Lugo

 Bimillennial city

More than 2,000 years ago, Caesar Augustus turned into a city a small town that worshipped the God Lugh. As he was satisfied with his work, he gave the new city his own name of 'the living God of the Romans'. From that moment, that was the name of the capital of the Roman land at the end of the world:

Lucus Augusti, LUGO.

The first settlement in Lugo appeared -perhaps in the middle of a forest- in this meseta that dominates the setting and the Valley of the river Miño. Looking from all the cardinal points, Lugo appears on the top... in the North-Northeast when coming from Ribadeo... in the Northwest from A Coruña... in the Southwest from Santiago... in the Southeast from Madrid...

Giménez Caballero said: those who know Lugo with our spirit eyes, we know that it is one of the most thrilling and amazing benchmarks in Spain.

We are going to watch Lugo with those spirit eyes...

We must especially mention the Park that is dedicated to Rosalía de Castro. By entering the park we can see the statue melt in Sargadelos, which lay before at the Main Square.

The pergola in this park is a wonderful viewpoint over the river Miño that crosses the city.

Lugo has become a modern and vigorous cultural city because people from Lugo long for wisdom.

In spite of having been invaded by Swabians and Goths in the fifth century and devastated by Arabs in the eighth and Normans in the ninth, Lugo still preserves the important traces of the Romans that recall the glorious past.

Although it is a bit far away from the city, we will start with the monument of St Eulalia de Bóveda.

Next to the parish church, on a low level, we find the monument, whose origin is unknown even nowadays. It was buried over 1,000 years. It may have been a Visigoth baptistery but before that... perhaps a temple?... the swimming pool of a Roman village?... the tomb of Prisciliano?... St Eulalia de Bóveda shows the curious person and even the wise the whole mystery of an unsolvable enigma.

Back in Lugo, we can see the Roman Bridge, which has been modified during the course of time. It gives name to the place where it is situated -Barrio del Puente. A long time ago it was the main entrance to the city and one had to pay toll to cross it.

In the surroundings, we find the Spa (Balneario) with the Roman Baths. In the middle of the 16th century, they were considered the Oldest Baths and Building in Spain.

Today like yesterday (two thousand years ago) water is source of life on the banks of the River Miño, in Lugo.

We enter Lugo through the old Roman Road, which may have been deeply modified in the Middle Ages and today is just a memory.

Now we get to the Roman Wall, which is the only one that preserves almost the whole of its original circuit. The Wall is about 2.140 metres long and between 10 or 15 metres high and surrounds the whole old city giving it that strong character that made Lamas Carvajal say:

Ten unha Antiga, Forte, Muralla,
que esta agardando que unha batalla
os seus nemigos lle veñen dar...

We walk round the Wall following two possible itineraries. Walking round the ring road (ronda de la muralla) we watch its majestic view and walking along the upper part of the wall, called adarve (the old ring road where soldiers were on guard) we watch, like in the low-level flight of a bird, an unknown Lugo.

The Wall had 85 round turrets although nowadays 72 are preserved. There are also ten gates, of which five are Roman and five from the 19th and 20th centuries, five staircases and a ramp to climb up onto the wall.

We start from Santiago Gate, the old Wicket Gate, opposite the Cathedral. It had a wicket, bolts, drawbridge and a small fort until well on into the 19th century...

On the inside, we find the modern late 19th-century ramp that replaced an older one, the Bishop coat of arms and an image of St James in Clavijo. This was the only gate that was opened in the city during the period of serious diseases.

Along the Wall there are benches that were built in the last 18th century so that the people of Lugo could comfortably sun themselves. In the upper part of the Wall, we can see the remains of the old staircases that led to the upper part of the fortress.

Bishop Aguirre Gate was built in 1894 to provide access to the Seminary and cemetery...

Bishop Izquierdo Gate or Prison Gate was opened in 1888 to have a better communication with the new prison.

Here is the Cristina Redoubt, built in 1837 by the National Engineer Corps to complete the fortification of the city after the Peninsular War. The old Wall had been interrupted in the 15th century because of the construction of several buildings.

In this area, called La Mosquera, two arches of those in the old turrets have been preserved. They let us watch the beauty of this construction of two-store towers and four arches in each of them.

St Peter's Gate or Toledan Gate was already known like that in the 12th century, perhaps for being dedicated to this saint and because merchants from Toledo entered the city this way.

In the past, it had a moat, a bridge and a wicket. Whereas the other gates closed at nine o'clock in the evening, this one remained open until ten.

The Royal Crown of the main front makes use of a Well of desires.

Station Gate was opened at the end of the 19th century to provide access to the new railway station.

False Gate, long ago called Hole Gate, is one of the oldest gates in the Wall.

It was blocked off in the middle of the 17th century and reopened -although only for a few hours a day- so that the neighbours of the Paraday area could enter the city.

St Ferdinan's Gate was opened in the middle of the 19th century and inaugurated by the queen Isabel II. It was widened in 1967 because of traffic on wheels.

