Cacabelos

The information available on the settlement of Cacabelos dates back to Palaeolithic times. The town, located in the fertile region of El Bierzo and anticipating our arrival in Galicia, managed to retain and renovate its great and ancient Jacobean tradition.

• Hermitage of San Roque: the beautiful Hermitage of San Roque is home to a statue of Saint Roch, plus two polychrome high-relief wood carvings from the 18th century representing San Gil de Casayo and Saint Herbert of Sardinia. Since 1599 it has required rebuilding work, the last time being in the year 1789.
• Calle de Santa María: it is the most notable street in the municipality and it is here that we find the most representative examples of architecture and religious culture that have borne witness to the passing of thousands of pilgrims over the centuries.
• Church of Santa María: of the primeval parish church, only the Romanesque apse remains standing as it was rebuilt almost in its entirety in the 16th century.
• Plaza Mayor: this square sprawling in the centre of Cacabelos is where most of the services are located. Nearby we find the statue of the Grape Harvester.
• M.A.R.C.A.: Archaeological Museum of Cacabelos, inaugurated in the first half of the 20th century. Items retrieved from different sites are displayed in its permanent exhibition rooms, and further temporary exhibitions are programmed round the year.
• Puente Mayor: the current bridge, with its six ashlar vaults, was built in the 16th and 18th centuries.
• El Lagar de Vino (wine-making press): wine and history lovers will discover here a device used to press grapes in former times.
• Sanctuary of Las Angustias: the current building and most of the altarpieces, statues and paintings date from the 18th century. A painting of the ‘Virgin of the Milk’, the relief of the ‘Child Jesus exchanging letters with Saint Anthony of Padua’ and the organ, moved here from the monastery of Carracedo, are some of the items it holds – of greater artistic value.