Galicians
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Galicians ( gl, galegos, es, gallegos, link=no) are a
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 ...
-
Romance Romance (from Vulgar Latin , "in the Roman language", i.e., "Latin") may refer to: Common meanings * Romance (love), emotional attraction towards another person and the courtship behaviors undertaken to express the feelings * Romance languages, ...
ethnic group An ethnic group or an ethnicity is a grouping of people who identify with each other on the basis of shared attributes that distinguish them from other groups. Those attributes can include common sets of traditions, ancestry, language, history, ...
from Spain that is closely related to the
Portuguese people The Portuguese people () are a Romance nation and ethnic group indigenous to Portugal who share a common culture, ancestry and language. The Portuguese people's heritage largely derives from the pre-Celts, Proto-Celts (Lusitanians, Conii) a ...
and has its historic homeland is Galicia, in the north-west of the
Iberian Peninsula The Iberian Peninsula (), ** * Aragonese and Occitan: ''Peninsula Iberica'' ** ** * french: Péninsule Ibérique * mwl, Península Eibérica * eu, Iberiar penintsula also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in southwestern Europe, defi ...
. Two
Romance languages The Romance languages, sometimes referred to as Latin languages or Neo-Latin languages, are the various modern languages that evolved from Vulgar Latin. They are the only extant subgroup of the Italic languages in the Indo-European language fam ...
are widely spoken and official in Galicia: the native Galician and Spanish.


Etymology

The
ethnonym An ethnonym () is a name applied to a given ethnic group. Ethnonyms can be divided into two categories: exonyms (whose name of the ethnic group has been created by another group of people) and autonyms, or endonyms (whose name is created and used ...
of the Galicians (''galegos'') derives directly from the Latin ''
Gallaeci The Gallaeci (also Callaeci or Callaici; grc, Καλλαϊκοί) were a Celtic tribal complex who inhabited Gallaecia, the north-western corner of Iberia, a region roughly corresponding to what is now the Norte Region in northern Portugal, an ...
'' or ''Callaeci'', itself an adaptation of the name of a local Celtic tribe known to the Greeks as Καλλαϊκoί (''Kallaikoí''). They lived in what is now Galicia and northern
Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...
and were defeated by the Roman General
Decimus Junius Brutus Callaicus Decimus Junius Brutus Callaicus (or Gallaecus or Callaecus; c. 180113 BC) was a consul of the Roman Republic for the year 138 BC together with Publius Cornelius Scipio Nasica Serapio. He was an optimate politician and a military commander in His ...
in the 2nd century BCE and later conquered by
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 ...
. The Romans later applied that name to all the people who shared the same
culture Culture () is an umbrella term which encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, customs, capabilities, and habits of the individuals in these groups.Tyl ...
and
language Language is a structured system of communication. The structure of a language is its grammar and the free components are its vocabulary. Languages are the primary means by which humans communicate, and may be conveyed through a variety of met ...
in the north-west, from the
Douro River The Douro (, , ; es, Duero ; la, Durius) is the highest-flow river of the Iberian Peninsula. It rises near Duruelo de la Sierra in Soria Province, central Spain, meanders south briefly then flows generally west through the north-west part o ...
valley in the south to the
Cantabrian Sea The Cantabrian Sea; french: Mer Cantabrique, gl, Mar Cantábrico, ast, Mar Cantábricu, eu, Kantauri. is the term used mostly in Spain to describe the coastal sea of the Atlantic Ocean that borders the northern coast of Spain and the southwe ...
in the north and west to the
Navia River The Navia is a river in northern Spain flowing South to North from Galicia into the Autonomous Community of Asturias. It discharges into the Bay of Biscay through an estuary called ''Ría de Navia''. See also * List of rivers of Spain * Rive ...
. That encompassed such tribes as the
Celtici ] The Celtici (in Portuguese language, Portuguese, Spanish, and Galician languages, ) were a Celtic tribe or group of tribes of the Iberian peninsula, inhabiting three definite areas: in what today are the regions of Alentejo and the Algarve i ...
, the
Artabri According to Strabo, the Artabri (or Arrotrebae) were an ancient Gallaecian Celtic tribe, living in the extreme north-west of modern Galicia, about Cape Nerium (Cabo Prior), outskirts of the city and port of Ferrol, where in Roman times, in the ...
, the
Lemavi The Lemavi were an ancient Gallaecian Celtic tribe, living in the center-east of the modern Galicia, in the Monforte de Lemos's county. See also *Pre-Roman peoples of the Iberian Peninsula This is a list of the pre- Roman people of the Iberian ...
and the
Albiones The Albiones or Albioni were a Gallaecian people living the north coast of modern Spain in western Asturias and eastern Galicia mentioned by Pliny the Elder. They are generally included in maps of Roman Spain. The name ''Albiones'' is also atteste ...
. The oldest known inscription referring to the Gallaeci (reading ''Ἔθνο ςΚαλλαικῶ ', "people of the Gallaeci") was found in 1981 in the Sebasteion of Aphrodisias, Turkey; a triumphal monument to Roman Emperor Augustus mentions them among other 15 nations that he conquered. The etymology of the name has been studied since the 7th century by authors such as
Isidore of Seville Isidore of Seville ( la, Isidorus Hispalensis; c. 560 – 4 April 636) was a Spanish scholar, theologian, and archbishop of Seville. He is widely regarded, in the words of 19th-century historian Montalembert, as "the last scholar of ...
, who wrote, "Galicians are called so because of their fair skin, as the Gauls" and related the name to the Greek word for "milk," γάλα (gála). However, modern scholars like J.J. Moralejo and Carlos Búa have derived the name of the ancient ''Callaeci'' either from
Proto-Indo-European Proto-Indo-European (PIE) is the reconstructed common ancestor of the Indo-European language family. Its proposed features have been derived by linguistic reconstruction from documented Indo-European languages. No direct record of Proto-Indo-E ...
*kl̥(H)‑n‑ 'hill', through a local relational
suffix In linguistics, a suffix is an affix which is placed after the stem of a word. Common examples are case endings, which indicate the grammatical case of nouns, adjectives, and verb endings, which form the conjugation of verbs. Suffixes can carry ...
''-aik-'', also attested in
Celtiberian language Celtiberian or Northeastern Hispano-Celtic is an extinct Indo-European language of the Celtic branch spoken by the Celtiberians in an area of the Iberian Peninsula between the headwaters of the Douro, Tagus, Júcar and Turia rivers and the Eb ...
and so meaning 'the highlanders'; or either from
Proto-Celtic Proto-Celtic, or Common Celtic, is the ancestral proto-language of all known Celtic languages, and a descendant of Proto-Indo-European. It is not attested in writing but has been partly Linguistic reconstruction, reconstructed through the compar ...
*''kallī''- 'forest' and so means 'the forest (people)'. Another recent proposal comes from the linguist Francesco Benozzo, who is not specialized in Celtic languages and identified the root ''gall-'' / ''kall-'' in a number of Celtic words with the meaning "stone" or "rock", as follows: ''gall'' (old Irish), ''gal'' (Middle Welsh), ''gailleichan'' (Scottish Gaelic), ''galagh'' (Manx) and ''gall'' (Gaulish). Hence, Benozzo explains the name ''Callaecia'' and its ethnonym ''Callaeci'' as being "the stone people" or "the people of the stone" ("those who work with stones"), in reference to the ancient
megalith A megalith is a large stone that has been used to construct a prehistoric structure or monument, either alone or together with other stones. There are over 35,000 in Europe alone, located widely from Sweden to the Mediterranean sea. The ...
s and stone formations that are so common in Galicia and Portugal. Specialists of the Celtic languages do not consider there is a hypothetical Gaulish root ''*gall'' meaning "stone" or "rock", but ''*galiā'' "strength" (> French ''gaill-ard'' "strong"), related to Old Irish ''gal'' "berserk rage, war fury", Welsh ''gallu'' and Breton ''galloud'' "power". It is distinct from Gaulish ''*cal(l)io-'' "hoof" or "testicle",LAMBERT 191 related to Welsh ''caill'', Breton ''kell'' "testicle" (> Gaulish ''*caliavo'' > Old French ''chaillou'', French ''caillou''), all from the
Proto-Indo-European Proto-Indo-European (PIE) is the reconstructed common ancestor of the Indo-European language family. Its proposed features have been derived by linguistic reconstruction from documented Indo-European languages. No direct record of Proto-Indo-E ...
root ''*kal-'' "hard hardness" (perhaps via suffixed zero-grade *kl̥H-no-(m)). For instance, in Latin ''callum'' "hard or thick substance" is also found and so both E. Rivas and Juan J. Moralejo relate the toponym ''Gallaecia'' / ''Callaecia'' with the Latin word ''callus''.


Languages


Galician

Galician is a
Romance language The Romance languages, sometimes referred to as Latin languages or Neo-Latin languages, are the various modern languages that evolved from Vulgar Latin. They are the only extant subgroup of the Italic languages in the Indo-European languages, I ...
belonging to the Western Ibero-Romance branch; as such, it derives from
Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
. It has official status in Galicia. Galician is also spoken in the neighbouring autonomous communities 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 community in northwest Spain. It is coextensiv ...
and
Castile and León Castile and León ( es, Castilla y León ; ast-leo, Castiella y Llión ; gl, Castela e León ) is an autonomous community in northwestern Spain. It was created in 1983, eight years after the end of the Francoist regime, by the merging of the ...
, near their borders with Galicia. Medieval or Old Galician, also known by linguists as
Galician-Portuguese Galician-Portuguese ( gl, galego-portugués or ', pt, galego-português or ), also known as Old Portuguese or as Medieval Galician when referring to the history of each modern language, was a West Iberian languages, West Iberian Romance languag ...
, developed locally in the Northwest of the Iberian Peninsula from
Vulgar Latin Vulgar Latin, also known as Popular or Colloquial Latin, is the range of non-formal Register (sociolinguistics), registers of Latin spoken from the Crisis of the Roman Republic, Late Roman Republic onward. Through time, Vulgar Latin would evolve ...
, becoming the language spoken and written in the medieval kingdoms of Galicia (from 1230 united with the kingdoms of León and Castille under the same sovereign) and
Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...
. The Galician-Portuguese language developed a rich literary tradition from the last years of the 12th century. During the 13th century it gradually replaced Latin as the language used in public and private charters, deeds, and legal documents, in Galicia, Portugal, and in the neighbouring regions in Asturias and Leon. Galician-Portuguese diverged into two linguistic varieties – Galician and Portuguese – from the 15th century on. Galician became a regional variety under the influence of
Castilian Spanish In English, Castilian Spanish can mean the variety of Peninsular Spanish spoken in northern and central Spain, the standard form of Spanish, or Spanish from Spain in general. In Spanish, the term (Castilian) can either refer to the Spanish langua ...
, while Portuguese became the international one, as language of the
Portuguese Empire The Portuguese Empire ( pt, Império Português), also known as the Portuguese Overseas (''Ultramar Português'') or the Portuguese Colonial Empire (''Império Colonial Português''), was composed of the overseas colonies, factories, and the l ...
. The two varieties are still close together, and in particular northern Portuguese dialects share an important number of similarities with Galician ones. The official institution regulating the Galician language, backed by the Galician government and universities, the Royal Galician Academy, claims that modern Galician must be considered an independent Romance language belonging to the group of Ibero-Romance languages and having strong ties with Portuguese and its northern dialects. However, the '' Associaçom Galega da Língua'' (Galician Language Association) and '' Academia Galega da Língua Portuguesa'' (Galician Academy of the Portuguese Language), belonging to the Reintegrationist movement, support the idea that differences between Galician and Portuguese speech are not enough to justify considering them as separate languages: Galician is simply one variety of Galician-Portuguese, along with European Portuguese, Brazilian Portuguese, African Portuguese, the Galician-Portuguese still spoken in Spanish Extremadura, (''Fala''), and other variations. Nowadays, despite the positive effects of official recognition of the Galician language, Galicia's socio-linguistic development has experienced the growing influence of Spanish and persistent linguistic erosion of Galician due to the media as well as legal imposition of Spanish in learning. Galicia also boasts a rich oral tradition, in the form of songs, tales, and sayings, which has made a vital contribution to the spread and development of the Galician language. Still flourishing today, this tradition shares much with that of Portugal.