In spite of its name, New Gate is one of the oldest. Although it was built in the early 20th century, it was already known as New Gate in the 12th.

Bishop Odoario Gate was opened in 1921 to gave access to St Mary's Hospital opposite.

Here is the oldest gate in the Wall: Mineana Gate, Mine Gate, Miñá Gate... Today is also called Del Carmen Gate for being opposite the chapel of the same name. By entering this gate, the medieval troubadour Fernando Esquío was looking for love.

This section was known as the Canons Walk, which is a sheltered and sunny area, propitious for walking. That is why the Wall was widened, being three of the round turrets pulled down.

In 1973 the so-called Mopping-up Operation made the wall be free of buildings leant against it.

They partially hid the monument for almost three centuries since in the early 18th century Lugo's Town Council gave concessions to several areas next to the wall in order to get money.

In the future another mopping-up operation is expected to be carried out to build the inner ring road that will eventually liberate Lugo's Roman Wall from buildings leant against it.

Archaeological findings are traces of the Roman times in Lugo. A century ago, Manuel Murguía said:

Those who said that Lugo is a city erected over its own ruinswould not be totally wrong. Whenever the pickaxe hurts the ground to lay the foundations for new buildings, the remains of Roman population are found all the time. It seems as though they tried to survive destruction.

An example of this is the mosaic of Batitales, which has been found recently at a building site in the centre of the city.

Lugo's Provincial Museum is a perfect bond between past and present. It occupies the cloister, the refectory and kitchen of the old Convent of St Francis and the building on the site where the old Military Government of Lugo was situated.

The Museum has a very important heritage of the Roman and pre-Roman times and outstanding collections of painting, sculpture, numismatics, heraldry, craftsmanship, furniture, pottery, sacred art, clocks...

The carving of St Francis by Asorey; the picture La Escuela de Doloriñas by Julia Minguillón;

Sargadelos pottery; the pre-Roman torques from Burela and Viladonga; the winged sheep in the oriental style and the Christogram of Quiroga are many other jewels of the great Lugo's Provincial Museum.

Lugo is also the City of the Holy Sacrament. Lugo's Cathedral has the privilege of the continuous exhibition of the Holy Sacrament.

Its origin is thought to date from the period of the Councils of Lugo together with people's devotion and the struggles against heresy.

On the high altar of the Cathedral people worship what the city's coat of arms proclaims: here is the faith we firmly profess.

Lugo's Cathedral might have been erected where the Romans had their main temple or where the first Christian basilica was erected, later destroyed by the Arabs and rebuilt again by Bishop Odoario. As it had been destroyed again, the present-day Cathedral (the third of them all) was started to be built in 1129 by Master Raymond.

It was modificated several times. The upper part dates from the 15th century, the cloister from the 18th and the main façade from the 18th with towers of the second half of the 19th.

In this façade, we can see stone images of St Froilán - the patron saint of the city- and St Cápito, who was the first bishop in Lugo. On the top is the statue of Faith with the glass case for the host. On both sides We can observe the four evangelists.

We should also mention the North Gate from the 16th century. It has original arches at the entrance and Gothic frame for the Romanesque door with the image of Christ and the book of the seven seals. On the bottom the last supper is represented and there is an inscription that says: The disciple of Lord makes his members have a rest and when he lies down there are heavenly delights for supper.

Before going inside, we see the head and apse with original flying buttresses and the Old Tower, also called the Clock Tower.

The Cathedral has Latin-cross ground, three naves and transept. On the upper part there are five chapels, being the central one -baroque from the 18th century- dedicated to Our Lady of the big Eyes (Nuestra Sra. de los Ojos Grandes), patron saint of the city. The image, which is made of polychromatic alabaster dates from the 12th century. The arches of the triforium on the two minor naves show at the transept. The arms of the transept go from the north entrance to the vestry from the 18th century. The vestry is closed by the old major altarpiece, which was built by Cornelis from Holland in the 16th century. The rest of the altarpiece lies in the north entrance itself.

The chancel dates from the 18th century.

The Pilar Chapel, in the past called Kings' Chapel, is from the 14th-15th centuries. Here are the tombs of the noblemen of that time.

Then we come to the Chapel of St Froilán, patron saint of the city, from the 18th century. An image of the saint is worshipped in this chapel and tradition has it there is also a tomb where the remains of his mother, St Froila, lie.

In the central nave we find the retrochoir, the Buen Jesús Chapel and Dark Ecce Homo Chapel. From here, we can enter the top of the choir, where the organ is situated.

One of the most important jewels in Lugo's Cathedral is the Choir, which was built by Francisco de Moure in the 17th century. Lugo's Cathedral is the only one in Galicia that preserves the Choir in the central nave.

It is carved in walnut and has 66 chairs. On the upper row, there are full-bodied figures and busts on the lower one. The episcopal seat is especially outstanding and is considered one of the most important sculpture works of Hispanic art.

Next to the Cathedral is the Bishop's Palace, which was built by Bishop Gil Taboada in the middle of the 18th century using the remains of the Palace of the Counts of Lemos.

