A Rúa is a mostly rural Galician municipality in the

comarca A ''comarca'' (, or , or ) is a traditional region or local administrative division found in Portugal, Spain and some of their former colonies, like Brazil, Nicaragua, and Panama. The term is derived from the term ''marca'', meaning a "march, ...

Valdeorras Valdeorras is a comarca in the Galician Province of Ourense. The overall population of this local region is 25,500 (2019). Municipalities *O Barco de Valdeorras, capital of the comarca *O Bolo *Carballeda de Valdeorras *Larouco * Petín * A ...

, eastern province of Ourense, Spain, 101 km (63 mi) from the provincial capital,

Ourense Ourense (; es, Orense ) is a city and capital of the province of Ourense, located in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Galicia (Spain), Galicia, northwestern Spain. It is on the Camino Sanabrés path of the Way of St ...

. An inhabitant of the area is known as a ''Rués'' (plural ''Rueses''). It contains three ''

parroquia ''Parroquia'' (, , pl. ''parroquias''; , pl. ''parroquies'') or ''Parròquia'' (, pl. ''parròquies'') is a term equivalent to the English Parish; used in Andorra, Ecuador, Venezuela, Peru and some parts of northwestern Spain. It can be found i ...

s'': A Rúa de Valdeorras, Roblido and San Xulián.

Geography

The municipality of A Rúa is bordered on the north by lugués de Quiroga and in the east by

Vilamartín de Valdeorras Vilamartín de Valdeorras is a municipality in Ourense in the Galicia region of north-west Spain. It is located in the very northeast of the province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The ter ...

east, it is part of the

Diocese of Astorga The Roman Catholic Diocese of Astorga ( la, Asturicensis) is a diocese whose seat is in the city of Astorga, in the province of León, Castile and León, Spain.Valdeorras valley. The Cereixido hills are on the northern part of the municipality, with Cabeza Porriñas (1.221 m) as its highest point. The river Sil marks the southern boundary of the municipality. The temperate Mediterranean climate is marked by low rainfall and dry summers. Its micro climate and terrain makes the region excellent for

viticulture Viticulture (from the Latin word for ''vine'') or winegrowing (wine growing) is the cultivation and harvesting of grapes. It is a branch of the science of horticulture. While the native territory of ''Vitis vinifera'', the common grape vine, ran ...

History

According to

Pliny the Elder Gaius Plinius Secundus (AD 23/2479), called Pliny the Elder (), was a Roman author, naturalist and natural philosopher, and naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and a friend of the emperor Vespasian. He wrote the encyclopedic '' ...

, before the arrival of the

Romans Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

, A Rúa and the rest of the

was occupied by the Celtiberian Cigurri tribe (also known as the Egurri). The medieval and modern name of the comarca is derived from this tribe meaning "valley of the Cigurri" (Val de Geurres) The Cigurri were part of the Cismontani branch of the Asturian people. They spoke the

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language * Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Fo ...

Gallaecian language Gallaecian, or Northwestern Hispano-Celtic, is an extinct Celtic language of a Hispano-Celtic group. It was spoken by the Gallaeci at the beginning of the 1st millennium in the northwest corner of the Iberian Peninsula that became the Roman ...

. The Romans under Emperor

Augustus Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian, was the first Roman emperor; he reigned from 27 BC until his death in AD 14. He is known for being the founder of the Roman Pri ...

invaded in 25 BC leading to the Asturian war which lasted until 19 BC, although there were minor rebellions until 16 BC. Near A Rúa and

Petín Petín is a municipality in the Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisi ...

was the location of the Forum Cigurrorum, the political center of the Cigurri, located on the via Nova (via XVIII) between

Bracara Augusta Braga ( , ; cel-x-proto, Bracara) is a city and a municipality, capital of the northwestern Portuguese district of Braga and of the historical and cultural Minho Province. Braga Municipality has a resident population of 193,333 inhabitants (in ...

and

Asturica Augusta Astorga () is a municipality and city of Spain located in the central area of the province of León, in the autonomous community of Castilla y León, southwest of the provincial capital. It is located in the transit between the Páramo Leonés ...

. After the Germanic invasions, the municipality was part of the

Suebic Kingdom The Kingdom of the Suebi ( la, Regnum Suevorum), also called the Kingdom of Galicia ( la, Regnum Galicia) or Suebi Kingdom of Galicia ( la, Galicia suevorum regnum), was a Germanic post-Roman kingdom that was one of the first to separate from ...

and then the

Visigothic Kingdom The Visigothic Kingdom, officially the Kingdom of the Goths ( la, Regnum Gothorum), was a kingdom that occupied what is now southwestern France and the Iberian Peninsula from the 5th to the 8th centuries. One of the Germanic peoples, Germanic su ...