Surnames

Galician surnames, as is the case in most European cultures, can be divided into
patronymic A patronymic, or patronym, is a component of a personal name based on the given name of one's father, grandfather (avonymic), or an earlier male ancestor. Patronymics are still in use, including mandatory use, in many countries worldwide, alt ...
(originally based on one's father's name),
occupational Employment is a relationship between two party (law), parties Regulation, regulating the provision of paid Labour (human activity), labour services. Usually based on a employment contract, contract, one party, the employer, which might be a co ...
,
toponymic Toponymy, toponymics, or toponomastics is the study of '' toponyms'' (proper names of places, also known as place names and geographic names), including their origins, meanings, usage and types. Toponym is the general term for a proper name of ...
or cognominal. The first group,
patronymic A patronymic, or patronym, is a component of a personal name based on the given name of one's father, grandfather (avonymic), or an earlier male ancestor. Patronymics are still in use, including mandatory use, in many countries worldwide, alt ...
includes many of the most frequent surnames and became fixed during the Low Middle Ages; it includes surnames derived from etyma formed with or without the additions of the patronymical suffixes -az, -ez, -iz: ''Alberte'' (
Albert Albert may refer to: Companies * Albert (supermarket), a supermarket chain in the Czech Republic * Albert Heijn, a supermarket chain in the Netherlands * Albert Market, a street market in The Gambia * Albert Productions, a record label * Alber ...
); Afonso (
Alfons Alphons (Latinized ''Alphonsus'', ''Adelphonsus'', or ''Adefonsus'') is a male given name recorded from the 8th century (Alfonso I of Asturias, r. 739–757) in the Christian successor states of the Visigothic kingdom in the Iberian peninsula. ...
); ''Anes'', ''Oanes'', Yanes (
Iohannes Johannes is a Medieval Latin form of the personal name that usually appears as "John" in English language contexts. It is a variant of the Greek and Classical Latin variants (Ιωάννης, '' Ioannes''), itself derived from the Hebrew name '' Ye ...
);
Arias In music, an aria (Italian: ; plural: ''arie'' , or ''arias'' in common usage, diminutive form arietta , plural ariette, or in English simply air) is a self-contained piece for one voice, with or without instrumental or orchestral accompani ...
; Bernárdez (
Bernard Bernard (''Bernhard'') is a French and West Germanic masculine given name. It is also a surname. The name is attested from at least the 9th century. West Germanic ''Bernhard'' is composed from the two elements ''bern'' "bear" and ''hard'' "brav ...
); Bermúdez (Medieval Galician ''Uermues'', cf. Wermuth); ''Cristobo'' (
Christopher Christopher is the English language, English version of a Europe-wide name derived from the Greek language, Greek name Χριστόφορος (''Christophoros'' or ''Christoforos''). The constituent parts are Χριστός (''Christós''), "Jesus ...
); ''Diz'' (from Didaci); Estévez ( Stephan);
Fernández Fernández () is a Spanish surname meaning "son of Fernando". The Germanic name that it derives from ( Gothic: ''Frið-nanð'') means "brave traveler." The Portuguese version of this surname is Fernandes. The Arabized version is ''Ibn Faranda' ...
; ''Fiz'' (from Felici); ''
Froiz Distribuciones Froiz, S.A. is a Spanish supermarket chain based in Poio, Galicia. It operates in the Spanish regions of Galicia, Castile and León, Castilla-La Mancha, Madrid and in Northern Portugal. It is the seventeenth company with the hi ...
'', ''Frois'' (From ''Froilaci'', from the
Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...
personal name Froila, "lord"); ''Giance'' (Latin Iulianici); González; Henríquez (
Henry Henry may refer to: People *Henry (given name) * Henry (surname) * Henry Lau, Canadian singer and musician who performs under the mononym Henry Royalty * Portuguese royalty ** King-Cardinal Henry, King of Portugal ** Henry, Count of Portugal, ...
); ''Martís'' (
Martin Martin may refer to: Places * Martin City (disambiguation) * Martin County (disambiguation) * Martin Township (disambiguation) Antarctica * Martin Peninsula, Marie Byrd Land * Port Martin, Adelie Land * Point Martin, South Orkney Islands Austr ...
);
Méndez Méndez is a common Spanish surname, originally a patronymic, meaning ''Son of Mendo'', ''Menendo'', or ''Mem''. A longer form sharing the same root is Menéndez, while the Portuguese form is Mendes. Méndez may refer to: General * Ana G. Mén ...
( Menendici); ''Miguéns'', ''Miguez'' (from Michaelici, equivalent to
Michaels Michaels Stores, Inc., more commonly known as Michaels, is a privately held chain of 1,252 American and Canadian arts and crafts stores, as of January 2021. It is one of North America's largest providers of arts, crafts, framing, floral and wall ...
); Páez, ''Pais'', ''Paz'' (from ''Pelagici'',
Pelagio Pelagio is a masculine given name. Notable people with the name include: * Pelagio Antonio de Labastida y Dávalos (1816–1891), Mexican Roman Catholic prelate * Pelagio Galvani (c. 1165 – 1230), Spanish cardinal * Pelagio Luna (1867–1919), A ...
); Ramírez; ''Reimúndez'' (
Raymond Raymond is a male given name. It was borrowed into English from French (older French spellings were Reimund and Raimund, whereas the modern English and French spellings are identical). It originated as the Germanic ᚱᚨᚷᛁᚾᛗᚢᚾᛞ ( ...
); Rodríguez;
Sánchez Sánchez is a Spanish family name. Historical origins "The illustrious Sanchez Family... is descended from one of a number of Gothic knights (caballeros) who in the year 714 escaped from the "barbara furia" of the Mohammedan invasion and took ...
; ''Sueiro'' (from Suarius); ''Tomé'' (from
Thomas Thomas may refer to: People * List of people with given name Thomas * Thomas (name) * Thomas (surname) * Saint Thomas (disambiguation) * Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274) Italian Dominican friar, philosopher, and Doctor of the Church * Thomas the A ...
); ''Viéitez'', ''Vieites'' (Benedictici,
Benedict Benedict may refer to: People Names *Benedict (given name), including a list of people with the given name *Benedict (surname), including a list of people with the surname Religious figures * Pope Benedict I (died 579), head of the Catholic Chu ...
), among many others. Because of the settlement of Galician
colonist A settler is a person who has migrated to an area and established a permanent residence there, often to colonize the area. A settler who migrates to an area previously uninhabited or sparsely inhabited may be described as a pioneer. Settle ...
s in southern Spain during 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 ...
, some of the more frequent and distinctively Galician surnames also became popular in Spanish (which had its own related forms) and were taken later into the
Americas The Americas, which are sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North and South America. The Americas make up most of the land in Earth's Western Hemisphere and comprise the New World. Along with th ...
, as a consequence of the expansion of the
Spanish empire The Spanish Empire ( es, link=no, Imperio español), also known as the Hispanic Monarchy ( es, link=no, Monarquía Hispánica) or the Catholic Monarchy ( es, link=no, Monarquía Católica) was a colonial empire governed by Spain and its prede ...
: The largest surname group is the one derived from toponyms, which usually referred to the place of origin or residence of the bearer. These places can be European countries (as is the case in the surnames Bretaña, Franza,
España , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...
,
Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...
) or nations (
Franco Franco may refer to: Name * Franco (name) * Francisco Franco (1892–1975), Spanish general and dictator of Spain from 1939 to 1975 * Franco Luambo (1938–1989), Congolese musician, the "Grand Maître" Prefix * Franco, a prefix used when ref ...
, "
Frenchman The French people (french: Français) are an ethnic group and nation primarily located in Western Europe that share a common French culture, history, and language, identified with the country of France. The French people, especially th ...
"); Galician regions ( Bergantiños,
Carnota Carnota is a municipality of northwestern Spain in the province of A Coruña, autonomous community of Galicia. It belongs to the comarca of Muros. It has an area of 66.4 km2, a population of 5,285 (2004 estimate) and a population density of ...
, ''Cavarcos'', Sanlés); or cities, towns or villages, which gave origin to a few thousand surnames. Another related group is formed with the
preposition Prepositions and postpositions, together called adpositions (or broadly, in traditional grammar, simply prepositions), are a class of words used to express spatial or temporal relations (''in'', ''under'', ''towards'', ''before'') or mark various ...
''de'', usually contracted with the definite article as ''da'' or ''do'', and a common appellative: ''Dacosta'' (or
Da Costa Costa (, , , , ), sometimes Costas, da Costa, Da Costa, or Dalla Costa, is an Italian, Portuguese and Spanish surname. The surname spread throughout the world through colonization. It is also a surname chosen by Jews and other religious groups due ...
), "of the slope", ''Dopazo'' or ''Do Pazo'' ("of the palace/manor house"); ''Doval'', "of the valley" (cfr. French
Duval Duval is a surname, literally translating from French language, French to English language, English as "of the valley". It derives from the Normans, Norman "Devall", which has both English and French ties. Variant spellings include: Davolls, Deav ...
), ''Daponte'' ("of the bridge"), ''Davila'' ("of the town", not to be confused with Spanish Dávila), ''Daporta'' ("of the gate"); Dasilva ("of the forest"), ''Dorrío'' ("of the river"), ''Datorre'' ("of the Tower"). Through rebracketing, some of these surnames gave origin to others such as Acosta or ''Acuña''. A few of these toponymic surnames can be considered
nobiliary Nobiliary (foaled 14 February 1972) was an American-bred, French-trained Thoroughbred racehorse and broodmare. She recorded her biggest win in the Washington, D.C.International in 1975, a year in which she became (and remains) the only filly ...
, as they first appear as the name of some Galician noble houses, later expanding when these nobles began to serve as officials of the
Spanish Empire The Spanish Empire ( es, link=no, Imperio español), also known as the Hispanic Monarchy ( es, link=no, Monarquía Hispánica) or the Catholic Monarchy ( es, link=no, Monarquía Católica) was a colonial empire governed by Spain and its prede ...
, in Spain or elsewhere, as a way of maintaining them both far from Galicia and useful to the Empire:
Andrade Andrade is a surname of Galician origin, which emerged in the 12th century as the family name of the knights and lords of the small parish of ''San Martiño de Andrade'' ( St. Martin of Andrade), in the municipality of Pontedeume. The first ment ...
(from the house of Andrade, itself from the name of a village), Mejía or ''Mexía'' (from the house of
Mesía Mesía is a municipality in the northwestern Spanish province of 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 Galic ...
), Saavedra,
Soutomaior : ''For the former Formula-1 driver see Nelson Piquet Souto Maior'' Soutomaior is a municipality in the province of Pontevedra, autonomous community of Galicia, Spain. According to the INE INE, Ine or ine may refer to: Institutions * Institut ...
(Hispanicized
Sotomayor Sotomayor is a Galician surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Sonia Sotomayor, U.S. Supreme Court justice In arts and entertainment * Carlos Sotomayor (1911–1988), Chilean painter * Chris Sotomayor, artist who works as a colorist ...
), Ulloa, Moscoso, Mariñas,
Figueroa Figueroa ( gl, Figueiroa) is a Spanish surname of Galician origin. Notable people with the surname include: *Álvaro de Figueroa, 1st Count of Romanones (1863–1950), Spanish politician, Prime Minister (1912-1918) *Amon Tobin (1972–), Brazili ...
among others. Some of these families also served in Portugal, as the Andrade, Soutomaior or
Lemos Lemos is a Portuguese-language surname. It can be also Greek (Λεμός). Notable people by that name include: Portuguese surname * Álvaro Lemos (born 1993), Spanish professional footballer. * Amanda Lemos (born 1987), Brazilian mixed martia ...
(who originated in
Monforte de Lemos Monforte de Lemos is a city and municipality in northwestern Spain, in the province of Lugo, Galicia. It covers an area of 200 km² and lies 62 km from Lugo. As of 2017 it had a population of 18,783. Location Monforte de Lemos i ...
). As a result, these surnames are by now distributed all around the world. The third group of surnames are the occupational ones, derived from the
job Work or labor (or labour in British English) is intentional activity people perform to support the needs and wants of themselves, others, or a wider community. In the context of economics, work can be viewed as the human activity that contr ...
or
legal status Legal status is the status or position held by an entity as determined by the law. It includes or entails a set of privileges, obligations, powers or restrictions that a person or thing has as encompassed in or declared by legislation. Jack Balki ...
of the bearer:
Ferreiro Ferreiro is a surname of Galician origin, equivalent to English Smith. Notable people with the surname include: *David Ferreiro *Roberto Ferreiro * Iván Ferreiro *Celso Emilio Ferreiro *Franco Ferreiro *Mario Aníbal Ferreiro *Alfredo Mario Ferr ...
("Smith"), Carpinteiro ("Carpenter"), ''Besteiro'' ("Crossbow bearer"), ''Crego'' ("Priest"), Freire ("Friar"), Faraldo ("Herald"),
Pintor Pintor is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Luigi Pintor (1925–2003), Italian politician and journalist *Lupe Pintor (born 1955), Mexican boxer * Pietro Pintor (1880–1940), Italian general *Sergio Pintor Sergio Pintor (16 ...
("Painter"), ''Pedreiro'' ("Stonemason"), ''Gaiteiro'' ("Bagpiper"); and also ''Cabaleiro'' ("Knight"), ''Escudeiro'' ("Esquire"),
Fidalgo ''Fidalgo'' (, ), from Galician and Portuguese —equivalent to nobleman, but sometimes literally translated into English as "son of somebody" or "son of some (important family)"—is a traditional title of Portuguese nobility that refers to a ...
("Nobleman"), ''Juiz'' ("Judge"). The fourth group includes the surnames derived from nicknames, which can have very diverse motivations: a) External appearance, as eye colour (''Ruso'', from Latin roscidus, ''grey-eyed''; ''Garzo'', ''blue-eyed''), hair colour (''Dourado'', "Blonde"; ''Bermello'', "Red"; ''Cerviño'', literally "deer-like", "Tawny, Auburn"; ''Cao'', "white"), complexion ( Branco, "White";
Pardo ''Pardos'' (feminine ''pardas'') is a term used in the former Portuguese and Spanish colonies in the Americas to refer to the triracial descendants of Southern Europeans, Amerindians and West Africans. In some places they were defined as ne ...
, "Swarth";
Delgado Delgado is a Spanish and Portuguese surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Adrián Delgado, Venezuelan actor * Agustín Delgado (born 1974), Ecuadorian footballer * Aidan Delgado, American conscientious objector and anti-war activis ...
, "Slender") or other characteristics: ''Formoso'' ("Handsome"),
Tato Tato (died 510) was an early 6th century king of the Lombards. He was the son of Claffo and a king of the Lething Dynasty. According to Procopius, the Lombards were subject and paid tribute to the Heruli during his reign. In 508, he fought with ...
("Stutterer"),
Forte Forte or Forté may refer to: Music *Forte (music), a musical dynamic meaning "loudly" or "strong" * Forte number, an ordering given to every pitch class set * Forte (notation program), a suite of musical score notation programs * Forte (vocal ...
("Strong"), Calviño ("Bald"), ''Esquerdeiro'' ("Left-handed"). b) Temperament and personality: ''Bonome'', ''Bonhome'' ("Goodman"), ''Fiúza'' ("Who can be trusted"), ''Guerreiro'' ("Warlike"), ''Cordo'' ("Judicious"). c) Tree names: Carballo ("Oak"); ''Amieiro'', ''Ameneiro'' ("Alder"); ''Freijo'' ("Ash tree"). d) Animal names: ''Gerpe'' (from ''Serpe'', "Serpent"); ''Falcón'' ("Falcon"); ''Baleato'' ("Young Whale");
Gato Gato (Spanish for cat) may refer to: People * Gato (given name) *Gato (surname) Places * Gato Island, in the Visayan Sea, Philippines * Gato Island, in the Mochima National Park on the northeastern coast of Venezuela * Gato, Orocovis, Puerto ...
("Cat"); ''Coello'' ("Rabbit"); ''Aguia'' ("Eagle") e) Deeds: ''Romeu'' (a person who pilgrimaged to
Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...
or
the Holy Land The Holy Land; Arabic: or is an area roughly located between the Mediterranean Sea and the Eastern Bank of the Jordan River, traditionally synonymous both with the biblical Land of Israel and with the region of Palestine. The term "Holy L ...
) Many Galician surnames have become Castilianized over the centuries, most notably after the forced submission of the Galician nobility obtained by the
Catholic Monarchs The Catholic Monarchs were Queen Isabella I of Castile and King Ferdinand II of Aragon, whose marriage and joint rule marked the ''de facto'' unification of Spain. They were both from the House of Trastámara and were second cousins, being bot ...
in the last years of the 15th century. This reflected the gradual spread of the
Spanish language Spanish ( or , Castilian) is a Romance languages, Romance language of the Indo-European language family that evolved from colloquial Latin spoken on the Iberian peninsula. Today, it is a world language, global language with more than 500 millio ...
through the cities, in
Santiago de Compostela Santiago de Compostela is the capital of the autonomous community of Galicia, in northwestern Spain. The city has its origin in the shrine of Saint James the Great, now the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, as the destination of the Way of St ...
,
Lugo Lugo (, ; la, Lucus Augusti) is a city in northwestern Spain in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Galicia (Spain), Galicia. It is the capital of the Lugo (province), province of Lugo. The municipality had a population ...
,
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 ...
,
Vigo Vigo ( , , , ) is a city and Municipalities in Spain, municipality in the province of Pontevedra, within the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Galicia (Spain), Galicia, Spain. Located in the northwest of the Iberian Penins ...
and Ferrol, in the last case due to the establishment of an important base of the
Spanish navy The Spanish Navy or officially, the Armada, is the maritime branch of the Spanish Armed Forces and one of the oldest active naval forces in the world. The Spanish Navy was responsible for a number of major historic achievements in navigation, ...
there in the 18th century. For example, surnames like ''Orxás'', ''Veiga'', ''Outeiro'', became ''Orjales'', ''Vega'', ''Otero''. Toponyms like ''
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 ...
'', ''
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 ...
'', ''
Fisterra Fisterra (; es, Finisterre) is a municipality in the province of A Coruña, in the autonomous community of Galicia, Spain. It belongs to the comarca of Fisterra. Fisterra is on Cape Finisterre, the final destination for many pilgrims on the Wa ...
'' became ''Orense'', ''La Coruña'', ''Finisterre''. In many cases this linguistic assimilation created confusion, for example ''Niño da Aguia'' (Galician: ''Eagle's Nest'') was translated into Spanish as ''Niño de la Guía'' (Spanish: the Guide's child) and ''Mesón do Bento'' (Galician: ''Benedict's house'') was translated as ''Mesón del Viento'' (Spanish: House of Wind).


