Pontedeume

Pontedeume received its charter from Alfonso X at Christmas 1270, but its golden age came a century later. In 1371 King Enrique II rewarded Fernán Pérez de Andrade, known as O Boo, with the lordship of the town for backing him in the civil war against Pedro I. Andrade walled the town, built a palace and a castle, and replaced the old crossing with a stone bridge around 850 metres long on dozens of pointed arches, with two towers and a pilgrim hospital and chapel at its midpoint. Tradition credits him with founding seven churches, seven monasteries, seven hospitals and seven bridges.

The medieval bridge was demolished in the 1860s and replaced by the current version, but the carved bear and wild boar, Andrade family emblems that once stood on it, survive. The square Torreón, built between 1370 and 1380, is the last standing piece of the family palace. Its Gothic windows and heraldic shield, framed by banners won in battle and topped with the family motto nolite nocere, make it one of the finest examples of medieval military architecture in Galicia.

Today the Torreón houses the tourist office and an interpretation centre on the Andrade family, and it stamps pilgrim credentials. The compact old town of arcaded streets and glassed galleries is well worth an evening stroll, and the ancient forest of the Fragas do Eume lies just upriver if you have extra time.

Pontedeume is the traditional end of the first stage from Ferrol, with a municipal albergue near the entrance to town and a good spread of other accommodation. Be ready for a sharp climb first thing the next morning, as the route heads straight up out of the old town before levelling out with wide views over the ría.