FERREIRA on the PRIMITIVE WAY
Ferreira do Negral (San Martiño), Ferreira from now on, is one of the villages (‘parroquias’ in Galicia) of the Northern part of the municipality of Palas de Rei (Lugo). A little hamlet crossed by the Primitive Way, 26km from Lugo, which makes it an ideal stopping point for Stage 10 of this Way of St. James. It is a typical hamlet of the Galician countryside, made up of scattered groups of houses, with hardly 50 inhabitants in total, among gentle hills with pastures and forests of pine, oak, chestnut and eucalyptus trees. The average age of the population of Ferreira is quite high, as is the usual case in the Galician countryside, and most of its working age inhabitants work in agriculture or cattle raising.
Ferreira is becoming a town of services devoted to the Primitive Way. A casa rural (home renting rooms) had been in the hamlet for years. In 2012 the Albergue Ponte Ferreira was inaugurated. In 2016, a bar and another albergue (Albergue A Nave) were opened for pilgrims. There’s also a small shop of handicrafts and hand made soaps, as well as several monuments to visit, such as the Church of San Martiño de Ferreira, of Romanesque origin, or the Roman Bridge of Ferreira, of Roman origin. That bridge was the only way to cross the Ferreira River when travelling on the Roman road from Lugo to Iria Flavia.
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The Ferreira River passes through Ferreira. It is a river with high environmental and historical value, with a few ancient water mills preserved in the vecinity.
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Within a few kilometers of Ferreira you can find several monuments and touristic locations to visit, such as the Church of Vilar de Donas, the Castle of Pambre, The Arqueological site of Santa Eulalia de Bóveda, the Monastery of Sobrado dos Monxes or the Castle-Fortress of San Paio de Narla.
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