History


Prehistory

The oldest human occupation of Galicia dates to the
Palaeolithic The Paleolithic or Palaeolithic (), also called the Old Stone Age (from Greek: παλαιός ''palaios'', "old" and λίθος ''lithos'', "stone"), is a period in human prehistory that is distinguished by the original development of stone too ...
, when Galicia was covered by a dense oak
temperate rain forest Temperate rainforests are coniferous or broadleaf forests that occur in the temperate zone and receive heavy rain. Temperate rain forests occur in oceanic moist regions around the world: the Pacific temperate rain forests of North American P ...
. The oldest human remains found, at ''Chan do Lindeiro'', are from a woman who lived some 9,300 years ago and died because of a landslide, apparently while leading a pack of three
aurochs The aurochs (''Bos primigenius'') ( or ) is an extinct cattle species, considered to be the wild ancestor of modern domestic cattle. With a shoulder height of up to in bulls and in cows, it was one of the largest herbivores in the Holocen ...
; the genetic study of her remains revealed a woman that was an admixture of
Western Hunter-Gatherer In archaeogenetics, the term Western Hunter-Gatherer (WHG), West European Hunter-Gatherer or Western European Hunter-Gatherer names a distinct ancestral component of modern Europeans, representing descent from a population of Mesolithic hunter-gat ...
and
Magdalenian The Magdalenian cultures (also Madelenian; French: ''Magdalénien'') are later cultures of the Upper Paleolithic and Mesolithic in western Europe. They date from around 17,000 to 12,000 years ago. It is named after the type site of La Madele ...
people. This type of admixture has been observed in France, also. Later on, some 6,500 years ago, a new population arrived from the
Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...
, bringing
agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people to ...
and
husbandry Animal husbandry is the branch of agriculture concerned with animals that are raised for meat, fibre, milk, or other products. It includes day-to-day care, selective breeding, and the raising of livestock. Husbandry has a long history, starti ...
with them. Half of the woodland was razed to pasture and farmland, almost replacing all of the woodland some 5,000 years ago. This new population also changed the landscape with the first permanent human structures, megaliths such as
menhirs A menhir (from Brittonic languages: ''maen'' or ''men'', "stone" and ''hir'' or ''hîr'', "long"), standing stone, orthostat, or lith is a large human-made upright stone, typically dating from the European middle Bronze Age. They can be foun ...
and barrows,
cromlech A cromlech (sometimes also spelled "cromleh" or "cromlêh"; cf Welsh ''crom'', "bent"; ''llech'', "slate") is a megalithic construction made of large stone blocks. The word applies to two different megalithic forms in English, the first being an ...
s and
menhir A menhir (from Brittonic languages: ''maen'' or ''men'', "stone" and ''hir'' or ''hîr'', "long"), standing stone, orthostat, or lith is a large human-made upright stone, typically dating from the European middle Bronze Age. They can be foun ...
s. During the Neolithic Galicia was one of the foci of
Atlantic Europe Atlantic Europe is a geographical term for the western portion of Europe which borders the Atlantic Ocean. The term may refer to the idea of Atlantic Europe as a cultural unit and/or as a biogeographical region. It comprises the Atlantic Isles ...
an
Megalithic Culture A megalith is a large stone that has been used to construct a prehistoric structure or monument, either alone or together with other stones. There are over 35,000 in Europe alone, located widely from Sweden to the Mediterranean sea. The ...
, putting in contact the Mediterranean and south
Iberia The Iberian Peninsula (), ** * Aragonese and Occitan: ''Peninsula Iberica'' ** ** * french: Péninsule Ibérique * mwl, Península Eibérica * eu, Iberiar penintsula also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in southwestern Europe, defi ...
with the rest of Atlantic Europe. Some 4,500 years ago a new culture and population arrived and presumingly admixed with the local farmers, the
Bell beaker The Bell Beaker culture, also known as the Bell Beaker complex or Bell Beaker phenomenon, is an archaeological culture named after the inverted-bell beaker drinking vessel used at the very beginning of the European Bronze Age. Arising from a ...
people, coming ultimately from the
Pontic steppe Pontic, from the Greek ''pontos'' (, ), or "sea", may refer to: The Black Sea Places * The Pontic colonies, on its northern shores * Pontus (region), a region on its southern shores * The Pontic–Caspian steppe, steppelands stretching from no ...
, who introduced copper metallurgy and
weaponry A weapon, arm or armament is any implement or device that can be used to deter, threaten, inflict physical damage, harm, or kill. Weapons are used to increase the efficacy and efficiency of activities such as hunting, crime, law enforcement, s ...
, and probably also new
cultivar A cultivar is a type of cultivated plant that people have selected for desired traits and when propagated retain those traits. Methods used to propagate cultivars include: division, root and stem cuttings, offsets, grafting, tissue culture, ...
s and
breed A breed is a specific group of domestic animals having homogeneous appearance (phenotype), homogeneous behavior, and/or other characteristics that distinguish it from other organisms of the same species. In literature, there exist several slig ...
s. Some scholars consider that they were the first people to bring
Indo-European languages The Indo-European languages are a language family native to the overwhelming majority of Europe, the Iranian plateau, and the northern Indian subcontinent. Some European languages of this family, English, French, Portuguese, Russian, Dutc ...
into Western Europe. They lived in open
villages A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to ...
, only protected by fences or ditches; local archaeologists consider that they caused a very large culture impact, replacing
collectivism Collectivism may refer to: * Bureaucratic collectivism, a theory of class society whichto describe the Soviet Union under Joseph Stalin * Collectivist anarchism, a socialist doctrine in which the workers own and manage the production * Collectivis ...
with
individualism Individualism is the moral stance, political philosophy, ideology and social outlook that emphasizes the intrinsic worth of the individual. Individualists promote the exercise of one's goals and desires and to value independence and self-reli ...
, as exemplified by their burial in individual
cist A cist ( or ; also kist ; from grc-gre, κίστη, Middle Welsh ''Kist'' or Germanic ''Kiste'') is a small stone-built coffin-like box or ossuary used to hold the bodies of the dead. Examples can be found across Europe and in the Middle East ...
s, along with the reuse of old Neolithic tombs. From this period and later dates a rich tradition of
petroglyph A petroglyph is an image created by removing part of a rock surface by incising, picking, carving, or abrading, as a form of rock art. Outside North America, scholars often use terms such as "carving", "engraving", or other descriptions ...
s, which find close similarities in the British Isles, Scandinavia or
northern Italy Northern Italy ( it, Italia settentrionale, it, Nord Italia, label=none, it, Alta Italia, label=none or just it, Nord, label=none) is a geographical and cultural region in the northern part of Italy. It consists of eight administrative regions ...
. Motives include
cup and ring marks Cup and ring marks or cup marks are a form of prehistoric art found in the Atlantic seaboard of Europe (Ireland, Wales, Northern England, Scotland, France (Brittany), Portugal, and Spain ( Galicia) – and in Mediterranean Europe – Italy (in Al ...
,
labyrinth In Greek mythology, the Labyrinth (, ) was an elaborate, confusing structure designed and built by the legendary artificer Daedalus for King Minos of Crete at Knossos. Its function was to hold the Minotaur, the monster eventually killed by t ...
s, Bronze Age weaponry,
deer Deer or true deer are hoofed ruminant mammals forming the family Cervidae. The two main groups of deer are the Cervinae, including the muntjac, the elk (wapiti), the red deer, and the fallow deer; and the Capreolinae, including the reindeer ...
and deer hunting, warriors, riders and
ship A ship is a large watercraft that travels the world's oceans and other sufficiently deep waterways, carrying cargo or passengers, or in support of specialized missions, such as defense, research, and fishing. Ships are generally distinguished ...
s. File:Labirinto do Outeiro do Cribo.JPG, ''Outeiro do cribo'' ('sieve's hill') labyrinth File:Petroglifos do Castrinho de Conxo.jpg, ''Castriño de Conxo'', Bronze Age weaponry File:Laxe dos carballos 01.JPG, ''Laxe dos Carballos'', deer hunting with leaf-shaped spears and
cup and ring mark Cup and ring marks or cup marks are a form of prehistoric art found in the Atlantic seaboard of Europe (Ireland, Wales, Northern England, Scotland, France (Brittany), Portugal, and Spain ( Galicia) – and in Mediterranean Europe – Italy (in Al ...
s File:Casota de Freáns (II).jpg, ''Casota de Freáns'', Vimianzo, a
Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...
megalith with no corridor or tumulus File:Tesoro de Caldas de Reis (37624896942).jpg,
Caldas de Reis Caldas de Reis is a municipality in Galicia, Spain in the north of the province of Pontevedra. History In Ptolemy's Tables, the town Caldas de Reis (in Galician language) appears as ''Aquae calidae'' ( grc, Ὕδατα Θερμά, meaning hot ...
hoard, one of the largest in Western Europe, circa 1,800 BCE File:Poboado da idade de bronce de Campo Lameiro.jpg, Interior of a Bronze Age cabin (recreation),
Campo Lameiro Campo Lameiro is a municipality in Galicia, Spain in the province of Pontevedra Pontevedra is a province of Spain along the country's Atlantic coast in southwestern Europe. The province forms the southwestern part of the autonomous commun ...
During the Late Bronze Age and until 800-600 BCE the contacts with both southern Spain to the south, and
Armorica Armorica or Aremorica (Gaulish: ; br, Arvorig, ) is the name given in ancient times to the part of Gaul between the Seine and the Loire that includes the Brittany Peninsula, extending inland to an indeterminate point and down the Atlantic Coast ...
and the Atlantic Isles to the north, intensified, probably fuelled by the abundance of local gold and metals such as
tin Tin is a chemical element with the symbol Sn (from la, stannum) and atomic number 50. Tin is a silvery-coloured metal. Tin is soft enough to be cut with little force and a bar of tin can be bent by hand with little effort. When bent, t ...
, which allowed the production of high quality
bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals, such as phosphorus, or metalloids such ...
. It is at this moment that began the deposition or hoarding of prestige items, frequently in aquatic context. Also, during the Late Bronze Age a new type of ceremonial
henge There are three related types of Neolithic earthwork that are all sometimes loosely called henges. The essential characteristic of all three is that they feature a ring-shaped bank and ditch, with the ditch inside the bank. Because the internal ...
-like ring structures, of some 50 metres in diameter, are built all along Galicia. This period and interchange network, usually known as
Atlantic Bronze Age The Atlantic Bronze Age is a cultural complex of the Bronze Age period in Prehistoric Europe of approximately 1300–700 BC that includes different cultures in Britain, France, Ireland, Portugal, and Spain. Trade The Atlantic Bronze Age ...
, which appears to have had its centre in modern-day
Brittany Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, Historical region, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known ...
, was proposed by
John T. Koch John T. Koch is an American academic, historian and linguist who specializes in Celtic studies, especially prehistory and the early Middle Ages. He is the editor of the five-volume ''Celtic Culture. A Historical Encyclopedia'' (2006, ABC Clio). He ...
and
Sir Barry Cunliffe Sir Barrington Windsor Cunliffe, (born 10 December 1939), known as Barry Cunliffe, is a British archaeologist and academic. He was Professor of European Archaeology at the University of Oxford from 1972 to 2007. Since 2007, he has been an Emeri ...
as the one that originated
Celtic languages The Celtic languages ( usually , but sometimes ) are a group of related languages descended from Proto-Celtic. They form a branch of the Indo-European language family. The term "Celtic" was first used to describe this language group by Edward ...
—as a product of pre-existing and closely related Indo-European languages— which could have expanded along with the elite ideology associated with this cultural complex ( Celtic from the west theory). Alleged difficulties with this theory and with pre-existing theories ("Celtic from the east") have led Patrick Simms-Williams to propose an intermediate "Celtic from the centre" theory, with an expansion of Celtic languages from the Alps during the Bronze Age.''An Alternative to 'Celtic from the East' and 'Celtic from the West, Patrick Sims-Williams, Cambridge University Press, 202

/ref> A recent study shows the large scale admixture of an earlier population from Britain with people arriving probably from France during the late Bronze Age. These people, in the opinion of the authors, constitute a plausible vector for the expansion of Celtic languages into Britain, as no further Iron Age people movement of relevant scale is shown in their data. File:Deposito da Samieira.JPG, Late Bronze Age hoard of Samieira, unearthed in 1948 at some 50 metres from the seashore, and initially consisting of 152 palstaves File:Espadas_da_Idade_de_Bronce.jpg, Bronze Age Galician swords, Museo de Pontevedra File:Casco de Leiro, Castelo San Antón (A Coruña).jpg,
Casco de Leiro The gold Casco de Leiro ("Helmet of Leiro") is a ritual hemispherical cap probably dating to the end of the Late Bronze Age (''circa'' 1,000 to 800 BC) in the town of Leiro (municipality of Rianxo, Galicia, Spain). The circumstances of its discov ...
File:Estela de Pedra Alta (50115198022).jpg, ''Pedra Alta'' warrior stelle, Castrelo do Val File:Estela de Castrelo do Val.svg, 1. sword and girdle. 3. v-notch shield. 4. cart with horses File:Laxe dos Homes - Cequeril - Cuntis.jpg, Horned-helmet figures File:Outeiro dos Lameiros - Sabarís - Santa Cristina da Ramallosa - Baiona - III milenio a. C..jpg, A rider
The Bronze Age - Iron Age transition (locally 1000-600 BCE) coincides with the hoarding of large quantity of bronze axes, unused, both in Galicia,
Brittany Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, Historical region, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known ...
, and southern
Britain Britain most often refers to: * The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands * Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...
. During this same transitional period, some communities began to protect their villages, settling in very protected areas where they built hill-forts. Among the oldest of these are ''Chandebrito'' in Nigrán, ''Penas do Castelo'' in
A Pobra do Brollón A Pobra do Brollón is a municipality in the Spanish province of Lugo in Galicia. It belongs to the comarca named Terra de Lemos. It has a population of 2,066 (Spanish 2010 Census) and an area of 175 km2. It is bordered to the north b ...
and ''O Cociñadoiro'' in
Arteixo Arteixo () is a municipality in the Province of A Coruña, part of the autonomous community of Galicia in northwestern Spain. Its area is 93.76 km2 and its population is 31,005 (2013). Its population density is 317.43 people/km2. It is an i ...
, on a sea cliff and protected by a 3-metre-tall wall, it was also a metal factory, perhaps dedicated to the Atlantic commerce, all of them founded some 2,900-2,700 years ago. These earlier fortified settlements seem to be placed to control metallurgical resources and commerce. This transitional period is also characterized by the apparition of
longhouse A longhouse or long house is a type of long, proportionately narrow, single-room building for communal dwelling. It has been built in various parts of the world including Asia, Europe, and North America. Many were built from timber and often rep ...
s of ultimately north European tradition which were replaced later in much of Galicia by roundhouses. By the 4th century BCE hill-forts have expanded all along Galicia, also on lowlands, soon becoming the only type of settlements. These hill-forts were delimited usually by one or more walls; the defences also include ditches, ramparts and towers, and could define several habitable spaces. The gates were also heavily fortified. Inside, houses were originally built with perishable materials, with or without a stone footing; later on they were entirely made with stone walls, having up to two storeys. Specially in the south, houses or public spaces were adorned with carved stones and warrior sculptures. Stone heads, mimicking severed heads, are found at several locations and were perhaps placed near the gates of the forts. A number of public installations are known, for example
sauna A sauna (, ), or sudatory, is a small room or building designed as a place to experience dry or wet heat sessions, or an establishment with one or more of these facilities. The steam and high heat make the bathers perspire. A thermometer in a ...
s of probable ritual use. Of ritual use and great value were also items such as bronze cauldrons, richly figured sacrificial hatchets and gold torcs, of which more than a hundred exemplars are known. This culture is now known as
Castro Culture Castro culture ( gl, cultura castrexa, pt, cultura castreja, ast, cultura castriega, es, cultura castreña, meaning "culture of the hillforts") is the archaeological term for the material culture of the northwestern regions of the Iberian Pe ...
; another characteristic of this culture is the absence of known burials: just exceptionally
urn An urn is a vase, often with a cover, with a typically narrowed neck above a rounded body and a footed pedestal. Describing a vessel as an "urn", as opposed to a vase or other terms, generally reflects its use rather than any particular shape or ...
s with ashes have been found buried at foundational sites, acting probably as protectors. File:Castromaior 2014.png, ''Castromaior'',
Portomarín Portomarín is a municipality in the Spanish province of Lugo. It has a population of 2008 (Spanish 2001 Census) and an area of 115 km². It is located on the pilgrimage route known as the French Way of the Camino de Santiago. The town o ...
, Lugo File:Castromaior relevo.png, ''Castromaiors relief File:Monumento con Forno 2 retouched.JPG, Sauna of Punta dos Prados,
Ortigueira Ortigueira is a seaport and municipality in the province of A Coruña the autonomous community of Galicia in northwestern Spain. It belongs to the comarca of Ortegal. It is located on the northern slope of the Serra da Faladoira, the river Me ...
File:Torques de la cultura castreña.jpg, Gold
torc A torc, also spelled torq or torque, is a large rigid or stiff neck ring in metal, made either as a single piece or from strands twisted together. The great majority are open at the front, although some had hook and ring closures and a few had ...
s from Xanceda,
Mesía Mesía is a municipality in the northwestern Spanish province of 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 Galic ...
File:Bronze votivo do Museo de Pontevedra.JPG, Sacrificial hatchet showing an ox, cauldron and torc File:Espadas de Antenas.jpg, Short swords File:Arracadas castrejas.JPG, Local ear pendants of ultimate Mediterranean origin
Occasional contacts with Mediterranean navigators, since the last half of the second millennium BCE, became common after the 6th century BCE and the voyage of Himilco.
Punic The Punic people, or western Phoenicians, were a Semitic people in the Western Mediterranean who migrated from Tyre, Phoenicia to North Africa during the Early Iron Age. In modern scholarship, the term ''Punic'' – the Latin equivalent of the ...
importations from southern Spain became frequent along the coast of southern Galicia, although they didn't penetrate very far to the north or to the interior; also, new decorative motives, as the six-petal rosettes, are popularized, together with new metallurgical techniques and pieces (ear pendants) and some other innovations as the round hand mill. In exchange, Punics obtained
tin Tin is a chemical element with the symbol Sn (from la, stannum) and atomic number 50. Tin is a silvery-coloured metal. Tin is soft enough to be cut with little force and a bar of tin can be bent by hand with little effort. When bent, t ...
, abundant in the islands and peninsulas of western Galicia (probable origin of the
Cassiterides The Cassiterides ( el, Κασσιτερίδες, meaning "Tin Islands", from κασσίτερος, ''kassíteros'' "tin") are an ancient geographical name used to refer to a group of islands whose precise location is unknown, but which was believ ...
island myth) and probably also gold. Incidentally, Avienus' Ora Maritima says after Himilco that the Oestrymni (inhabitants of western Iberia) used hide boats to navigate, an assertion confirmed by
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 '' ...
for the Galicians.


