The cruise stop in Vilagarcía  allows the cruisers to disembark in one of the most beautiful areas in Galicia. The Estuary of Arousa and the region of  O Salnés amaze to those who push out into entering in its history, those who wander in its paths, beaches and landscapes and those sorprenden siempre a quienes se adentran en su historia, a los que recorwho love the autenticity and the relaxing life of coastal villages.

Today in the blog we would like to share with you some curiosities that you would like to know  if you do a cuise stop in Vilagarcía de Arousa.

1.-The chosen place by Sorolla to paint an oil colours picture representative of Galicia

It was 1915 when the valencia painter Joaquín Sorolla reached Vilagarcía to fulfil the assignment by Archer Milton Huntington, founder from the Hispanic Society, to do a picture that represented Galicia to be shown in the room that ilustrate the Spanish regions.

The picture was a great wall painting and it was titled the La Romería (pilgrimage) and it was painted in the vilagarcian garden of Vista Alegre. Sorolla´s landscape shows Cortegada´s island in the background. The  visit of the painter genious  to the village it was an event. It is said that Sorolla liked to visit the market of Vilagarcía and it is said that constantly painted on the cardboard the landscapes and characters of the locals that  took their attention.

View from the pilgrimage, oil painting by Sorolla as representation of Galicia.

2.-Sálvora, a mystic island

With Ons, Cíes and Cortegada the Isle of Sálvora takes part of the is part of  the National Park of the Atlantic Isles Maritime-Terrestrian of Galicia. You can reach Sálvora from Cambados in less than 15 minutes. It is uninhabited since 5 decades. However, the island treasures the rescue of the shipwrecks of Saint Isabel in 1921 when in the village lived no more than half a hundred people and saved some other after the shipwreck of the boat in front of the lighthouse. 4 women ere awarded by this fact in which, 213 people died.

If you are adventurer and romantic you can visit the abandon village of Sálvora, the remains of and old salting factory, walking along its only streetand reching its lighthouse in Besugueira´s Peak. The isle has 3 beautiful beaches and nowadays is part of the Aguiño´s parish in Ribeira.

Aerial view from the lighthose and Sálvora´s Isle. Galicia´s photo from Tourism.

3.-The place where the author of Bohemian lights,Ramón María del Valle-Inclán

View from Valle-Inclán  House Museum. Photo from Xunta of Galicia

One of the appealing things of doing  a cruise scale in Vilagarcía for the literature lovers from lovers of universal literature is the possibilityof visitig the same house  in which the author from Bohemian Lights, Ramón María del Valle-Inclán that has published  by chapters at the beginning of the 20´s.  In this area of Galicia the manor house in which the creator of the grotesque today hosts a very interesting museum dedicated to its figure.

In October 1866 the man of letters in this Manor house from the XVI century and it is known  Pazo de O Cuadrante. In which it is possible to visit an exhibition in the lower floor, as it was know by Valle and we can visualize the silent film in which the writer comes up.

4.-The first city in Galicia to take up arms against the napoleonic invasion

To visit  Vilagarcía de Arousa in a cruiseship allows to learn an important history lesson because it is said that in these lands it is located the first city in Galicia that took arms againgst the invasion of the Napoleonic troops in 1808. It is said that this lands were inhabited two millenniums before the birth of Christ.

In Carril, Castrgudín and Lobeira celtic forts are preserved, and vestiges appeared. Alfonso VI donate the territory to Area Longa to the compostelan monastery of San Martiño Pinario. This became a feud from the archibishop García-Caamaño, from there its name, Villa of García.

Vilagarcía of Arousa, in the estuary  of Arousa. Photo Joaquín Barreiro Cajaraville

There  was a time in which the port importance of Vilagarcía   was very relevant because the English, the Greman and the Swedish stocked boats . Not in vain, it is preserved a cementery that depends on the English Consulate. But on top of that, Vilagarcía was an important embarkment port for the American emigrants.

5.-The land in which Albariño grapes grows

It is said that there were that the cistercian monks in te XII century were the ones that brought to Galicia the albariño grape through Santiago´s way. Here, the vines acclimatize  very quickly and there were varieties such as godello, treixadura or loureira. One of the most international wines, albariño, today is an authentic flagship of the Rías Baixas, the area that gives its names a denomination of Origins.

The albariño´s wines combine perfectly with the seaside cuisines, shellfish, fish and seafood that combine perfectly with fragant wines from Arousa´s estuary. If you are curious about learning the taste of  Ría de Arousa, do not stop trying this combination.

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