In the past there was a flyover -called the Palace Arch- between the Bishop's Palace and the Cathedral, on St Mary's Square, to provide a better communication between both buildings.

In the surroundings of the Cathedral, St Mary's Square, Buen Jesús Street and Pío XII Square give a good perspective to the first sacred monument in Lugo.

St Francis was in Lugo in 1214. Shortly after, St Francis Convent was started to be built. Nowadays only the cloister and the church (today St Peter's Parish Church) are preserved. The cloister (from the middle of the 15th century) is ogival with Romanesque reminiscences and is partly occupied by Lugo's Museum.

The Church, also ogival, dates from the late 14th century or the early 15th. In the façade, there is a slate-masonry square tower. It has three Gothic apses towards St Domingo Square.

Leant against the church we can find the Loneliness Chapel (Capilla de la Soledad) from the late 17th century.

St Domingo's Convent was founded in the 13th century and the church started to be built at the beginning of the 14th. St Vicente Ferrer preached here in front of the church.

The monument was repaired several times. Nowadays it is the convent and church for Agustinian nuns.

The Convent of Dominicans of St Mary - A Nova Church was founded in the 14th century. Nothing of the old building is preserved. The present-day convent is Neo-classical from the 17th century and it was repaired. The local tax office is situated in the oldest part. In the church we can find the parish church Santiago - A Nova.

St Froilán's Church is equivalent to the old one at the Hospitals of St Bartholomew and St Juan de Dios. It is baroque from the late 17th century. In the façade, we can see the coat of arms of Bishop Izquierdo. The hospital caught fire in the 19th century and was pulled down. It was replaced by Milagrosa School and the chapel is nowadays the see of St Froilán parish church.

Outside the walled enclosure, near St Peter's Gate, we find St Roque's Chapel. It is baroque from the 18th century and was built by Ferro Caaveiro. There is a porch at the entrance and an image of the Saint on the top.

From 1773, Lugo's Town Council go to this chapel every year during the feasts in honour of St Roque.

The most important of the civil buildings is the City Hall on the upper part of the Main Square. It was built in 1738 by Ferro Caaveiro in a baroque style.

The Clock Tower was built in 1871 to provide the city with an official time in contrast to the ecclesiastic time of the Cathedral. The clock, which was first built for Málaga's Cathedral, was considered the most perfect of the tower clocks.

St Mark's Palace lies on the street of the same name. It was built in 1886 to be the hospital that would replace the old one of St Bartholomew in the site where St Mark's Chapel had been before. It was occupied by the provincial Museum, schools and the Public Library.

Nowadays it is the see of the County Council Offices of Lugo.

St Ferdinan's Barracks dates from the middle of the 19th century and lies in the street of the same name. It is in front of St Froilán's Church and in the future, the Auditorium is expected to be built there.

We must also mention the Arts Circle, Lugo's social and arts club founded in the middle of the 19th century.

The great poet Luis Pimentel talked about Lugo's Main Square as 'the visiting hall of my town'. We will visit now the oldest square in Lugo, Plaza del Campo.

Here joined two great ways in the Roman period: Cardus (nowadays St Peter's Street - Main Square) and Decumanus (today the street called Ruanova).

The Roman forum is thought to have been here. Just in the middle, there is a fountain with a statue of St Vicente Ferrer and the coat of arms of Bishop Izquierdo. The Bishop had worked hard so that water supply came to this fountain. This made the priest of Fruíme sing:

Ya que para los brindis
materia estás ofreciendo,
a tu salud, Izquierdo, beba Lugo,
y mientras beba Lugo, viva Izquierdo.

Bishop Izquierdo Square is next to the gate of the same name in the place that is also called Campo Castillo.

St Roque's Square is next to the chapel of the same name. In the middle of the square there is a bust of the great musician Juan Montes Capón.

Ferrol Square lies between the Wall, St Froilán's Church and St Ferdinan's Barracks.

St Mary lies between the Cathedral and the Bishop's Palace as if it tried to get a bigger bond with the Main Square.

This is the great Faith Square together with Pío XII Square that joins Cathedral and Wall.

Plaza de la Soledad (Loneliness Square) next to the Museum and St Francis leads us to the second great square in Lugo.

St Domingo's Square was a market in the past and today it has the great emblem that guarantees the foundation of the city by Caesar Augustus more than 2,000 years ago.

Calle de la Reina (Queen Street), opened in 1854 by Isabel II, leads us to the first square in Lugo.

We reach the Main Square, which was also called Real, Constitución, de la República, de Isabel II, de España.

On the upper part, we find the City Hall and the Franciscan Convent on one side. The present-day garden replaced an old stone-pavement and a great fountain. The lions of the old fountain still watch the entrance to the square.

The box in the middle of the square continues to be used by the Band of Lugo.

The French writer Mabille de Poncheville visited Lugo in 1928 on St Froilán's Day. He showed evidence of this visit in the quotation:

 An ill poet would have a happy life in Lugo.