Roman conquest

First recorded contact with Rome happened during the
Second Punic War The Second Punic War (218 to 201 BC) was the second of three wars fought between Carthage and Rome, the two main powers of the western Mediterranean in the 3rd century BC. For 17 years the two states struggled for supremacy, primarily in Ital ...
, when
Gallaeci The Gallaeci (also Callaeci or Callaici; grc, Καλλαϊκοί) were a Celtic tribal complex who inhabited Gallaecia, the north-western corner of Iberia, a region roughly corresponding to what is now the Norte Region in northern Portugal, an ...
ans and
Astures The Astures or Asturs, also named Astyrs, were the Hispano-Celtic inhabitants of the northwest area of Hispania that now comprises almost the entire modern autonomous community of Principality of Asturias, the modern province of León, and the ...
, together with
Lusitanians The Lusitanians ( la, Lusitani) were an Indo-European languages, Indo-European speaking people living in the west of the Iberian Peninsula prior to its conquest by the Roman Republic and the subsequent incorporation of the territory into the Roma ...
, Cantabrians and
Celtiberians The Celtiberians were a group of Celts and Celticized peoples inhabiting an area in the central-northeastern Iberian Peninsula during the final centuries BCE. They were explicitly mentioned as being Celts by several classic authors (e.g. Strab ...
—that is, the mayor
Indo-European The Indo-European languages are a language family native to the overwhelming majority of Europe, the Iranian plateau, and the northern Indian subcontinent. Some European languages of this family, English, French, Portuguese, Russian, Dutc ...
nations of Iberia— figured among the mercenary armies hired by
Hannibal Hannibal (; xpu, 𐤇𐤍𐤁𐤏𐤋, ''Ḥannibaʿl''; 247 – between 183 and 181 BC) was a Carthaginian general and statesman who commanded the forces of Carthage in their battle against the Roman Republic during the Second Puni ...
to go with him into Italy. According to Silus Italicus's
Punica ''Punica'' is a small genus of fruit-bearing deciduous shrubs or small trees in the flowering plant family Lythraceae. The better known species is the pomegranate (''Punica granatum''). The other species, the Socotra pomegranate (''Punica ...
III:
Fibrarum, et pennæ, divinarumque sagacem Flammarum misit dives Callæcia pubem, Barbara nunc patriis ululantem carmina linguis, Nunc, pedis alterno percussa verbere terra, Ad numerum resonas gaudentem plaudere cætras. Hæc requies ludusque viris, ea sacra voluptas. Cetera femineus peragit labor: addere sulco Semina, et inpresso tellurem vertere aratro Segne viris: quidquid duro sine Marte gerendum, Callaici conjux obit inrequieta mariti.
"Opulent Galicia sent her youth, expert in divination through the entrails of beasts, the flight of birds and the divine lightnings; sometimes they delight to chant rude songs in their fatherland's tongues, other times they make the ground tremble with alternative foot while happily clashing their caetra at the same time. This leisure and diversion is a sacred delight for the men, the feminine laboriosity do the rest: adding the seed to the furrow and working the ground with the plough while the men idle. Everything which must be done, with the exception of the hard war, is made restlessly by the wife of the Galician." He later also mentions the
Grovii The Grovii or Gravii were an ancient Gallaeci tribe who inhabited the low valley of the Minho river, present day Portugal and Galicia (Spain), and also along the coast near the rivers "Avo" (the Ave river), Celadus, Nebis and Limia, northern Por ...
of southern Galicia and northwestern Portugal, with their capital Tui, apart from the other Galicians; other authors also marked the distinctness of the Grovii: Pomponius Mela by addressing that they were non Celtic, unlike the rest of the inhabitants of the coasts of Galicia; Pliny by signalling their Greek origin. After ending victoriously the
Lusitanian war The Lusitanian War, called ''Pyrinos Polemos'' ("the Fiery War") in Greek, was a war of resistance fought by the Lusitanian tribes of Hispania Ulterior against the advancing legions of the Roman Republic from 155 to 139 BC. The Lusitanians revo ...
with the assassination of
Viriathus Viriathus (also spelled Viriatus; known as Viriato in Portuguese and Spanish; died 139 BC) was the most important leader of the Lusitanian people that resisted Roman expansion into the regions of western Hispania (as the Romans called it) or w ...
, consul Caepio tried to wage war, unsuccessfully, on Gallaecians and
Vettones The Vettones (Greek: ''Ouettones'') were a pre-Roman people of the Iberian Peninsula of possibly Celtic ethnicity. Origins Lujan (2007) concludes that some of the names of the Vettones show clearly western Hispano-Celtic features. Reissued i ...
, for the help they lent to the Lusitanians. In 138 BCE, another consul, Decimus Junius Brutus, in command of two legions, passed de
Douro The Douro (, , ; es, Duero ; la, Durius) is the highest-flow river of the Iberian Peninsula. It rises near Duruelo de la Sierra in Soria Province, central Spain, meanders south briefly then flows generally west through the north-west part of ...
river and later the Lethes or Oblivio (
Limia ''Limia'' is a genus of livebearing fishes belonging to the Cyprinodontiform family Poeciliidae, which includes other livebearers such as platys, swordtails (genus ''Xiphophorous''), guppies and mollies (genus ''Poecilia''). They are found i ...
, which frightened his troops because of his other
name A name is a term used for identification by an external observer. They can identify a class or category of things, or a single thing, either uniquely, or within a given context. The entity identified by a name is called its referent. A personal ...
), in a successful campaign, managing to conquer many places of the Galicians. After reaching the Minho river, and in his way back, he attacked (again successfully) the
Bracari The Bracari or Callaeci Bracari were an ancient Celtic tribe of Gallaecia, living in the northwest of modern Portugal, in the province of Minho, between the rivers Tâmega and Cávado. After the conquest of the region beginning in 136BC, the Ro ...
, who had been harassing his
supply Supply may refer to: *The amount of a resource that is available **Supply (economics), the amount of a product which is available to customers **Materiel, the goods and equipment for a military unit to fulfill its mission *Supply, as in confidenc ...
chain:
Appian Appian of Alexandria (; grc-gre, Ἀππιανὸς Ἀλεξανδρεύς ''Appianòs Alexandreús''; la, Appianus Alexandrinus; ) was a Greek historian with Roman citizenship who flourished during the reigns of Emperors of Rome Trajan, Hadr ...
describe the Bracari women fighting bravely side by side with their men; of the women who were taken prisoners, some killed themselves, and others killed their children, preferring death to servitude. The spoils of war allowed Decimus Junius Brutus to celebrate a
triumph The Roman triumph (Latin triumphus) was a celebration for a victorious military commander in ancient Rome. For later imitations, in life or in art, see Trionfo. Numerous later uses of the term, up to the present, are derived directly or indirectl ...
back in Rome, receiving the name ''Callaicus''. Recently a very large marching
Roman camp In the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire, the Latin word ''castrum'', plural ''castra'', was a military-related term. In Latin usage, the singular form ''castrum'' meant 'fort', while the plural form ''castra'' meant 'camp'. The singular and ...
was discovered at high altitude, in Lomba do Mouro, at the very frontier of Galicia with Portugal. In 2021 a C-14 dating showed that it was built during the 2nd century BCE; since it is north of the Limia, it probably belonged to this campaign. The Roman contact had a very large impact on the Castro Culture: an increase in commerce with the south and the Mediterranean; adoption or development of sculpture and stone carving; the
warrior ethos The Soldier's Creed is a standard by which all United States Army personnel are expected to live. All U.S. Army enlisted personnel are taught the Soldier's Creed during basic training, and recite the creed in public ceremonies at the conclusion o ...
appear to increase in social importance; some hill-forts are built new or rebuilt as true urban centres,
oppida An ''oppidum'' (plural ''oppida'') is a large fortified Iron Age settlement or town. ''Oppida'' are primarily associated with the Celtic late La Tène culture, emerging during the 2nd and 1st centuries BC, spread across Europe, stretch ...
, with streets and definite public spaces, as San Cibrao de Las (10 ha) or Santa Trega (20 ha). File:Muros de San Cibrao de Las.jpg, Gates of the oppidum of Saint Cibrao de Las File:Castro de San Cibrao de Las, 2014. PNOA cedido por © Instituto Geográfico Nacional.jpg, Aerial photo of San Cibrao de Las File:A Guarda-Castro de Santa Trega.jpg, Santa Tregra, A Guarda File:2014 Castro de Santa Trega. A Guarda. Galiza.jpg, Santa Trega with the Minho in the background File:Caetra dupondio LUCUS AUGUSTI.jpg, As minted circa 20 BCE during the conquest of Galicia, Asturia and Cantabria File:Caetra dupondio lucus augusti.svg, Arms of the Gallaeci: knife,
javelin A javelin is a light spear designed primarily to be thrown, historically as a ranged weapon, but today predominantly for sport. The javelin is almost always thrown by hand, unlike the sling, bow, and crossbow, which launch projectiles with th ...
s,
falcata The falcata is a type of sword typical of pre-Roman Iberia. The falcata was used to great effect for warfare in the ancient Iberian peninsula, and is firmly associated with the southern Iberian tribes, among other ancient peoples of Hispania. ...
and caetra File:Capela de Formigueiro - Amoeiro.jpg, Equitation scene, Formigueiro, Amoeiro
In 61 BCE
Julius Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC), was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in a civil war, and ...
, commanding thirty cohorts, launched from
Cádiz Cádiz (, , ) is a city and port in southwestern Spain. It is the capital of the Province of Cádiz, one of eight that make up the autonomous community of Andalusia. Cádiz, one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in Western Europe, ...
a maritime campaign along the Atlantic shores which ended in Brigantium. According to
Cassius Dio Lucius Cassius Dio (), also known as Dio Cassius ( ), was a Roman historian and senator of maternal Greek origin. He published 80 volumes of the history on ancient Rome, beginning with the arrival of Aeneas in Italy. The volumes documented the ...
, the locals, who had never seen a Roman fleet, surrendered in awe. Finally, in 29 BCE
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 ...
launched a campaign of conquest against Gallaecians, Asturians and Cantabrians. The most memorable episode of this war was the siege on the Mons Medullius, who
Paulus Orosius Paulus Orosius (; born 375/385 – 420 AD), less often Paul Orosius in English, was a Roman priest, historian and theologian, and a student of Augustine of Hippo. It is possible that he was born in ''Bracara Augusta'' (now Braga, Portugal), th ...
placed near the Minho river: it was surrounded by a 15 mille trench before a simultaneous Roman advance; according to
Anneus Florus Three main sets of works are attributed to Florus (a Roman cognomen): ''Virgilius orator an poeta'', an Epitome of Roman History and a collection of 14 short poems (66 lines in all). As to whether these were composed by the same person, or set of ...
the besieged decided to kill themselves, by fire, sword, or by the venon of the
yew tree Yew is a common name given to various species of trees. It is most prominently given to any of various coniferous trees and shrubs in the genus ''Taxus'': * European yew or common yew (''Taxus baccata'') * Pacific yew or western yew (''Taxus b ...
. Tens of Roman camps have been found related to this war, most of them corresponding to the later stages of the war, against Asturians and Cantabrians, some tweenty of them in Galicia. Augustus' victory over the Gallaecians is celebrated in the Sebasteion of Aphrodisias, Turkey, where a triumphal monument to
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 ...
mentions them among other fifteen nations conquered by him. Also, the
triumphal arch A triumphal arch is a free-standing monumental structure in the shape of an archway with one or more arched passageways, often designed to span a road. In its simplest form a triumphal arch consists of two massive piers connected by an arch, crow ...
of Capentras probably represents a Gallaecian among other nations defeated by Augustus.


