goal of this effort is to
promote the diachronic value of Jakobides’ art for learners,
inciting students to study the works of the artist from a
different perspective.
The aim of the educational activities is to familiarise students
with art. Basic concepts are analysed in detail with the help of
digital applications. Thanks to the thematic units and
technology, works come to life for a better appreciation.

Theophilos Hatzimihail or Theofilos Kefalas, as his real name
was, was one of the most famous Greek folk painters of Neo-
Hellenic Art. He was mostly known with his first name,
Theophilos.
He was born at Varia, very close to Mytilene, City of Lesvos
Island, somewhere in between 1868 and 1971. He was the first
of the eight children his father Gabriel Kefalas and mother
Penelope had. His father was a shoemaker and his mother the
daughter of a holy painter (iconographer). He wasn’t a good
student at school because he was a slow-learner and also lefthanded,
something that was considered to be a serious
disadvantage at that time. His parents pushed him to learn and
tried to make him right-handed, things which made him a
loner and turned him towards painting. At a very young age,
somewhere between 15-20 (some say 18), he abandoned his
family to go to Ismir (Smyrna), where he stayed for a few
years as a gate-keeper at the Greek consulate. In the same time
he painted and adopted his own style painting themes from
ancient Greece and the Byzantine years.
After the breakout of the Greek – Turkish war in 1897, he
attempted to join the army, with no luck, and settled in the city
of Volos, a center of agriculture and industry at the time,
where he stayed there for 30 years. He left there a large
Theophilos Hatzimihail
303
amount of paintings; he drew on walls, doors and windows of
taverns, coffee places, bakeries, olive presses, mills, as well as
houses.
Unfortunately a lot of his work has been lost or destroyed. He
lived in poverty and painted for as few as possible, many
times for a plate of food. His unusual dress code as well as his
weird behavior put him in the middle of mockeries and jocks.
He used to dress up as a tsolias (a nickname that was also
given to him), wearing the traditional Greek skirt (kilt) and
carried an old curved yataghan on his side. His financial
situation got a bit better after Giannis Kontos, a rich
landholder of Magnesia region, assigned him to paint the
murals of his house in 1912. There, in Anakasia, Theophilos
painted scenes from the Greek War of Independence in 1821,
ancient Gods and sceneries. Today that house is the
Theophilos Museum in Volos.
In 1927 he returned to Lesvos, back to his hometown in
Mytilene, not being able to stand all that mockery against him
any more. Rumors say that he left Volos because of an incident
that happened while he was painting in a coffee shop;
someone threw him down from a ladder. A year later he made
acquaintance with the critic and art dealer Stratis Eleftheriades

– Teriade, who contributed in improving Theophilos living
conditions. He was the one who made him famous as much in
Greece as abroad. He bought his colors, brushes and rags and
sent to Paris everything he painted. At that time Theophilos
changed his themes, he replaced the historical and heroic faces
with familiar, everyday faces.
Theophilos was found dead in his chambers on March 24th
1934, possibly from food poisoning. A year later Eleftheriades
– Teriade organized an exhibition of his works in Paris, in
order to be known as a folk painter of Greece. A series of
articles and interviews were given by well known authors and
intellectuals about Theophilos and his work. Takis Barlas
refers to him as “Papadiamantes of painting” and George
Seferis correlated him with Makrigiannis, in 1947 at the
British Council in Athens, where an expedition with his
paintings occurred. A great artist, La Corbusier wrote in his
article “… a painter born from the Greek scenery. Through
Theophilos lies the landscape and the people of Greece. Red
dust, pine and olive trees, the sea and the mountains of the
Gods, people who calmly sit under the sun…”
On June 3rd 1961 Theophilos “goes” to Louvre in a big
retrospective exhibition. Odysseus Elytis wrote “As I was
returning from America, in June of 1961, I stopped in Paris for
a few days and as I was wondering around the streets there,
the first thing I saw in a window display of a bookstore I used
to visit, was a big poster of the exhibition o Theophilos that
had just started that week in Louvre. My heart started
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pouncing hard. Yes! There is justice in this world.”
Stratis Eleftheriades – Teriade funded in 1964 the
establishment of Theophilos Museum in Varia, Lesvos. The
museum consists of 86 paintings, from the last period of his
work, belongings of Teriades’ private collection, who donated
them to the City of Mytilene. Since 1965 the museum is open
to the public, in between a large olive grove.
Pictures
- Theophilos
- Artemis, the Ancient Greek Goddess of the hunt.
- Constantine Paleologos.
- Alexander the Great.
- Collecting olives.
- Dancing traditional tunes.
