In the estuary of the River Eo there are the remains of a railway, storage, bays, and loading station for iron ore mined further up-country. It was a beautiful day and we set off to follow the route of the railway, back to the mines. Iron ore mining at Ribadeo seemed such an unlikely possibility!
Following the River Eo
In the foreground is the remains of a loading bay for iron ore which was transported on a 32km railway from Vilaoudriz to Ribadeo. The mines opened in 1903, but the railway was closed in 1966. From this port the ore was shipped to Rotterdam, the Ruhr Valley, but also the UK.
A Pontenova
The town sits on either side of the River Eo, and in the middle are the blast furnaces and the railhead for the mines at nearby Vilaoudriz. Don Julio de Lazúrtegui was the man responsible for the development of the mining venture. It seems he was an extraordinary man, but one whose ideas were too far in advance of his times.
Over the hills
After a cup of coffee we drove over the hills to see Lourenza. The countryside is attractive and there are a lot of plantations. Perhaps these are the logs I saw on the quayside in Ribadeo!
Monastery of San Salvador in Lourenza
Count Don Osorio Gutiérrez (“Saint Count”) founded a Benedictine Monastery in the town in 969 and we wanted to visit. We had, of course, missed the opening times! And what a pity when I read about the site.
The Bean Festival
Every year there is a Bean Festival in Lourenza and this was why we didn’t stop when we first drove through the town, after visiting Mondonedo – we couldn’t find parking! The stalls on the church square were the remains of the Festival.
And so we returned to Ribadeo. It was a small but interesting insight into the countryside and iron ore mining at Ribadeo.
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