Languages and ethnicity

Pomponius Mela Pomponius Mela, who wrote around AD 43, was the earliest Roman geographer. He was born in Tingentera (now Algeciras) and died  AD 45. His short work (''De situ orbis libri III.'') remained in use nearly to the year 1500. It occupies less ...
(a geographer from Tingentera, modern day
Algeciras Algeciras ( , ) is a municipality of Spain belonging to the province of Cádiz, Andalusia. Located in the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula, near the Strait of Gibraltar, it is the largest city on the Bay of Gibraltar ( es, Bahía de Algeci ...
in Andalusia) described, circa 43 CE, the coasts of northwestern Iberia:
Frons illa aliquamdiu rectam ripam habet, dein modico flexu accepto mox paululum eminet, tum reducta iterum iterumque recto margine iacens ad promunturium quod Celticum vocamus extenditur. Totam Celtici colunt, sed a Durio ad flexum Grovi, fluuntque per eos Avo, Celadus, Nebis, Minius et cui oblivionis cognomen est Limia. Flexus ipse Lambriacam urbem amplexus recipit fluvios Laeron et Ullam. Partem quae prominet Praesamarchi habitant, perque eos Tamaris et Sars flumina non longe orta decurrunt, Tamaris secundum Ebora portum, Sars iuxta turrem Augusti titulo memorabilem. Cetera super Tamarici Nerique incolunt in eo tractu ultimi. Hactenus enim ad occidentem versa litora pertinent. Deinde ad septentriones toto latere terra convertitur a Celtico promunturio ad Pyrenaeum usque. Perpetua eius ora, nisi ubi modici recessus ac parva promunturia sunt, ad Cantabros paene recta est. In ea primum Artabri sunt etiamnum Celticae gentis, deinde Astyres. In Artabris sinus ore angusto admissum mare non angusto ambitu excipiens Adrobricam urbem et quattuor amnium ostia incingit: duo etiam inter accolentis ignobilia sunt, per alia Ducanaris exit et Libyca
"That ocean front for some distance has a straight bank, then, having taken a slight bend, soon protrudes a little bit and then it is drawn back, and again and again; then, lying on a straight line, the coast extends to the promontory which we call Celtic. All of it is inhabited by Celtics, except from the Durio until the bend, where the Grovi dwelt —and through them flow the rivers Avo, Celadus, Nebis, Minius and Limia, also called Oblivio—. On the bend there is the city of Lambriaca and the receding part receives the rivers Laeros and Ulia. The prominent part is inhabited by the Praestamarci, and through them flow the rivers Tamaris and Sars —which are born not afar— Tamaris by harbour Ebora, Sars by the tower of Augustus, of memorable title. For the rest, the Supertamarici and Neri inhabit in the last tract. Up to here what belongs to the western coast. From there all the coast is turned to the north, from the Celtic promontory to the Pyrenees. Its regular coast, except where there are small retreats and small headlands, is almost straight by the Cantabrians. On it first of all are the Artabri, still a Celtic people, then the Astures. Among the Artabri there is a bay which lets the sea through a narrow mouth, and encircles, not in a narrow circuit, the city of Adrobrica and the mouth of four rivers." The Atlantic and northern coast of today's Galicia was inhabited by Celtic peoples, with the exception of the southern extreme. Others geographers and authors (Pliny, Strabo), as well as the local Latin epigraphy, confirm the presence of Celtic peoples. As for the language or languages spoken by the Galicians previously to their
romanization Romanization or romanisation, in linguistics, is the conversion of text from a different writing system to the Roman (Latin) script, or a system for doing so. Methods of romanization include transliteration, for representing written text, and ...
, most scholars usually perceive a primitive
Indo-European The Indo-European languages are a language family native to the overwhelming majority of Europe, the Iranian plateau, and the northern Indian subcontinent. Some European languages of this family, English, French, Portuguese, Russian, Dutc ...
layer, another later one hardly distinguishable from Celtic and identifiable with Lusitanian, most notable in the south, the Gallaecia Bracarense (as a result, Lusitanian is sometimes called ''Lusitanian-Gallaecian'') and finally Celtic proper; as stated by Alberto J. Lorrio: "the presence of Celtic elements in the Northwest is indisputable, but there is no unanimity in considering whether there was an only Indo-European language in the West of Iberia, of Celtic kind, or either a number of languages derived from the arrival of non-Celtic Indo-Europeans first, and Celts later on". Some academic positions on this issue: * Francesco Benozzo, proponent of the Palaeolithic continuity theory, considers that Celtic language is autochthonous in Galicia. Since recent genetic studios show that European and Iberian Palaeolithic population was assimilated by larger migrant populations proceeding first from the Balkans and
Anatolia Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...
, and later from Central Europe and ultimately from the
Pontic steppe Pontic, from the Greek ''pontos'' (, ), or "sea", may refer to: The Black Sea Places * The Pontic colonies, on its northern shores * Pontus (region), a region on its southern shores * The Pontic–Caspian steppe, steppelands stretching from no ...
, this theory is probably flawed. * For
John T. Koch John T. Koch is an American academic, historian and linguist who specializes in Celtic studies, especially prehistory and the early Middle Ages. He is the editor of the five-volume ''Celtic Culture. A Historical Encyclopedia'' (2006, ABC Clio). He ...
and
Barry Cunliffe Sir Barrington Windsor Cunliffe, (born 10 December 1939), known as Barry Cunliffe, is a British archaeologist and academic. He was Professor of European Archaeology at the University of Oxford from 1972 to 2007. Since 2007, he has been an Emeri ...
, proponent of the Celtic from the West theory, the Celtic language would have expanded during the late Bronze Age from the European Atlantic fringe, including Galicia, to the east. For Patrick Simms-Williams, Celtic expanded from modern day France during the late Bronze Age. *
Joan Coromines Joan Coromines i Vigneaux (; also frequently spelled ''Joan Corominas''; Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, by Joan Corominas icand José Antonio Pascual, Editorial Gredos, 1989, Madrid, . Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain 1 ...
, lexicographer and author of the Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, considered that Galician language had a very important substrate attributable to at least two different Indo-European languages, an older non Celtic one who he derived from the
Urnfield The Urnfield culture ( 1300 BC – 750 BC) was a late Bronze Age culture of Central Europe, often divided into several local cultures within a broader Urnfield tradition. The name comes from the custom of cremating the dead and p ...
people and thought was present in most of northern Iberia, and another one he named ''Artabrian'', the Celtic language of the Celts of Galicia. * Blanca M. Prósper and Francisco Villar defend that Lusitanian is a non Celtic Indo-European language related to
Italic languages The Italic languages form a branch of the Indo-European language family, whose earliest known members were spoken on the Italian Peninsula in the first millennium BC. The most important of the ancient languages was Latin, the official languag ...
because, in their opinion, the Indo-European aspirated stops have evolved into /f/ and /h/. At the same time, all along the area of this language, and specially in modern-day Galicia, a Celtic language was spoken; this language, a q-Celtic language similar to Celtiberian, is the Western Hispano-Celtic. * Joaquín Gorrochategui, José M. Vallejo, Alberto J. Lorrio, García Alonso, E. Luján and others, consider that Lusitanian is not a Celtic language, but they don't consider it closer to Italic, neither, but part of a group of IE dialects which later evolved into Celtic, Italic and Lusitanian. On the other hand, Celtic speakers lived in close proximity to the Lusitanian. In this context, Gallaecia Bracarensis was clearly in communion with the Lusitania, while Gallaecia Lucensis had its own Celtic profile. *
Jürgen Untermann Jürgen Untermann (24 October 1928, in Rheinfelden – 7 February 2013, in Brauweiler) was a German linguist, indoeuropeanist and epigraphist. A disciple of Hans Krahe and of Ulrich Schmoll, he studied at the University of Frankfurt and the U ...
, continued by his disciple Carlos Búa, defended that along the westernmost part of Iberia there was essentially just one language or group of languages, Gallaecian-Lusitanian or Lusitanian and Gallaecian, which in their opinion was definitely Celtic and not Italoid, as shown by the ending of dative plural (-bo, -bor < PIE -*bhos) and the evolution of the
syllabic consonant A syllabic consonant or vocalic consonant is a consonant that forms a syllable on its own, like the ''m'', ''n'' and ''l'' in some pronunciations of the English words ''rhythm'', ''button'' and ''bottle''. To represent it, the understroke diacrit ...
s, in particular -r̥- > -ri-. * Local scholars and researchers of toponymy and lexicon of pre-Latin origin (J. J. Moralejo, Edelmiro Bascuas) saw at least two layers of Indo-Europeans: one early layer of a very primitive IE language which preserved p, most notable in river names, and a later Celtic layer.


Roman period

After the Roman conquest, the lands and people of northwestern Iberia were divided in three conventi ( Gallaecia Lucensis, Gallaecia Bracarensis and Asturia) and annexed to the province of
Hispania Tarraconensis Hispania Tarraconensis was one of three Roman provinces in Hispania. It encompassed much of the northern, eastern and central territories of modern Spain along with modern northern Portugal. Southern Spain, the region now called Andalusia was the ...
. Pliny wrote that the Lucenses comprised 16 populi and 166,000 free heads, and mentions the
Lemavi The Lemavi were an ancient Gallaecian Celtic tribe, living in the center-east of the modern Galicia, in the Monforte de Lemos's county. See also *Pre-Roman peoples of the Iberian Peninsula This is a list of the pre- Roman people of the Iberian ...
,
Albiones The Albiones or Albioni were a Gallaecian people living the north coast of modern Spain in western Asturias and eastern Galicia mentioned by Pliny the Elder. They are generally included in maps of Roman Spain. The name ''Albiones'' is also atteste ...
,
Cibarci The Cibarci were an ancient Gallaecian Celts, Celtic tribe, living in the north-east of modern Galicia (Spain), Galicia, in the Ribadeo's county. See also *Pre-Roman peoples of the Iberian Peninsula External linksDetailed map of the Pre-Roman Pe ...
, Egivarri Namarini, Adovi, Arroni, Arrotrebae, Celtici Neri, Celtici Supertamarci, Copori, Celtici Praestamarci, Cileni among them (other authors mention also the Baedui,
Artabri According to Strabo, the Artabri (or Arrotrebae) were an ancient Gallaecian Celtic tribe, living in the extreme north-west of modern Galicia, about Cape Nerium (Cabo Prior), outskirts of the city and port of Ferrol, where in Roman times, in the ...
and Seurri); the
Astures The Astures or Asturs, also named Astyrs, were the Hispano-Celtic inhabitants of the northwest area of Hispania that now comprises almost the entire modern autonomous community of Principality of Asturias, the modern province of León, and the ...
comprised 22 populi and 240,000, of whom the Lougei, Gigurri and Tiburi dwelt lands now in Galicia; finally the Bracarenses 24
civitates In Ancient Rome, the Latin term (; plural ), according to Cicero in the time of the late Roman Republic, was the social body of the , or citizens, united by law (). It is the law that binds them together, giving them responsibilities () on th ...
and 285,000, of whom the Grovi, Helleni, Querquerni,
Coelerni The Coelerni were an ancient Celtic tribe of Gallaecia in Hispania (the Iberian Peninsula), part of Calaician or Gallaeci people, living in what was to become the Roman Province of Hispania Tarraconensis, in what is now the southern part of the pro ...
, Bibali,
Limici The Limici were an ancient Celtic tribe of Gallaecia, living in the swamps of the river Lima, in the border region between Minho (Portugal) and Galicia (Spain). See also *Pre-Roman peoples of the Iberian Peninsula This is a list of the pre- R ...
, Tamacani and Interamici dwelt, at least partially, in modern-day Galicia. The names of some of these peoples have been preserved as the names of regions, parishes and villages:
Lemos Lemos is a Portuguese-language surname. It can be also Greek (Λεμός). Notable people by that name include: Portuguese surname * Álvaro Lemos (born 1993), Spanish professional footballer. * Amanda Lemos (born 1987), Brazilian mixed martia ...
< Lemavos, Cabarcos, Soneira < *Sub Nerii, Céltigos < Celticos,
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 ...
< Valle de Gigurris, Trives < Tiburis, Támagos < Tamacanos. Some other Galician regions derive from some populi or subdivision not listed by the classic authors, among them: Bergantiños < Brigantinos, from
Briganti __NOTOC__ Briganti is the Proto-Celtic term for Brighid, or Brigid. The name ''*Brigantī'' means "The High One", cognate with the name of the ancient British goddess Brigantia (goddess), the Old High German personal name ''Burgunt,'' and the ...
, Nendo < Nemetos, from
Nemeton A nemeton (plural: nemeta) was a sacred space of ancient Celtic religion. Nemeta appear to have been primarily situated in natural areas, and, as they often utilized trees, they are often interpreted as sacred groves.Koch, p. 1350. However, othe ...
, Entíns < Gentinis ('the chieftains'). A common characteristic of both Gallaecians and western Astures were their onomastic formula and social structure: while most of the other Indo-European peoples of Hispania used a formula such as: :Name + Patronimic (
gen Gen may refer to: * ''Gen'' (film), 2006 Turkish horror film directed by Togan Gökbakar * Gen (Street Fighter), a video game character from the ''Street Fighter'' series * Gen Fu, a video game character from the ''Dead or Alive'' series * Gen l ...
. s.) + Gens / Family (gen. pl.), as, for example, :: : 'Turaesius son of Marsi, of the Letondi clan' Gallaecians and western Astures used, until the 2nd century of our era, the formula: : Name + Patronimic (gen. s.) + opuli/Civitas(
nom NOM may refer to: * National Organization for Marriage * Natural organic matter * New Order Mormons * Nickelodeon Original Movies * ''Nintendo Official Magazine'', official British Nintendo magazine; now discontinued, superseded by ''Official Ni ...
. s.) + (abreviature of ''castellum'') Origo ( abl. s.) as: :: : ''Nicer, son of Clutosios, from castle Cauria, prince of the Albion'' :: : ''Cailio, son of Cadroilo, Cilenus from castle Berisamo'' :: : ''Fabia, daughter of Eburios, Lemava from castle Eritaico'' :: : ''Eburia, daughter of Calugenos, Celtica Supertamarca from castle Lubris'' :: : ''Anceitos, son of Vacceos, Limicus from castle Talabriga'' Three legions were stationed near the
Cantabrian mountains , etymology=Named after the Cantabri , photo=Cordillera Cantábrica vista desde el Castro Valnera.jpg , photo_caption=Cantabrian Mountains parallel to the Cantabrian Sea seen from Castro Valnera in an east-west direction. In the background, ...
after the war, later reduced to the
Legio VII Gemina __NOTOC__ Legio VII Gemina (Latin for "The Twins' Seventh Legion") was a legion of the Imperial Roman army. It was raised in AD 68 in Hispania by the general Galba to take part in his rebellion against the emperor Nero. "Gemina" means the legion ...
in León, with three auxiliary cohorts in Galicia (the Cohors I Celtiberorum in Ciadella,
Sobrado dos Monxes Sobrado Abbey, ( es, Monasterio de Santa María de Sobrado de los Monjes or gl, Mosteiro de Santa María de Sobrado dos Monxes) is a Cistercian monastery in the province of La Coruña, Galicia, Spain. It is situated in the municipality of Sob ...
, near Brigantium; other unity at
Aquis Querquennis Aquis Querquennis is a Roman fort in Ourense Province, Galicia. It was constructed circa 69-79 AD to house soldiers building the Via XVIII and was occupied by the Legio VII Gemina until that unit was posted to Dacia in 120 AD and the fort aba ...
, and another one near Lucus Augusti) and others elsewhere. Soon Roma began to recruit
auxiliary troops The (, lit. "auxiliaries") were introduced as non-citizen troops attached to the citizen legions by Augustus after his reorganisation of the Imperial Roman army from 30 BC. By the 2nd century, the Auxilia contained the same number of inf ...
locally: five cohorts of Gallaecians from the conventus Lucenses, other five of bracarenses, two mixed ones of Galicians and Asturians, and an
ala Ala, ALA, Alaa or Alae may refer to: Places * Ala, Hiiu County, Estonia, a village * Ala, Valga County, Estonia, a village * Ala, Alappuzha, Kerala, India, a village * Ala, Iran, a village in Semnan Province * Ala, Gotland, Sweden * Alad, S ...
and cohort of Lemavi. Also, Gallaecia and Asturia became the most important producers of gold on the Empire: according to
Pliny Pliny may refer to: People * Pliny the Elder (23–79 CE), ancient Roman nobleman, scientist, historian, and author of ''Naturalis Historia'' (''Pliny's Natural History'') * Pliny the Younger (died 113), ancient Roman statesman, orator, w ...
Lusitania, Gallaecia and, especially, Asturia, produced the equivalent to 6,700 kg per year. The eight hundred Roman gold mines known in Galicia produced in total in between 190,000 and 2,000,000 kg. File:Roman-soldier-1878213 1920.jpg, Reenactors at Lugo's Arde Lucus File:Aquis Querquennis. Baños de Bande. Galiza. 2013-5.jpg, Roman camp of Aquis Querquennis File:Galician-Celtic princeps - albioni.jpg, Nicer Clutosi's stelle File:Estela de Crecente. Séc I dC. Museo Provincial de Lugo.jpg, Apana Amboli's stele File:Tábula de hospitalidade - bronce - O carbedo - Esperante - O Folgoso do Courel. Museo Provincial de Lugo-2.jpg, Tabula hospitalis from Carbedo File:Castro de Viladonga-vista aerea.jpg, Romanized hill-fort of Viladonga, Castro de Rei