- Andrianna.
- Perivoli, Mytilene
Books
Encyclopedia “Πάπυρος Λαρούς Μπριτάνικα” (Papyrus
Larousse Britannica), τόμος 27,1984, σ.423-425
Δαμδούμης, Ν., «Θεόφιλος», ζωγραφικοί πίνακες, 1968

Girgos Seferis
13.03.1900 – 20.09.1971
Biography
G. Seferis is a Greek poet, essayist and diplomat, who won a
Noble Prize of Literature in 1963. He is considered to be one
of the most important Greek poets of the 20th century and the
most distinguished Greek poet of the pre-war generation of the
1930s. Combination of the everyday speech and traditional
poetic language is characteristic to G.Seferis creation.
G. Seferis, with the real name Georgios Seferiades was born in
Asia Minor, in Smyrna in 1900. He attended school in Smyrna
and finished his studies at Gymnasium in Athens, where he
moved with his family in the age of 14. Later he continued his
studies in law in University of Paris. During the time in Paris
he became interested in literature and he familiarized himself
with contemporary French literature.
In 1920s he decided to enter the diplomatic service. In 1925
Seferis returned to Athens and started his diplomatic career in
Royal Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He held posts in
England (1931-1934) and Albania (1936-1938). Later, during
the second world war Seferis accompanied Greek government
officials into exile. He lived in Crete, Egypt, South Africa, and
Italy. After the war he held diplomatic posts in Lebanon,
Syria, Jordan, Iraq and he was also a Greek ambassador in
London (1957-1962).
He retired from governmental service in 1962 and settled in
Athens.
The literary creation by G. Seferis consists mainly poetry. In
addition of poetry he has also written a book of essays and
several translations.
The first collection of Seferis poems is called STROFI (1931,
The Turning Point), which also contains a poem “Denial”,
written after he breaking up with his first great love Jacqueline
Pouyollon. The poem was later set to music by Mikis
Theodorakis.
The second collection I STERNA (1932) contained poems
with simplistic influence.
In the collection MYTHISTORIMA (1935) he achieved a style
that influenced the development of Greek verse and also
created a link between traditional and modern expression.
His travels have affected strongly his writings, which are filled
with the themes of alienation, wandering, and death. The
theme of wandering was developed in in three collections,
Logbooks, written in Albania, South Africa and in Italy (1940-
65).
In his poems Seferis used the language spoken by literate
Greeks combined with his own experiences with history.
Two Greek Nobel Prize Winners
Girgos Seferis
305
In 1963 Seferis was awarded the Noble Prize for Literature
because of the role he had played in Greek 20th century
literature and culture.
Seferis also took a stand against right-wing Regime of the
Colonels in 1967. In 1967 he made a statement in on the BBC
World Service against widespread censorship, political
detentions and torture, which was also distributed to all the
newspapers in Athens. He became a popular hero against the
regime. At his funeral people followed his coffin through the
streets singing Seferis`poem “Denial”.
Information about G. Seferis in internet
http://www.poetryinternational.org/piw_cms/cms/cms_module
/index.php?obj_id=2453
http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/19
63/seferis-bio.html
http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/george-seferis
http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/1118
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Giorgos-
Seferis/113750011968916
http://users.sch.gr/milliospap/blog/index.php/ourpoems/poetry-of-our-countries/item/17-giorgos-seferis
Poems by G.Seferis available in internet:
http://www.poemhunter.com/giorgos-seferis/poems/?
search=&B1=Search
http://www.libroslibertad.ca/book.php?id=52
poems and Nobel Prize speech:
http://www.poemhunter.com/i/ebooks/pdf/giorgos_seferis_200
6_3.pdf
Material avaliable in the youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8ug3ltWwFw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yabh_GAAk58
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KgzW5_1cHMc

Biography
Odysseus Elytis
And his contribution to society
He was born in November 2nd, 1911 in Heraclion – Krete. He was the sixth child of an old family from Lesvos, Panagiotis
Alepoudellis and Maria Vrana. His father with his uncle, Thrasivoulos, founded a factory which made soap and was sold all over
Greece. In 1914 his father moves the factory to Pireus (Athens) and he moves with his family there.
Between 1915 and 1928 he spent most of his summers in Spetses, Mytilene Santorini, Tinos, Myconos as well as various cities
allover Europe. His sister’s death from Spanish flu in 1918 brings bereavement to the family. In 1928 he finished High school and
one year later he wrote his first poems using various aliases. He read Eliar and Lorca and got to know surrealism. In 1935 he met
Seferis among other artists and published ”Nea Grammata” magazine. In chapter eleven he published a series of poems in “Elytis”
alias, a name that followed him through the rest of his life. At the same year he met Andreas Empirikos and traveled with him to
Mytilene where he discovered Theofilos’ paintings, something that will affect him deeply.
