La Lagoa de Sobrado

We went looking for an equestrian center rumored to have manure for sale, but took a wrong turn and ended up someplace else.

That someplace else is the Lagoa de Sobrado, close to the Monastery of Sobrado dos Monxes.  And for good reason, it was constructed by the Cistercian monks around 1500!  They used it for irrigation, powering water mills, and stocked it with trout for the monk´s table.

It was ceded to the Galician Society of Natural History in 1992 and is an important spot for flora and fauna, especially water birds.

There´s a little turn off area with a hut, a picnic table and a small dock of somewhat doubtful structural integrity and a path we didn´t have time to explore.

The Monastery itself is an imposing structure with an incredible façade.  We were there for a local festival once, but the deep fried trout didn´t look particularly appetizing and it was so packed with locals there was no place to sit.  Also, I should warn visitors that the visiting hours for the monastery were idiosyncratic and limited and we didn´t get the best impression of the cleanliness of the facilities or the welcome of the monk-in-charge on the day.  But, they raise Spanish mastiffs, so they can´t be all bad.

More on the Monastery here.
Video in gallego of the mastiffs on Galician TV here.  (Mastiffs 6:51, puppies 14:19)

Arde Lucus 2015

Is it wrong that I want to go to this so badly?  It looks so cheesy and fun!  Lugo June 19-21.

Program

Web page

The Tudor Monastery Farm

The latest offering from the intrepid BBC Team of  Peter Ginn and Tom Pinfold, and historian Ruth Goodman.

All seven episodes are on Youtube, including the Christmas Feast.

Part I



And Part II



ETA - Oops - the team is now in Secrets Of The Castle on BBC.

A New Fiesta

They´re putting on the first Festival del Indiano in Ribadeo this weekend.  Los Indianos were those who emigrated to the Americas in the 19th century, Cuba, Venezuela, Argentina, et. al., and came back rich the frst part of the 20th century.  They built ostentatious houses in Asturias and Galicia, set up businesses and some actually did quite a bit of philanthropic work like funding schools once back in the old country.

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With so many ¨medieval¨ activities, it´s nice to see a change.  I hope everyone gets out their white linen and makes it a rousing success.

Images from the facebook page.

They´re Back

The team that brought you The Victorian/Edwardian Farm and Tales from the Green Valley on the BBC (which I loved) are doing another called The Tudor Monastery Farm.

Historian Ruth Goodman and archaeologists Peter Ginn and Tom Pinfold turn the clock back over 500 years to run a farm at the Weald & Downland Open Air Museum in West Sussex exactly as it would have been in 1500, during the reign of the first Tudor King, Henry VII.

At Amazon.co.uk:  The Victorian Farm, The Edwardian Farm and Tales of the Green Valley .

Edwardian Farm Episode 1



Tales of the Green Valley Episode 1

Other Galician Ruins

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Hispania Nostra, an organization dedicated to the identification and preservation of historical patrimony, has listed 12 abandoned properties in Galicia out of 300 in all Spain.

The Castillo de Pambre is the closest to us in Palas de Rei.  It's scheduled for renovation next year, though I'm not sure what they've decided to use it for.

This Sanatorium in Cesuras is especially creepy.

 The rest of the slideshow here.

El Museo da Terra de Melide

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The Ethnological Museum, installed in the former Sancti Spiritus Pilgrim Hospital, features both temporary exhibitions and has an interesting selection  of artifacts, some dating from the neolithic, including a spectacular blacksmith/cobbler/carpintry/homecraft display upstairs.

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But from January to Semana Santa of 2014, the museum will close for lack of funds to pay the 2 staff members.  After the provincial government cut their 2013 grant from 30 to 20,000€, associate dues and the government subsidy aren´t enough to keep the museum staffed and maintained.

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In addition to the collection of area artifacts, the museum houses the Centro de Estudios Melidenses, whose members have been working for the protection and study of the area´s artistic and historic patrimony since the 1970s.  After opening in the newly renovated space on the central plaza in 2001, by 2008 the museum received 12,000 visits, growing to 22,000 in 2010.

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V and I both enjoyed our visit, and recommend it to friends and family who are in the area.  You can have a virtual look-see here.

I am a huge fan of museums housing real stuff that reflect the lives of real people.  The National Decorative Arts Museum in Madrid is one of my favorites (a somewhat dizzying panoramic of the tiled kitchen here).  The Museo do Pobo Gallego in Santago de Compostela is on my list of places to go (they have boats!).

Performance Art

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I´m keeping an eye out for a vintage sewing machine with all metal parts, basic functions, etc.  In my search  I keep running across these marvels of engineering of the late 19th and early 20th centuries - elegant, sleek, functional, robust, resiliant, precision instruments still performing more than 120 years later, made by the millions all over the world.

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Beautifully decorated, wrapped in fine casework, they were expensive investments, lately mostly appreciated by collectors. Now, with the crisis, I think prices seem to be coming down. 

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There are a few brands I´ve never heard of:  Jones, Libelle, National, Kayser, Gritzner, Vibra, Naumann.

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They´re even being given makeovers.

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How long does the latest iteration of a cell phone last these days?

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An interesting blog about restoring an old singer here.

Pazo de Oca (Part 3)

And some details that caught my eye.

I suppose it wouldn´t be a Manor without topiaries.

Some lush hydrangeas

And some interesting mossy nooks and crannies

I do wonder what it´s like inside the house

Pazo de Oca (Part 2)

Not just pleasure gardens and walks, though.  There were practical areas as well.

and an orchard

as well as a lavadoiro ( I wonder if we can rig up one of these)

Of course, there are pretty flowers

And  much more. . .

Pazo de Oca (Part 1)

A pazo is a Galician Manor house. I finally managed to talk V into a visit to the Pazo de Oca, where there are gardens to tour. For 4€ you can scramble around and see how the other half lived for centuries. It seems the Earl of Camina, Pedro Alvarez de Sotomayor (better known by his nickname, Pedro madruga) had the property taken away from him after supporting Juana (La Beltraneja) against the claim of Isabella (yep - the one who eventually married Fernando) with predictable results. It eventually fell into the hands of Phillip II, who sold it and so on until the Duchess of Medina finally established the Fundación Casa Ducal Medinaceli dedicated to its preservation.

Some shots from a delightful, rainy August afternoon.

The chapel, to one side of the house

The coat of arms, with royal crown, in a fountain

Miles of paths, hedges, and arbors

Beautiful combinations of stone and water

And other details

To be continued. . .