Romanization and Medieval eras

Galicia suffered a relatively late and weak
Romanisation Romanization or romanisation, in linguistics, is the conversion of text from a different writing system to the Roman (Latin) script, or a system for doing so. Methods of romanization include transliteration, for representing written text, and ...
, although it was after this event when
Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
eventually replaced the old native languages (
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 ...
, and possibly also
Lusitanian language Lusitanian (so named after the Lusitani or Lusitanians) was an Indo-European Paleohispanic language. There has been support for either a connection with the ancient Italic languages or Celtic languages. It is known from only six sizeable inscri ...
in the south). The decline of the Roman Empire was followed by the rule of Germanic tribes, namely the
Suebi The Suebi (or Suebians, also spelled Suevi, Suavi) were a large group of Germanic peoples originally from the Elbe river region in what is now Germany and the Czech Republic. In the early Roman era they included many peoples with their own names ...
, who formed a separate Galician kingdom in 409, and the
Visigoths The Visigoths (; la, Visigothi, Wisigothi, Vesi, Visi, Wesi, Wisi) were an early Germanic people who, along with the Ostrogoths, constituted the two major political entities of the Goths within the Roman Empire in late antiquity, or what is ...
. In 718 the area briefly came under the control of the Moors after their conquest and dismantling of the Visigothic Empire, but the Galicians successfully rebelled against Moorish rule in 739, establishing a renewed
Kingdom of Galicia The Kingdom of Galicia ( gl, Reino de Galicia, or ''Galiza''; es, Reino de Galicia; pt, Reino da Galiza; la, Galliciense Regnum) was a political entity located in southwestern Europe, which at its territorial zenith occupied the entire north ...
which would become totally stable after 813 with the medieval popularization of the "Way of St James".


Geography and demographics


Political and administrative divisions

The autonomous community, a concept established in the
Spanish constitution The Spanish Constitution (Spanish, Asturleonese, and gl, Constitución Española; eu, Espainiako Konstituzioa; ca, Constitució Espanyola; oc, Constitucion espanhòla) is the democratic law that is supreme in the Kingdom of Spain. It was e ...
of 1978, that is known as (''a'') ''Comunidade Autónoma Galega'' in Galician, and as (''la'') ''Comunidad Autónoma Gallega'' in Spanish (in English: ''Galician Autonomous Community''), is composed of the four Spanish provinces of
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 ...
,
Lugo Lugo (, ; la, Lucus Augusti) is a city in northwestern Spain in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Galicia (Spain), Galicia. It is the capital of the Lugo (province), province of Lugo. The municipality had a population ...
,
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 ...
, and
Pontevedra Pontevedra (, ) is a Spanish city in the north-west of the Iberian Peninsula. It is the capital of both the ''Comarca'' (County) and Province of Pontevedra, and of the Rías Baixas in Galicia. It is also the capital of its own municipality whi ...
.


Population, main cities and languages

The official statistical body of Galicia is the ''Instituto Galego de Estatística'' (IGE). According to the IGE, Galicia's total population in 2008 was 2,783,100 (1,138,474 in
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 ...
, 355.406 in
Lugo Lugo (, ; la, Lucus Augusti) is a city in northwestern Spain in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Galicia (Spain), Galicia. It is the capital of the Lugo (province), province of Lugo. The municipality had a population ...
, 336.002 in
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 ...
, and 953.218 in
Pontevedra Pontevedra (, ) is a Spanish city in the north-west of the Iberian Peninsula. It is the capital of both the ''Comarca'' (County) and Province of Pontevedra, and of the Rías Baixas in Galicia. It is also the capital of its own municipality whi ...
). The most important cities in this region, which serve as the provinces' administrative centres, are
Vigo Vigo ( , , , ) is a city and Municipalities in Spain, municipality in the province of Pontevedra, within the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Galicia (Spain), Galicia, Spain. Located in the northwest of the Iberian Penins ...
(in Pontevedra),
Pontevedra Pontevedra (, ) is a Spanish city in the north-west of the Iberian Peninsula. It is the capital of both the ''Comarca'' (County) and Province of Pontevedra, and of the Rías Baixas in Galicia. It is also the capital of its own municipality whi ...
,
Santiago de Compostela Santiago de Compostela is the capital of the autonomous community of Galicia, in northwestern Spain. The city has its origin in the shrine of Saint James the Great, now the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, as the destination of the Way of St ...
,
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 ...
, Ferrol (in A Coruña),
Lugo Lugo (, ; la, Lucus Augusti) is a city in northwestern Spain in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Galicia (Spain), Galicia. It is the capital of the Lugo (province), province of Lugo. The municipality had a population ...
(in Lugo), and
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 ...
(in Ourense). The official languages are Galician and Spanish. Knowledge of Spanish is compulsory according to the Spanish constitution and virtually universal. Knowledge of Galician, after declining for many years owing to the pressure of Spanish and official persecution, is again on the rise due to favorable official language policies and popular support. Currently about 82% of Galicia's population can speak Galician and about 61% have it as a mother tongue.


Culture


Celtic revival and Celtic identity

In the 19th century a group of Romantic and
Nationalist Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: Th ...
writers and scholars, among them
Eduardo Pondal Eduardo María González-Pondal Abente (February 8, 1835 – March 8, 1917) was a Galician (Spain) poet, who wrote in both Galician and Spanish. Of Hidalgo origin, Pondal was the youngest of a family of seven. From 1844 onwards he studied La ...
and
Manuel Murguía Manuel Antonio Martínez Murguía (17 May 1833 – 2 February 1923) was a Galician journalist and historian who created the Real Academia Galega. He was one of the main figures in Galician ''Rexurdimento'' movement. He is also remembered as R ...
, led a
Celtic revival The Celtic Revival (also referred to as the Celtic Twilight) is a variety of movements and trends in the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries that see a renewed interest in aspects of Celtic culture. Artists and writers drew on the traditions of Gael ...
initially based on the historical testimonies of ancient Roman and Greek authors (
Pomponius Mela Pomponius Mela, who wrote around AD 43, was the earliest Roman geographer. He was born in Tingentera (now Algeciras) and died  AD 45. His short work (''De situ orbis libri III.'') remained in use nearly to the year 1500. It occupies less ...
,
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 '' ...
,
Strabo Strabo''Strabo'' (meaning "squinty", as in strabismus) was a term employed by the Romans for anyone whose eyes were distorted or deformed. The father of Pompey was called "Pompeius Strabo". A native of Sicily so clear-sighted that he could see ...
and
Ptolemy Claudius Ptolemy (; grc-gre, Πτολεμαῖος, ; la, Claudius Ptolemaeus; AD) was a mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist, who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were of importanc ...
), who wrote about 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 ...
peoples who inhabited Galicia; but they also based this revival in
linguistic Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Linguis ...
and
onomastic Onomastics (or, in older texts, onomatology) is the study of the etymology, history, and use of proper names. An ''orthonym'' is the proper name of the object in question, the object of onomastic study. Onomastics can be helpful in data mining, w ...
data, and in the similarity of some aspects of the culture and the geography of Galicia with that of the
Celtic countries The Celtic nations are a cultural area and collection of geographical regions in Northwestern Europe where the Celtic languages and cultural traits have survived. The term ''nation'' is used in its original sense to mean a people who shar ...
as Ireland,
Brittany Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, Historical region, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known ...
and Britain, as well as in the Bronze and Iron Age archaeological cultures. These similarities included legends and traditions, and decorative and popular arts and
music Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspect ...
. It also included the green hilly landscape and the ubiquity of Iron Age
hill-fort A hillfort is a type of earthwork used as a fortified refuge or defended settlement, located to exploit a rise in elevation for defensive advantage. They are typically European and of the Bronze Age or Iron Age. Some were used in the post-Roma ...
s, Neolithic
megaliths A megalith is a large stone that has been used to construct a prehistoric structure or monument, either alone or together with other stones. There are over 35,000 in Europe alone, located widely from Sweden to the Mediterranean sea. The ...
and Bronze Age
cup and ring marks Cup and ring marks or cup marks are a form of prehistoric art found in the Atlantic seaboard of Europe (Ireland, Wales, Northern England, Scotland, France (Brittany), Portugal, and Spain ( Galicia) – and in Mediterranean Europe – Italy (in Al ...
, which were and are popularly seen as "Celtic", also among foreigners who travelled to Galicia. During the late 19th and early 20th century this revival permeated Galician society: in 1916 ''
Os Pinos "Os Pinos" (; ) is the official anthem of Galicia, in Spain. The lyrics were written by Eduardo Pondal (the two first parts of his poem ''Queixumes dos pinos'', "Lamentations of the Pines") and the music by Pascual Veiga. It was composed in Ha ...
'', a poem by Eduardo Pondal, was chosen as the lyrics for the new Galician hymn. One of the strophes of the poem says: ''Galicians, be strong / ready to great deeds / align your breast / for a glorious end / sons of the noble Celts / strong and traveller / fight for the fate / of the homeland of
Breogán Breogán (also spelt Breoghan, Bregon or Breachdan) is a character in the ''Lebor Gabála Érenn'', a medieval Christian history of Ireland and the Irish (or Gaels). He is supposedly the son of Brath, and is described as an ancestor of the Gael ...
''. The Celtic past became an integral part of the self-perceived Galician identity: as a result an important number of cultural association and sport clubs received names related to the Celts, among them
Celta de Vigo Real Club Celta de Vigo (; ), commonly known as Celta de Vigo or simply Celta, is a Spanish professional football club based in Vigo, Galicia, that competes in La Liga, the top tier of Spanish football. Nicknamed ''Os Celestes'' (The Sky Blues ...
,
Céltiga FC Céltiga Fútbol Club is a Spanish football team based in A Illa de Arousa in the autonomous community of Galicia. Founded in 1967, it plays in Tercera División – Group 1. Its stadium is Estadio ''Salvador Otero'' with a capacity of 2,000 se ...
,
CB Breogán Club Baloncesto Breogán, S.A.D., also known as Río Breogán for sponsorship reasons, is a professional basketball club based in Lugo, Spain. The team plays in the Liga ACB. The club was founded in 1966 by the Varela-Portas brothers. The team pla ...
, etc. From the 1970s on a series of Celtic music and cultural festivals were also popularized, the most notable being the ''Festival Internacional do Mundo Celta de
Ortigueira Ortigueira is a seaport and municipality in the province of A Coruña the autonomous community of Galicia in northwestern Spain. It belongs to the comarca of Ortegal. It is located on the northern slope of the Serra da Faladoira, the river Me ...
'', at the same time that Galician folk musical bands and interpreters became usual participants in Celtic festivals elsewhere, as in the Interceltic festival of Lorient, where Galicia sent its first delegation in 1976. File:Castro de BaroNa.Galiza.jpg, A ''castro'' (
hill-fort A hillfort is a type of earthwork used as a fortified refuge or defended settlement, located to exploit a rise in elevation for defensive advantage. They are typically European and of the Bronze Age or Iron Age. Some were used in the post-Roma ...
) at Baroña, Porto do Son File:Dolmen de Axeitos (29623506312).jpg,
Dolmen A dolmen () or portal tomb is a type of single-chamber megalithic tomb, usually consisting of two or more upright megaliths supporting a large flat horizontal capstone or "table". Most date from the early Neolithic (40003000 BCE) and were somet ...
at Axeitos, Ribeira File:Cruz de Santa Susana.JPG, Medieval interlaced cross,
Santiago de Compostela Santiago de Compostela is the capital of the autonomous community of Galicia, in northwestern Spain. The city has its origin in the shrine of Saint James the Great, now the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, as the destination of the Way of St ...
File:Torques de Burela. Museo Provincial de Lugo.jpg, Massive gold
torc A torc, also spelled torq or torque, is a large rigid or stiff neck ring in metal, made either as a single piece or from strands twisted together. The great majority are open at the front, although some had hook and ring closures and a few had ...
of
Burela Burela is a municipality in the Galician province of Lugo. It is in the comarca of A Mariña. Burela is a coastal town on the shores of the Cantabrian Sea. An extension area of 8.2 square kilometers was created in 1994, following the segrega ...
File:Trisquel de Castromao.JPG,
Triskelion A triskelion or triskeles is an ancient motif consisting of a triple spiral exhibiting rotational symmetry. The spiral design can be based on interlocking Archimedean spirals, or represent three bent human legs. It is found in artefacts o ...
from the ''Museo de
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 ...
'' File:Barrio oeste Las visto desde a segunda muralla exterior do lado sur.JPG, View of the hillfort at San Cibrao de Las,
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 ...
File:Detalle laxe das cruces 2.jpg, Galician
Neolithic The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several parts ...
or
Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...
cup and ring mark Cup and ring marks or cup marks are a form of prehistoric art found in the Atlantic seaboard of Europe (Ireland, Wales, Northern England, Scotland, France (Brittany), Portugal, and Spain ( Galicia) – and in Mediterranean Europe – Italy (in Al ...
s File:Faro Silleiro.jpg, The rocky and misty coast of Cabo Silleiro, Baiona