The next year he met Nikos Gatsos with whom he became close friends. At the end of the same year he joined the army and during
the next year, 1937, he served in Reserve Officer's Cadet School in Corfu. There, he met writer Laurence Darrel permanent habitant
in Corfu. Upon the outbreak of the war he served in the rank of Second Lieutenant, first at the Headquarters of the 1st Army Corps
and then at the 24th Regiment, on the advanced fire line.
In 1940 S. Baud – Body translated Elytis poems in French. In the meanwhile a study of A. Karantonis “The poetry of Odysseus
Elytis” is published in “Nea Grammata”. The next year he got hospitalized in critical condition in Ioannina hospital with typhoid.
Under difficult circumstances he got rescued and arrived in Athens.
After the war, in 1946, Elytis wrote critics for the newspaper Kathimerini. He has twice been Programme Director of the Greek
National Radio Foundation, 1945-46 and 1953-54, and President of the Administrative Council of the Greek Radio and Television
Service in 1945. In 1947 he wrote two essays about Theofilos, the painter. One year later he moved to Paris, where he studied
literature at the Sorbonne. During this time he became acquainted with P. Picasso, H. Matisse, Shagal, Leger, Giacometti and other
figures of the Parisian art scene. He settled there until 1952. Starting from Paris he travelled and visited subsequently Switzerland,
England (where he collaborated with BBC), Italy and Spain. That year there is the first writing of “Aksion Esti” (It is Worthy). But it
is only until December 1959 that it is being published from “Ikaros”. Still it was in 1964 that is set music by Mikis Theodorakis,
making oratorio “Aksion Esti”.
In 1960 he wrote “Six plus One Remorses for the Sky”. That year a selection of his poems is being published in Germany titled
“Korper Des Sommers”. He was also awarded with the A’ National Poetry Award. It was a sad year for the poet as his mother and
brother Konstantinos died. In 1961, upon an invitation of the State Department, he travelled through the USA and - upon similar
invitations - through the Soviet Union in 1963 and Bulgaria in 1965. He also cooperated with Teriade in founding “Theofilos
museum” in Mytilene.
In the following years until 1978, he wrote many series of poems. Some of them are the following: “Sun the First”, “The Light Tree
And The Fourteenth Beauty”, “The Sovereign Sun”, “The Trills of Love”, “The Monogram”, “Open Papers”, “Three Poems under a
Flag of Convenience”, “Maria Nefeli: A Poem in Two Voices”, and the essays “The Magic of Papadiamantis” and “Report to Andreas
Empeirikos”. Some of them are also translated and published in Europe during that time.
In December 10th 1979 he was awarded with Nobel Prize Laureate in Literature by King Charles Gustav of Sweden. Although Elytis
spent most of his life in semiseclusion, focused in his art, after the Nobel Prize he was busy traveling a lot. Some years later he was
declared honorary professor in University of Rome and the Universities of London and Athens. His poems are translated and
published through the world. Magazines, newspapers, radio and television shows dedicated articles and interviews in Odysseus Elytis
after 1991.
Elytis never married. During his last years his companion was the poet Ioulita Iliopoulou. In March 18th, 1996, a rainy day at 2 p.m.
Odysseas Elytis died from heart attack in his house in Athens. Apart from being a talented writer, Odysseus Elytis was also a talented
painter and produced illustrations of his lyrical world in gouaches and collages.
His work has been translated in 29 countries, 20 European. Elytis' poetry is immersed in Greek history and Mythology and is mostly
surrealistic. Although he was inspired from them, he did not turn back to Ancient Greece or Byzantium but devoted himself
exclusively to today's Hellenism.
Many of his poems were set to music by Greece's most famous composers. Mikis Theodorakis, Manos Hadjidakis, Giannis
Markopoulos, Dimitris Lagios, Notis Mavroudis and Linos Kokotos. In this way the poems were made known in people who did not
read poetry and are being heard with pleasure.
His most famous and translated collection of poems is “Aksion Esti - It is Worthy”, although it is not easy to be translated. It is
divided in three sections, “Genesis”, “The Passion” and “Doxastikon”. Elytis is inspired by the Byzantine liturgy (mass) where he
combines the biblical story of the creation with modern Greek history. In the first part the poet identifies himself with the sun and the
entire Aegena world and his race. In the second, he passes through a decade of war where he compares the suffering of the
humankind with the suffering of Christ.
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