. It was known as Geurres or Giorres and was home to a

mint MiNT is Now TOS (MiNT) is a free software alternative operating system kernel for the Atari ST system and its successors. It is a multi-tasking alternative to TOS and MagiC. Together with the free system components fVDI device drivers, XaA ...

during the reigns of

Witteric Witteric ( es, Witerico; Portuguese and Galician: ''Viterico''; 565 – April 610) was the Visigoth King of Hispania, Septimania and Galicia. He ruled from 603 to 610. Rise to power The first mention of Witteric in history was as a conspirator ...

and Suintila (603–631). Muslims ruled the region briefly until king

Alfonso I of Asturias Alfonso I of Asturias, called the Catholic (''el Católico''), (c. 693 – 757) was the third King of Asturias, reigning from 739 to his death in 757. His reign saw an extension of the Christian domain of Asturias, reconquering Galicia and Le ...

(739–757) retook the region in the

Reconquista The ' (Spanish, Portuguese and Galician for "reconquest") is a historiographical construction describing the 781-year period in the history of the Iberian Peninsula between the Umayyad conquest of Hispania in 711 and the fall of the Nasrid ...

. The comarca of

was depopulated after its capture by Alfonso I as part of the

Desert of the Duero A desert is a barren area of landscape where little precipitation occurs and, consequently, living conditions are hostile for plant and animal life. The lack of vegetation exposes the unprotected surface of the ground to denudation. About on ...

, a buffer zone he created between Asturias and the Muslim states. During the reign of Ordoño I of Asturias (850–866) the re-population of the uninhabited zone began. The people who descended the mountains of the north for the uninhabited valleys were called foramontanos: meaning "out of the mountains." A Rúa, also known as San Esteban de La Rúa during the Middle Ages, was the historical capital of Valdeorras. The region was under the successive rule of the kingdoms of

Asturias Asturias (, ; ast, Asturies ), officially the Principality of Asturias ( es, Principado de Asturias; ast, Principáu d'Asturies; Galician-Asturian: ''Principao d'Asturias''), is an autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in nor ...

, Galicia, León, and Castile. During the

Spanish War of Independence The Peninsular War (1807–1814) was the military conflict fought in the Iberian Peninsula by Spain, Portugal, and the United Kingdom against the invading and occupying forces of the First French Empire during the Napoleonic Wars. In Spain, ...

, Spanish guerrillas and Napoleon's

Grande Armée ''La Grande Armée'' (; ) was the main military component of the French Imperial Army commanded by Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte during the Napoleonic Wars. From 1804 to 1808, it won a series of military victories that allowed the French Empi ...

clashed in the region. Until the new administrative division of Spain in 1833, Valdeorras was part of the province of El Bierzo, and was considered part of León. Afterwards, it became a comarca of Galicia. The opening of the

Palencia Palencia () is a city of Spain located in the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is the capital and most populated municipality of the province of Palencia. Located in the Northwest of the Iberian Peninsula, in the northern half o ...

–

A Coruña A Coruña (; es, La Coruña ; historical English: Corunna or The Groyne) is a city and municipality of Galicia, Spain. A Coruña is the most populated city in Galicia and the second most populated municipality in the autonomous community and s ...

railway line on 1 September 1883 was a decisive moment for the economy of the region.

Economy

Since ancient times Valdeorras has been a wine-producing region due to its climate and position on the river Sil. Its main source of income remains the production of wines and

spirits Spirit or spirits may refer to: Liquor and other volatile liquids * Spirits, a.k.a. liquor, distilled alcoholic drinks * Spirit or tincture, an extract of plant or animal material dissolved in ethanol * Volatile (especially flammable) liquids, ...

. The identity of the municipality is unequivocally linked to the wine and its multiple warehouses attest to this. Acting as a test of the quality of its wines, in 2011, the renowned winemaker Robert M. Parker's cataloged them among the elite in world of wines. Although within the municipality there is no mining, many residents of the area are active in the extraction of slate in other municipalities of the district. Besides wine and slate, other activities that invigorate economic activity in the municipality are power generation, carpentry, goods transportation, hospitality, food, a factory that was recently built, and auxiliary automotive industry.

Natural and historic heritage

Los elementos más relevantes desde el punto de vista turístico, del municipio, son: * Cigarrosa Bridge, a Roman bridge crossing the Sil river. A Roman villa (Opus figlinum) with baths and inscriptions was excavated near the bridge in 1896. It belonged to a Pompeius Reburro. It connects the town of A Rúa with the town of Petín. Today the bridge is pedestrian. * Santo Estevo da Rúa Church, constructed in the 16th century. It is one of the most remarkable ecclesiastical buildings of the region. * Reservoir of Saint Martin river area: On the banks of the river Sil river is a fascinating river ecosystem. On the same pier and extends a riverside walk with leafy poplars and a sports and recreational area. * The municipality is crossed by a variant of the Camino de Santiago, called Camino de Invierno. It is a shortcut that prevented the ascent to Cebreiro in winter.

References

External links

Concello A Rúa
{{DEFAULTSORT:A Rua Municipalities in the Province of Ourense