Folklore and traditions


Myths and legends

Galician
folklore Folklore is shared by a particular group of people; it encompasses the traditions common to that culture, subculture or group. This includes oral traditions such as tales, legends, proverbs and jokes. They include material culture, ranging ...
is similar to that of the rest of western
Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
, especially to that or northern
Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos 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 community in northwest Spain. It is coextensiv ...
and
Cantabria Cantabria (, also , , Cantabrian: ) is an autonomous community in northern Spain with Santander as its capital city. It is called a ''comunidad histórica'', a historic community, in its current Statute of Autonomy. It is bordered on the east ...
. Among its most notorious
myths Myth is a folklore genre consisting of Narrative, narratives that play a fundamental role in a society, such as foundational tales or Origin myth, origin myths. Since "myth" is widely used to imply that a story is not Objectivity (philosophy), ...
are the following: * Before the world was inhabited by humans, animals could speak: many traditional tales about animals begin with the phrase ''aló cando os animais falaban'', 'back then, when animals used to speak', which has become equivalent to English
once upon a time "Once upon a time" is a stock phrase used to introduce a narrative of past events, typically in fairy tales and folk tales. It has been used in some form since at least 1380 (according to the ''Oxford English Dictionary'') in storytelling in the ...
. * Our world is connected to an
underworld The underworld, also known as the netherworld or hell, is the supernatural world of the dead in various religious traditions and myths, located below the world of the living. Chthonic is the technical adjective for things of the underwor ...
dwelt by the
mouros According to Portuguese, Galician, and Asturian mythology, the Mouros are a race of supernatural beings which inhabited the lands of Galicia, Asturias and Portugal since the beginning of time. For unknown reasons they were forced to take refuge ...
('the dark ones' or perhaps 'the dead ones', mistaken by Andalusian
Moors The term Moor, derived from the ancient Mauri, is an exonym first used by Christian Europeans to designate the Muslim inhabitants of the Maghreb, the Iberian Peninsula, Sicily and Malta during the Middle Ages. Moors are not a distinct or ...
in many tales), an ancient and sombre race who inhabited the upper world before ourselves and who dislike humans. They can still travel to our world to interact with us through the ruins of the places they built or inhabited, such as barrows,
dolmens A dolmen () or portal tomb is a type of single-chamber megalithic tomb, usually consisting of two or more upright megaliths supporting a large flat horizontal capstone or "table". Most date from the early Neolithic (40003000 BCE) and were somet ...
,
stone circles A stone circle is a ring of standing stones. Most are found in Northwestern Europe – especially in Britain, Ireland, and Brittany – and typically date from the Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age, with most being built from 3000 BC. The b ...
,
hill-fort A hillfort is a type of earthwork used as a fortified refuge or defended settlement, located to exploit a rise in elevation for defensive advantage. They are typically European and of the Bronze Age or Iron Age. Some were used in the post-Roma ...
s, etc., which are still traditionally called with names such as ''Eira dos Mouros'' ('Mouros'
threshing floor Threshing (thrashing) was originally "to tramp or stamp heavily with the feet" and was later applied to the act of separating out grain by the feet of people or oxen and still later with the use of a flail. A threshing floor is of two main type ...
'), ''Casa dos Mouros'' ('Mouros'
house A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air condi ...
'), ''Forno dos Mouros'' ('Mouros'
oven upA double oven A ceramic oven An oven is a tool which is used to expose materials to a hot environment. Ovens contain a hollow chamber and provide a means of heating the chamber in a controlled way. In use since antiquity, they have been us ...
'). This kind of place names are already attested in Latin documents dating to circa 900 CE and later. Humans can also travel to the underworld, either becoming very rich or suffering for their greed as a result. Some ''mouros'' or ''encantos'' can appear as tall and strong men riding large horses and there are specific spells to ask them for riches. * Fairies and
nymph A nymph ( grc, νύμφη, nýmphē, el, script=Latn, nímfi, label=Modern Greek; , ) in ancient Greek folklore is a minor female nature deity. Different from Greek goddesses, nymphs are generally regarded as personifications of nature, are ty ...
s (who also belong to the netherworld) receive many names, among them '' mouras'', ''encantos'' ('apparition; spell'), ''damas'' ('ladies'), ''madamas'' ('miladies'), ''xás'' (from Latin dianas). They are frequently portrayed as women of incredible beauty and riches and long golden blonde hair that can be found by the aforementioned prehistoric ruins or at fountains and ponds, where they comb their hair. Other times, they are gigantic women of incredible strength, enough to move massive boulders, who can be found with a spinning distaff or a baby. Under this appearance they are the same with the ''Vella'' ("the Old Lady"), who is somehow also responsible for the weather: the
rainbow A rainbow is a meteorological phenomenon that is caused by reflection, refraction and dispersion of light in water droplets resulting in a spectrum of light appearing in the sky. It takes the form of a multicoloured circular arc. Rainbows c ...
is called ''arco da vella'' in Galician ("Old Lady's bow"), a myth which is probably related to the Cailleach, 'Old Woman', 'Hag', of Ireland and Scotland. * ''Lavandeiras'' (
washerwomen A washerwoman or laundress is a woman who takes in laundry. Both terms are now old-fashioned; equivalent work nowadays is done by a laundry worker in large commercial premises, or a laundrette (laundromat) attendant. Description As evidence ...
) are eerie fairies that are found at a river of pond washing clothes, under the aspect of women, especially at night. They can ask a passer-by to help twits the clothes: if the passer-by mistakenly twists in the same direction, the clothes turn into blood. * The trasnos, ''tardos'' or ''trasgos'' (
goblins A goblin is a small, grotesque, monstrous creature that appears in the folklore of multiple European cultures. First attested in stories from the Middle Ages, they are ascribed conflicting abilities, temperaments, and appearances depending on t ...
) are mischievous,
household A household consists of two or more persons who live in the same dwelling. It may be of a single family or another type of person group. The household is the basic unit of analysis in many social, microeconomic and government models, and is im ...
creatures, who like to annoy and confound people. They can cause
nightmares A nightmare, also known as a bad dream, Retrieved 11 July 2016. is an unpleasant dream that can cause a strong emotional response from the mind, typically fear but also despair, anxiety or great sadness. The dream may contain situations of d ...
by siting on the chest of the people, move things and cause other troubles. In Galician ''trasnada'' (~'goblin-ery') means 'trick, mischief'. * Other sign of the netherworld is the apparition of a golden hen followed by his golden chicks (''a galiña dos pitos de ouro''), which, no matter how hard one tries, can't be caught. There is a similar myth in
Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...
. * ''Maruxaina'' was a vicious
siren Siren or sirens may refer to: Common meanings * Siren (alarm), a loud acoustic alarm used to alert people to emergencies * Siren (mythology), an enchanting but dangerous monster in Greek mythology Places * Siren (town), Wisconsin * Siren, Wisc ...
who lived near the town of San Cribrao and who eventually was captured and executed by the locals. * The barrows are also inhabited by other entities called ''ouvas'' ('elfs'). * Other beings with control of the weather are the '' nubeiros'' ('cloud-ers').
George Borrow George Henry Borrow (5 July 1803 – 26 July 1881) was an English writer of novels and of travel based on personal experiences in Europe. His travels gave him a close affinity with the Romani people of Europe, who figure strongly in his work. Hi ...
in his book The Bible in Spain narrates how he met a ''nubeiro'' while travelling Galicia circa 1835. Other similar beings are the ''tronantes'' and ''escoleres''. * Many
lake A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much large ...
s are believed to be the result of the drowning of ancient cities (frequently called ''Lucerna'', ''Valverde'', 'Green Valley', or ''Antiochia'' in tales and legends) when the inhabitants failed to give shelter to Jesus or a saint, or when a king of the ''mouros'' used his magic out of spit. Some nights the city's bells can still be heard. This legend was first recorded in the 12th century
Codex Calixtinus The (also ''Compostellus'') is the main witness for the 12th-century , or the Book of Saint James. It is a pseudepigraph attributed to Pope Callixtus II; its principal author or compilator is referred to as "Pseudo-Callixtus", often identified wi ...
and in that version is
Charlemagne Charlemagne ( , ) or Charles the Great ( la, Carolus Magnus; german: Karl der Große; 2 April 747 – 28 January 814), a member of the Carolingian dynasty, was King of the Franks from 768, King of the Lombards from 774, and the first Holy ...
who prays God and Saint James to drown a Moor city reluctant to commit to him. This myth appear to be related to the Breton myth of Ys. * Another mythical being associated with drowned cities is the ''boi bruador'', a bellowing ox which can be heard at night near lakes, a legend first recorded circa 1550. * ''Olláparos'' are giants similar to
cyclopes In Greek mythology and later Roman mythology, the Cyclopes ( ; el, Κύκλωπες, ''Kýklōpes'', "Circle-eyes" or "Round-eyes"; singular Cyclops ; , ''Kýklōps'') are giant one-eyed creatures. Three groups of Cyclopes can be distinguish ...
who sometimes have also an eye on the back of the head. They are related to the Cantabrian
Ojáncanu The Ojáncanu ( Cantabrian: ˈhankanu is a cyclops found in Cantabrian mythology, and is an embodiment of cruelty and brutality. It appears as a 10 to 20 foot tall giant with superhuman strength, with hands and feet that contain ten digits each, ...
. * ''Bruxas'' and ''meigas'' ( witches) can take the form of animals. In particular, the ''chuchonas'' ('suckers') can take the form of a blowfly to feed on the blood of babies and children, causing
anaemia Anemia or anaemia (British English) is a blood disorder in which the blood has a reduced ability to carry oxygen due to a lower than normal number of red blood cells, or a reduction in the amount of hemoglobin. When anemia comes on slowly, th ...
. * ''Lobishomes'' (
werewolves In folklore, a werewolf (), or occasionally lycanthrope (; ; uk, Вовкулака, Vovkulaka), is an individual that can shapeshift into a wolf (or, especially in modern film, a therianthropic hybrid wolf-like creature), either purposely ...
) are humans who sometimes turn into wolves because of a curse.
Manuel Blanco Romasanta Manuel Blanco Romasanta (né Manuela; 18 November 1809 – 14 December 1863) was Spain's first recorded serial killer. In 1853, he admitted to thirteen murders, but claimed he was not responsible because he was suffering from a curse that caused ...
was a Galician
serial killer A serial killer is typically a person who murders three or more persons,A * * * * with the murders taking place over more than a month and including a significant period of time between them. While most authorities set a threshold of three ...
sentenced to death in 1853 for thirteen assassinations. His legal defence was based in his condition of werewolf as consequence of a curse. * Anciently, there were giant
serpent Serpent or The Serpent may refer to: * Snake, a carnivorous reptile of the suborder Serpentes Mythology and religion * Sea serpent, a monstrous ocean creature * Serpent (symbolism), the snake in religious rites and mythological contexts * Serp ...
s (''serpe'', there's a mountain range called ''Cova da Serpe'', 'Sepents' dem', so named since at least the 10th century), some of them winged, and
dragon A dragon is a reptilian legendary creature that appears in the folklore of many cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but dragons in western cultures since the High Middle Ages have often been depicted as ...
s (''dragón'') which could feed on cattle. On the legend of the transfer of the body of Saint James from the
Holy land The Holy Land; Arabic: or is an area roughly located between the Mediterranean Sea and the Eastern Bank of the Jordan River, traditionally synonymous both with the biblical Land of Israel and with the region of Palestine. The term "Holy ...
to Galicia, recorded in the 12th century
Codex Calixtinus The (also ''Compostellus'') is the main witness for the 12th-century , or the Book of Saint James. It is a pseudepigraph attributed to Pope Callixtus II; its principal author or compilator is referred to as "Pseudo-Callixtus", often identified wi ...
, the local queen, ''Lupa'' ('She-wolf'), commanded the disciples of Saint James to go grab a pair of meek oxen she had by the hill known as ''Pico Sagro'' ("Sacred Peak"), where a dragon dwelt, with the hope that either the dragon or the oxen (which were actually fierce bulls) would kill them. There were also ''cocas'' (
cockatrice A cockatrice is a mythical beast, essentially a two-legged dragon, wyvern, or serpent-like creature with a rooster's head. Described by Laurence Breiner as "an ornament in the drama and poetry of the Elizabethans", it was featured prominently i ...
s), which were taken out in procession in certain dates, as attested since 1437. In the town of
Redondela Redondela is a town in the province of Pontevedra, Galicia, northwestern Spain. The most famous icons of the village are its two major railway viaducts built in the nineteenth century. Due to these infrastructures Redondela is known under the nick ...
this procession is still held each year. * The ''compaña'' ('retinue'), ''hoste'' ('army'), ''estantiga'' ( < ''hoste antiga'', 'anciente army'),
Santa Compaña The Santa Compaña ("Holy Company") is a deep-rooted mythical belief in rural northwest of Iberia: Galicia, Asturias (Spain) and Northern Portugal. It is the Iberian version of the pan-European mythical motif known as the Wild Hunt. It is also ...
('holy retinue') is the local version of the
wild hunt The Wild Hunt is a folklore motif (Motif E501 in Stith Thompson's Motif-Index of Folk-Literature) that occurs in the folklore of various northern European cultures. Wild Hunts typically involve a chase led by a mythological figure escorted by ...
. In its modern form is a nocturne procession of the dead, who, porting candles or torches, and frequently a coffin, announce the imminent decease of a neighbour. This procession can "capture" a living person, who is then obliged to precede the Santa Compaña all night long, through forest, streams and brambles, or until another one takes his place. One can protect himself from being taken by the Compaña by tracing a circle and getting inside it, or by throwing oneself to the ground and ignoring the Compaña while it passes over. A solitary phantom related to the Compaña is the ''estadea''. This myth is also related to the fairy host in Ireland,
sluagh The Sluagh (, ; sga, slúag; English: 'host, army, crowd'), or Sluagh na marbh ('host of the dead'), were the hosts of the unforgiven dead in Irish and Scottish folklore., s.v. ''Sluagh''. In the words of British folklorist Lewis Spence, "In the ...
in Scotland and toili in Wales. * The ''urco'' (''güercu '' in
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 community in northwest Spain. It is coextensiv ...
) is a giant black dog who emerges from the sea or from a river to cause terror to the locals. They are also, per se, a bad omen.


