Pedrafita do Cebreiro is a municipality in the province of

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 Galicia,

Spain , 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 ...

. It borders the Lugo municipalities of As Nogais,

Cervantes Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra (; 29 September 1547 (assumed) – 22 April 1616 Old Style and New Style dates, NS) was an Early Modern Spanish writer widely regarded as the greatest writer in the Spanish language and one of the world's pre-emin ...

Folgoso do Courel Folgoso do Courel is a town and municipality in Lugo in Galicia province in north-west Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ul ...

Samos Samos (, also ; el, Σάμος ) is a Greek island in the eastern Aegean Sea, south of Chios, north of Patmos and the Dodecanese, and off the coast of western Turkey, from which it is separated by the -wide Mycale Strait. It is also a separate ...

and

Triacastela Triacastela is a municipality in the province of Lugo, Galicia, Spain. It gets its name from the three castles that once stood here, none of which exist today. Norman (Viking) invaders in 968 A.D. pillaged here, eventually to be defeated at Cebre ...

. Its eastern boundary borders the

province of León León (, , ; ; ) is a province of northwestern Spain in the northern part of the Region of León and in the northwestern part of the autonomous community of Castile and León. About one quarter of its population of 463,746 (2018) lives in the cap ...

. It belongs to the

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

Os Ancares Os Ancares is a comarca in the Galician Province of Lugo. The overall population of this local region is 13,888 (2005). It is formed by the municipality of Candín with two slopes, Sil and Navia, and separated by the Ancares pass. Today, Os An ...

The French Way The French Way ( gl, Camiño francés, es, Camino francés, , literally the "way of the Franks") is the GR 65 and the most popular of the routes of the Way of St. James ( es, Camino de Santiago), the ancient pilgrimage route to Santiago de Comp ...

of the

Way of St. James The Camino de Santiago ( la, Peregrinatio Compostellana, "Pilgrimage of Compostela"; gl, O Camiño de Santiago), known in English as the Way of St James, is a network of pilgrims' ways or pilgrimages leading to the shrine of the Twelve Apostle ...

enters Galicia from León through the municipality and passes through the village of O Cebreiro. The village has some

palloza A palloza (also known as pallouza or pallaza) is a traditional dwelling of the Serra dos Ancares of northwest Spain. Structure A palloza is a traditional thatched house as found in Leonese county of El Bierzo, Serra dos Ancares in Galicia, and ...

s, including one that houses a small ethnographic museum. The Royal St. Mary's Church, also known as the Church of St. Benedict, was built in O Cebreiro in 1965–71 on the foundations of a pre-Romanesque church rediscovered in 1962.

History

The history of the town is strongly influenced by the importance of its port, the importance it has in the Camino de Santiago and the main gateway to the north of Galicia. The pallozas, archaic type of homes from which some specimens are preserved in the village of O Cebreiro, testify to a settlement before the Romans. Some of them have been restored to house an ethnographic museum and a refuge for pilgrims. The Port of Piedradita was crossed by a Roman road that led from Astorga to Triacastela, on the interior the ancient Galicia. Later that road gave way to medieval roads leading to Camino de Santiago and a Camino Real. The religious importance of this step was reinforced by the legendary miracle of the Holy Grail, which occurred in O Cebreiro, and since then a must for the Jacobean pilgrims. In 1486 the Catholic Monarchs, on a pilgrimage to Santiago, stopped at the monastery of O Cebreiro and donated the shrine where the relics of the miracle. The old Romanesque monastery chalice appears in the arms of Galicia. The road also had great importance in the

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

, due to its strategic position between León and Galicia. In 1809 it was used by the Scottish troops of General John Moore, in his retreat to La Coruña as he was pursued by the French. Several hundred British were killed due to the harshness of that winter. During this period, the relics of O Cebreiro were hidden in the village of Foxos, but the documents of the monastery were destroyed. From the nineteenth century Piedrafita do Cebreiro was a passage of the first modern highway between Galicia and the plateau. In the twentieth century it became the first motorway, which crosses the harbor by two tunnels.

Demography

Colors= id:lightgrey value:gray(0.9) id:darkgrey value:gray(0.7) id:sfondo value:rgb(1,1,1) id:barra value:rgb(0.6,0.7,0.9) ImageSize = width:580 height:300 PlotArea = left: 60 bottom: 30 top: 20 right: 20 DateFormat = x.y Period = from:0 till:5000 TimeAxis = orientation:vertical AlignBars = late ScaleMajor = gridcolor:darkgrey increment:2000 start:0 ScaleMinor = gridcolor:lightgrey increment:1000 start:0 BackgroundColors = canvas:sfondo BarData= bar: 1877 text: 1877 bar: 1887 text: 1887 bar: 1900 text: 1900 bar: 1910 text: 1910 bar: 1920 text: 1920 bar: 1930 text: 1930 bar: 1940 text: 1940 bar: 1950 text: 1950 bar: 1960 text: 1960 bar: 1970 text: 1970 bar: 1980 text: 1980 bar: 1990 text: 1990 bar: 2000 text: 2000 bar: 2010 text: 2010 PlotData= color:barra width:20 align:center bar: 1877 from:3937 till: 0 bar: 1887 from:4134 till: 0 bar: 1900 from:4402 till: 0 bar: 1910 from:4899 till: 0 bar: 1920 from:4388 till: 0 bar: 1930 from:4687 till: 0 bar: 1940 from:4632 till: 0 bar: 1950 from:4223 till: 0 bar: 1960 from:3770 till: 0 bar: 1970 from:2943 till: 0 bar: 1980 from:2520 till: 0 bar: 1990 from:2144 till: 0 bar: 2000 from:1552 till: 0 bar: 2010 from:1201 till: 0 PlotData= bar: 1877 at:3937 fontsize:S text:3.937 shift:(0,5) bar: 1887 at:4134 fontsize:S text:4.134 shift:(0,5) bar: 1900 at:4402 fontsize:S text:4.402 shift:(0,5) bar: 1910 at:4899 fontsize:S text:4.899 shift:(0,5) bar: 1920 at:4388 fontsize:S text:4.388 shift:(0,5) bar: 1930 at:4687 fontsize:S text:4.687 shift:(0,5) bar: 1940 at:4632 fontsize:S text:4.632 shift:(0,5) bar: 1950 at:4223 fontsize:S text:4.223 shift:(0,5) bar: 1960 at:3770 fontsize:S text:3.770 shift:(0,5) bar: 1970 at:2943 fontsize:S text:2.943 shift:(0,5) bar: 1980 at:2520 fontsize:S text:2.520 shift:(0,5) bar: 1990 at:2144 fontsize:S text:2.144 shift:(0,5) bar: 2000 at:1552 fontsize:S text:1.552 shift:(0,5) bar: 2010 at:1201 fontsize:S text:1.201 shift:(0,5) Fro
INE Archiv
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Civil parishes

* O Cebreiro (Santa María) * Fonfría (San Xoán) * Hospital (San Xoán) * Liñares (Santo Estevo) * Lousada (San Vicente) * Louzarela (San Xoán) * Pacios (San Lourenzo) * Padornelo (San Xoán) * Pedrafita do Cebreiro (Santo Antón) * Riocereixa (Santa María Madanela) * Veiga de Forcas (Santa María) *Zanfoga (San Martiño)

References

External links

Municipality of Pedrafita do Cebreiro (''Concello de Pedrafita do Cebreiro'')
{{Authority control Municipalities in the Province of Lugo