The Arousa estuary along the Route of Father Sarmiento

A monastery from the year 942 with a 200 m² mosaic dedicated to the Camino, the largest group of hórreos in Galicia, an island with a natural park and the towers from which Catoira fended off the Vikings. Everything the Route of Father Sarmiento leaves along the shores of the Arousa estuary.

The Route of Father Sarmiento skirts the Arousa estuary, the largest of the Rías Baixas, following the steps that the Benedictine friar Martín Sarmiento left in writing in 1745. It is a way of sea, shellfish and stone that threads together monasteries, hórreos and fortresses. These are the places you should not walk past.

Poio Monastery

Founded in the year 942, the monastery of San Xoán de Poio is one of the oldest testimonies of monastic life in Galicia and a Historic-Artistic Monument since 1971. It keeps two cloisters, one of the most important monastic libraries in Spain —over 100,000 volumes— and a monumental hórreo about 33 metres long resting on 17 rows of 3 feet each, among the largest in existence.

Its jewel, however, is a mosaic of over 200 m² dedicated to the Camino de Santiago: 2.60 metres high by 80 long running along the cloister, designed by Antoine Machourek and executed by the monastery's own mosaic school between 1989 and 1992 with close to a million tesserae. There is no better place to grasp at a glance what you are walking.

Combarro

A step from the monastery, within the same municipality of Poio, Combarro is the postcard of the estuary: a seafaring village declared a historic ensemble in 1972 whose hórreos line up at the water's edge, with the tide lapping at their pillars. It is the largest cluster of hórreos in Galicia, and its stone lanes, its cruceiros and its taverns with a view call for a long stop.

A Granxa viewpoint

Climbing up from Combarro, the A Granxa viewpoint suddenly opens up the whole Pontevedra estuary: the mussel rafts dot the water, Tambo island lies opposite and in the distance you can make out the mouth of the Atlantic. It is the best panorama of this stretch and a perfect excuse to catch your breath.

Illa de Arousa

Joined to the mainland by a bridge almost two kilometres long, the Illa de Arousa is a world apart: quiet beaches among the best in Galicia, paths that circle it at water level and the O Carreirón natural park, a refuge for migratory birds at its southern tip. You can go round it on foot or by bike, and it smells of the sea on every side.

Vilagarcía de Arousa

Capital of the estuary and the route's main town, Vilagarcía enjoys a mild microclimate almost all year round, a lively port, a seafront promenade and the area's widest range of accommodation and transport —with its own railway station—, which makes it the natural logistics base for anyone doing this way in stages.

Torres de Oeste, in Catoira

At the mouth of the Ulla rise the Torres de Oeste, the fortress that for centuries was the maritime lock of Compostela against Normans and Saracens who sailed up the river in search of the Apostle's treasure. Of the seven original towers, two remain standing, restored since the seventies. Every first Sunday of August the site relives the landing in the Viking Festival, declared a Festival of International Tourist Interest.

If you want to walk this route, here you have all the information on the Route of Father Sarmiento.