Traditions and beliefs

While Galician was traditionally a profoundly
Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
society, in its beliefs there are many remnants of previous religious systems, in particular the belief on a pantheon of gods, now
saint In religious belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of Q-D-Š, holiness, likeness, or closeness to God. However, the use of the term ''saint'' depends on the context and Christian denomination, denominat ...
s; in the reincarnation in form of an animal, when there are unfinished business; the
evil eye The Evil Eye ( grc, ὀφθαλμὸς βάσκανος; grc-koi, ὀφθαλμὸς πονηρός; el, (κακό) μάτι; he, עַיִן הָרָע, ; Romanian: ''Deochi''; it, malocchio; es, mal de ojo; pt, mau-olhado, olho gordo; ar ...
and the sickness caused by
curse A curse (also called an imprecation, malediction, execration, malison, anathema, or commination) is any expressed wish that some form of adversity or misfortune will befall or attach to one or more persons, a place, or an object. In particular, ...
s; the holiness of crossroads and fountains, etcetera. The first attestation of the beliefs of the Galicians in a Christian context is offered by the
Pannonian Pannonia may refer to: In geography: * Basin of Pannonia, a geomorphological region (plain) in Central Europe * Sea of Pannonia, an ancient (former) sea in Central Europe * Steppe of Pannonia, a grassland ecosystem in the Pannonian Plain In h ...
Martin of Braga Martin of Braga (in Latin ''Martinus Bracarensis'', in Portuguese, known as ''Martinho de Dume'' 520–580 AD) was an archbishop of Bracara Augusta in Gallaecia (now Braga in Portugal), a missionary, a monastic founder, and an ecclesiastical ...
who in his letter ''De Correctione Rusticorum'' condemns, among others, the belief in the Roman gods or in the
lamia LaMia Corporation S.R.L., operating as LaMia (short for ''Línea Aérea Mérida Internacional de Aviación''), was a Bolivian charter airline headquartered in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, as an EcoJet subsidiary. It had its origins from the failed ...
s,
nymph A nymph ( grc, νύμφη, nýmphē, el, script=Latn, nímfi, label=Modern Greek; , ) in ancient Greek folklore is a minor female nature deity. Different from Greek goddesses, nymphs are generally regarded as personifications of nature, are ty ...
s and dianas, and also in practices as putting candles to trees, springs and crossroads. *
Sanctuaries A sanctuary, in its original meaning, is a sacred place, such as a shrine. By the use of such places as a haven, by extension the term has come to be used for any place of safety. This secondary use can be categorized into human sanctuary, a saf ...
are socially important places for pilgrimage (''romaría'') and devotion, each one under the protection of a saint or
virgin Mary Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother o ...
. There are different beliefs associated with each one: the sanctuary of Santo André de Teixido in Cedeira is associated with reincarnation, as it is said that ''a Santo André de Teixido vai de morto o que non foi de vivo'' ('to Saint Andrew at Teixido —yew-tree-copse— goes as dead the ones that didn't went while alive'). It is advised not to kill lizards or any other animal while in the vicinity. The ''Corpiño'' sanctuary near
Lalín Lalín is a municipality in Galicia, Spain in the north of the province of Pontevedra. It's the capital of the region of the Deza. The town has a population of 20,158 inhabitants (2014).http://www.ige.eu/igebdt/esq.jsp?paxina=002003001&c=-1&ru ...
and San Campío near Tomiño are associated with the treatment of mental
illness A disease is a particular abnormal condition that negatively affects the structure or function of all or part of an organism, and that is not immediately due to any external injury. Diseases are often known to be medical conditions that ar ...
and evil eye or '' meigallo''. Virxe da Barca in Muxía is built by the place where it is said that Mary arrived aboard a stone boat, a recurring myth in Galicia also present in Ireland and Brittany. Many of these places were probably built over pagan cult places. *
High cross A high cross or standing cross ( ga, cros ard / ardchros, gd, crois àrd / àrd-chrois, cy, croes uchel / croes eglwysig) is a free-standing Christian cross made of stone and often richly decorated. There was a unique Early Medieval traditi ...
es and calvaries, locally named ''cruceiros'' or ''peto de ánimas'', are usually placed at
crossroads Crossroads, crossroad, cross road or similar may refer to: * Crossroads (junction), where four roads meet Film and television Films * ''Crossroads'' (1928 film), a 1928 Japanese film by Teinosuke Kinugasa * ''Cross Roads'' (film), a 1930 Brit ...
, before sacred places, or marking a pilgrimage road. Placing flowers or lit candles before that monuments are common practices. In 1996 the Galician community in Ushuaia, Argentine, the southernmost city on the world, built a ''cruceiro'' with the legent 'Galicia shines in this land's end'. File:Muxía 20040912 Santuario da Virxe da Barca 12 Xente no exterior o día da romaría (3861746232).jpg, Virxe da Barca,
Muxía Muxía () is a coastal town and municipality in the province of A Coruña in the autonomous community of Galicia in northwestern Spain. It belongs to the comarca of Fisterra. It is one of the final destinations for pilgrims on the Way of St. Ja ...
File:Santo-Andre-de-Teixido-IMG 0347-a.jpg, Santo André de Teixido,
Cedeira Cedeira is a municipality in the province of A Coruña in the autonomous community of Galicia in northwestern Spain. It is situated in the northern coast of the Rías Altas. Cedeira has a population of 7,412 inhabitants ( INE, 2010). Parroquias * ...
File:Cruceiro de Moldes, A Pobra do Caramiñal.jpg, ''Peto de ánimas'', crossroad of Moldes, Pobra do Caramiñal File:Monumento gallegos en Ushuaia 3.JPG, Crurceiro in Ushuaia, Argentina File:Castro Barbudo, calvario.JPG, Calvario at Castro Barbudo, Ponte Caldelas File:Hio el cruceiro y el mar - panoramio.jpg, Cruceiro do Hío, Cangas do Morrazo File:Cruceiro perante o Santuario da Virxe do Camiño. Muros. Galiza. 2015.jpg, Cruceiro at Muros, A Coruña, Muros
* Traditional medicine was administered by ''Witch doctor, menciñeiros'' and ''menciñeiras'', who used both herbs and spells to treat illness. Also compoñedores and compoñedoras: healers specialized in mending bones and joints.


Popular feasts

Aside from Catholic feasts and celebrations, there are other annual celebrations of Paganism, pagan or mixed origin: * ''Entroido'' (Shrovetide, Carnival). The ''Entroido'' ('entering; prelude') is usually a period of indulgence and feasts, which contrast with the soberness of the Holy Week and Easter. Parades and festivals (which were prosecuted by the Catholic Church) are held all along Galicia and, specially in Ourense (province), Ourense, masks such as the ''peliqueiros'', ''cigarróns, boteiros'', ''felos'', ''pantallas'', who can commit minor mischiefs to other attendants, are central to the celebrations. * ''Noite de San Xoán'' (Saint John's Eve, Saint John's eve). Saint John's eve is celebrated around bonfires which are lit at dusk; young people jump over the fire three, seven or nine times. Other traditions associated to this night is the nine-waves bath in the beach, for having children, and the preparation of the ''auga de San Xoán'' (Saint John's water) by letting a bowl with a mixture of selected herbs outdoors all night. This water is used to wash one's face in the morning. * Rapa das Bestas, Rapa das bestas. File:Peliqueiros de Laza.jpg, Entroido: Peliqueiros of Laza, Ourense File:Entroido de Viana do Bolo 2018 - 03.jpg, ''Boteiros'', Viana do Bolo File:VI festa da filloa da pedra. 2009. A Baña 2.jpg, Traditional ''filloas'', Crêpe, crepe-like pancakes File:Peliqueiros In Lisbon (120826467).jpeg, ''Pantallas'' from Xinzo de Limia File:Con la manada.jpg, ''Carantoñas'', Chantada File:Cacharela.jpg, San Xoán File:A rapa das bestas de Sabucedo - Traballo en equipo.jpg, ''Aloitadores'', Rapa das bestas


Traditional costume

Traditional Galician costume, as understood today, got conformed fundamentally during the second half of the 18th century. Notwithstanding, some very characteristic elements, as the ''monteira'' (an embroidered felt hat), breeches and jacket are already present in 16th century depictions. Although there are some regional variance, males attire is generally composed of ''monteira'' and sometimes ''pano'' (headcloth), ''camisa (shirt), ''chaleco'' (vest), chaqueta (jacket), ''faixa'' (sash), ''calzón'' (breeches), ''cirolas'' (underwear), ''polainas'' (gaiters, spats (footwear), spats) and ''zocas'', ''zocos'' (clogs or boots). File:Trio Gaiteiros.jpg, Musicians, circa 1900 File:"Gallego (galicien) dansant la gallegada" (19749113588).jpg, A Galician, 1874 File:Gaitero con montera.jpg, A bagpiper with ''monteira'' (hut) File:Carallán (4868362418).jpg, An old man in traditional attire File:Museo Liste, Vigo, zocas.jpg, ''Zocas'' File:Polainas (6064165389).jpg, ''Polainas'' Female costume was composed of ''cofia'' (coif) or, later, ''pano'' (headcloth); ''dengue'' (short cape worn as a jacket) or ''corpiño'' (bodice); ''camisa'' (shirt), ''refaixo'' (petticoat), ''saia'' (skirt), ''mantelo'' (apron) and ''faltriqueira'' (pouch or bag). File:Traxe tradicional galego. Santiago de Compostela.jpg, Old lady with ''cofia'' File:FIL 2017 - Grande Parade 42 - Cantigas e Agarimos.jpg, Galician woman with embroidered ''mantelo'' and saffron ''faldriqueira'' File:Serafín Avendaño 1838-1916, Paisaje con gallega 1891.JPG, ''Galician woman'' by Serafín Avendaño, 1891. She's wearing a ''dengue'' File:Equilibrio (37260680995).jpg, ''Dancing'' File:Los zuecos de las cantareiras (28120192268).jpg, ''Zocos'' File:Pontevedra-Aña urbana 2013-Cuarteto femenino.jpg, At Pontevedra


Traditional music

The most characteristic instruments in traditional music is probably the Galician gaita, gaita (bagpipe). The gaita have a conical double-reed chanter, and usually have one to four drones. The bag is usually inflated through a blowpipe, but in the ''gaita de barquín'' it is inflated by the operation of a bellows. In the past the gaita was usually accompanied just by ''tamboril'' (snare drum) and ''bombo'' or ''caixa'' (bass drum), but since the middle of the twentieth century the groups and bands have become very popular. Pieces which are usually interpreted with gaita are the muiñeira, often in time, similar to an Irish jig; the ''alborada'', played during the early mornings of holydays; the ''marcha'' (march) which accompanies processions and retinues. Some renowned compositions are the 19th century ''Muiñeira de Chantada'' and the traditional ''Aires de Pontevedra'' (an alborada) and ''Marcha do Antigo Reino de Galicia'' (March of the Old Kingdom of Galicia). Another very representative instrument is the ''pandeireta'' (tambourine), which along or together with other drums as the ''Adufe, pandeiro'', castanets, etc., usually accompanied the songs and celebrations of the working women and men during the ''seráns'' (evenings), ''foliadas'' or ''fiadas''. Other genres include de ''alalá'', which can be sung a cappella, or the ''cancións de cego'' (blindman's songs), interpreted with violin of Hurdy-gurdy, zanfoña. File:Gaiteiros de Guillarei.jpg, Bagpiper with a ''gaita de barquín'' and musicians with a ''pandeireta'' and ''tamboril'' File:O Rilo de Betanzos.jpg, circa 1900: famous piper ''O Rilo'' File:Gaita Cantigas 3.jpg, Bagpiper, 13th century, Cantigas de Santa Maria File:Muiñeira.jpg, Dancing a ''muiñeira'' File:Gaiteiros de Soutelo (Vida Gallega 350. Agosto 1927).png, 1927: Os gaiteiros de Soutelo File:Faustino santalices.jpg, Musician Faustino Santalices File:Pandeireteiras de Mens.jpg, Pandereiteiras de Mens


Literature

File:Rosalía Castro de Murguía por Luis Sellier.jpg, Rosalia de Castro was one of the most representatives authors of the Rexurdimento (revival of the Galician language). File:Eduardopondal.jpg,
Eduardo Pondal Eduardo María González-Pondal Abente (February 8, 1835 – March 8, 1917) was a Galician (Spain) poet, who wrote in both Galician and Spanish. Of Hidalgo origin, Pondal was the youngest of a family of seven. From 1844 onwards he studied La ...
, considered himself a "bard of freedom", he imagined a
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 ...
past of freedom and independence, which he tried to recover for Galicia with his poetry. File:Curros - henriquez.jpg, Manuel Curros Enríquez, a Galician journalist and writer who was famous for his compromise with the Republicanism against the Spanish Monarchy as well. File:Manuel Rivas (AELG)-2.jpg, Manuel Rivas was born in
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 ...
. A famous Galician journalist, writer and poet whose work is the most widely translated in the history of Galician literature.


Painting, plastic arts and architecture

File:Luís Seoane en Buenos Aires en 1955.jpg, painter Luís Seoane File:Asorey. Vida Gallega N52, febreiro 1914.jpg, Sculptor Francisco Asorey File:Antonio Palacios Ramilo 1929.jpg, Architect Antonio Palacios


Science

File:Benito Jerónimo Feijoo.jpg, Benito Jerónimo Feijóo y Montenegro was a monk and scholar who wrote a great collection of essays that cover a range of subjects, from natural history and the then known sciences. File:Martín Sarmiento.jpeg, Martin Sarmiento. He wrote on a wide variety of subjects, including Literature, Medicine, Botany, Ethnography, History, Theology, Linguistics, etc.


Music

File:Tanxugueiras artist womex21 by jacob crawfurd.jpg, Tanxugueiras are a Galician folk trio formed in 2016. The group aim to bring a modern sound to traditional Galician music by merging folk sounds with Pop music, pop and world music influences. Their music focuses on themes such as the understanding between peoples, the defence of the Galician language and Galician culture, culture, and women's empowerment. File:Carlos Núñez (Forum BCN -2006) 01.JPG, Carlos Núñez Muñoz, Carlos Núñez is currently one of the most famous Galician bagpipers, who has collaborated with Ry Cooder, Sharon Shannon, Sinéad O'Connor, The Chieftains, Altan among others. File:Susanaseivane.jpg, Susana Seivane is a Galician bagpiper. She was born into a family of well-known Galician luthiers and musicians (The Seivane). File:Carlos Jean.jpg, Carlos Jean is a DJ and record producer. He was born in Ferrol, of Haitian and Galician heritage.


Sport

File:Francisco Javier Gomez Tours2011.jpg, Francisco Javier Gómez Noya (1983-), former triathlete, Silver in 2012 Summer Olympics. File:Óscar Pereiro TF 2011.jpg, Óscar Pereiro is a professional road bicycle racer. Pereiro won the 2006 Tour de France. File:David Cal.jpg, David Cal Figueroa is a Galician sprint canoer who has competed since 1999, he became the athlete with the most Olympic medals of all time in Spain. File:Ana Peleteiro Glasgow 2019.jpg, Ana Peleteiro is a triple jumper and the current national record holder. She won the gold medal in the 2019 European Athletics Indoor Championships.


Cinema and TV

File:(María Castro) Una semana nada más. Posados.jpg, María Castro (actress), María Castro (1981-) is a well-known Galician actress who performed in several Spanish TV series and movies. File:Premios Goya 2018 - Luis Tosar.jpg, Luis Tosar has starred in some successful Spanish movies such as ''Celda 211'' or ''Te doy mis ojos''. File:Premios Goya 2020 - Oliver Laxe.jpg, Oliver Laxe is a French-born Galician director whose third film, ''Fire Will Come'', became the most watched and most successful Galician film in history. File:Casarès Harcourt 1944b.jpg, Maria Casarès was one of the most distinguished stars of the French stage and cinema


People of Galician origin

File:Cuba.FidelCastro.02.jpg, Cuban former leader Fidel Castro File:RETRATO DEL GRAL. FRANCISCO FRANCO BAHAMONDE.jpg, Caudillo and dictator of Spain, Francisco Franco File:Joao da Nova.jpg, Portuguese explorer João da Nova File:Sheen, Martin (2008).jpg, American actor Martin Sheen, born Ramón Estévez File:Nelidapinon.jpg, Brazilian people, Brazilian writer Nélida Piñon File:Argentina.RaulAlfonsin.01.jpg, Argentinian ex-president Raúl Alfonsín File:José Alonso y Trelles.jpg, José Alonso y Trelles, Uruguayan poet File:Laurentino Cortizo (cropped).jpg, Laurentino Cortizo, Laurentino Cortizo Cohen, president of Panama File:Visita Oficial del Presidente de Uruguay 3 (cropped).jpg, Tabaré Vázquez, ex-president of Uruguay File:Mariano Rajoy in 2018.jpg, Mariano Rajoy, former Prime Minister of Spain File:D. Santiago Casares Quiroga, Ministro de.jpg, Santiago Casares Quiroga, ORGA's founder and former Prime Minister of Spain


See also

*List of Galician people *Galician nationalism *Fillos de Galicia *Spanish people *Nationalities and regions of Spain


References


External links


Galician PortalA collaborative study of the EDNAP group regarding Y-chromosome binary polymorphism analysisGalician language portalGalician Music, Culture and HistoryGalician GovernmentSantiago TourismOfficial page about The Way of St JamesArquivo do Galego Oral
– An archive of records of Galician speakers.
A Nosa Fala
– Sound recordings of the different dialects of the Galician language. {{Authority control Ethnic groups in Spain Ethnic groups in Argentina Ethnic groups in Brazil Ethnic groups in Chile People from Galicia (Spain), Romance peoples