Sobrado is a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

in the

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

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 Galicia and the second most populated municipality in the autonomous community and s ...

located in the northwest of Spain in the

autonomous community eu, autonomia erkidegoa ca, comunitat autònoma gl, comunidade autónoma oc, comunautat autonòma an, comunidat autonoma ast, comunidá autónoma , alt_name = , map = , category = Autonomous administra ...

of Galicia. It has a population of 2,087 (Spanish 2011 Census) and an area of 121 km². Sobrado is well known because of

Sobrado Abbey 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 ...

, a

Trappist The Trappists, officially known as the Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance ( la, Ordo Cisterciensis Strictioris Observantiae, abbreviated as OCSO) and originally named the Order of Reformed Cistercians of Our Lady of La Trappe, are a ...

monastery. The town is known by the name Sobrado dos Monxes in Galician or Sobrado de los Monjes in

but the official name is just Sobrado.

Geography

Demographics

Climate and vegetation

The town of Sobrado, in its climatic characteristics (temperatures, precipitation, humidity, hours of direct sunlight) has a climate characteristic of the European Atlantic that means wet and cool, with heavy rainfall due to greater latitude within the autonomous region and the dorsal Galician screen acting for the

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...

storms that discharge heavy rains on this side, approaching the annual average 1,400 mm. Temperatures are a little more extreme, the result of the recession of the coastline and its position in the mountains and foothills. The average annual temperature is 8.4 °C, undergoes major changes, with highs in July to 33 °C and minimum in December to 3 °C below zero. The vast majority of the municipal territory is devoted to forest plantations while the rest goes to the crop. The cultivated areas are devoted mainly to livestock related products, and overflowing the meadows and corn. The gardening plots are reduced to around homes and in a zone where the greenhouses are beginning to abound.

Orography

From the physical standpoint, the municipality is located in a mountain area corresponding to the Dorsal Gallega. To the east and the south are the high points of the municipality, the Cova da Serpe mountains and hills do Corno do Boi in the east, and mountains do Bocelo in the south, where we find Megalithics rest like the dolmen of Forno dos Mouros and the "Pena da Moura" two round big rocks where are doubts and legends if it was the men who put the rocks there. These mountain systems are around 750 m altitude. They can locate Mount Campelo with 806 m and the mountain of Pilar with 801 m situated at the border of the province, and establishing superb views over the territory. The western areas of the municipality is around the 450 to 600 meters and the mountains becomes in little hills and valleys where the most of the population lives.

Hydrography

Although the river network of the municipality is characterized by small rivers with low flow, typical of a region of mountain peaks. In the Bocelo mountains have the head of the two major rivers of western Galicia: the Mandeo that slopes down to the Ria de

Betanzos Betanzos () is a municipality in the autonomous community of Galicia in northwestern Spain in the province of A Coruña. It belongs to the comarca of Betanzos. In Roman times Betanzos was called Flauvium Brigantium or ''Brigantium''. During the ...

and

Tambre Tambre is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Belluno in the Italian region Veneto, located about north of Venice and about east of Belluno. Tambre borders the following municipalities: Aviano, Barcis, Budoia, Caneva, Chies d' ...

flowing into the estuary of Muros and

Noia Noia () is a town and municipality in the autonomous community of Galicia in northwestern Spain. It is the capital of the comarca with the same name. It has a population of 14,947 inhabitants (2010),Cistercian monastery from Clairvaux. During the 12th and 13th centuries it flourished and was able to undertake the foundations of its own daughter house, Valdedios Abbey in Asturia. Sobrado was also given the supervision of Monfero Abbey after it joined the Cistercian Order. After a period of decline Sobrado was the first abbey in Galicia, in 1498, to join the Castilian Cistercian Congregation. The monumental new Baroque abbey church was dedicated in 1708. Most of the conventual buildings were also rebuilt at this time. The dissolution of the monasteries enforced by the government of Mendizábal in 1835 put an end to the abbey, and the abandoned buildings fell into decay. In 1954 the

monks of Viaceli Abbey in Cóbreces, west of

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 ...

, began reconstruction, having already refounded and restored Huerta Abbey in 1929, and were able to resettle the monastery with a new Trappist community in 1966.

Roman Camp of Cidadela

The camp is nestled on a plateau of 480 meters, is surrounded by the mountain of Serra da Corda, its height varies between 522 and 601 meters. The presence of the camp in this place is due to strategic reasons, such as controlling step the Roman road to "Lucus Augusti ( Lugo). The camp is rectangular with rounded corners. Its dimensions are 172 meters long by 140 feet wide, equivalent to an area of 2.40 ha, which are appropriate measures for the training of a military unit five. This whole camp is protected by a wall and a moat and a number of control points located near the camp . The materials found at the camp are numerous coins ranging from the time of Domitian (86) to Claudius II (270), a wide range of glass, bronze, iron objects, construction of pottery, etc..

Natural heritage

Sobrado has a rich natural heritage, with numerous rivers and lakes, one wet area declared of European interest, apart from numerous forest full of oak, chestnut, birch, etc.

The Lagoon

The

Lagoon A lagoon is a shallow body of water separated from a larger body of water by a narrow landform, such as reefs, barrier islands, barrier peninsulas, or isthmuses. Lagoons are commonly divided into ''coastal lagoons'' (or ''barrier lagoons'') ...

of Sobrado has an artificial origin, built between 1500 and 1530 by

monks A monk (, from el, μοναχός, ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a person who practices religious asceticism by monastic living, either alone or with any number of other monks. A monk may be a person who decides to dedica ...

damming the waters of some small rivers to irrigate lawns, move mills or dispose of fishing . The lagoon has a circular shape that covers an approximate area of 10 hectares, with an average depth of 1.5 meters to 4.5 meters high. It is situated at an altitude of 510 meters and has an annual change in their level of about 20 centimeters. It is a good representation of the lake ecosystem in which they live frogs, ducks, dragonflies, otters and cormorants and other species. Sobrado Lagoon is the only place in 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, def ...

is registered in the alga " Nitella-Flexilis. Framing the gap we can see the typical tree-gallery forest-birch, alder, ash, willow ... to give way to the Galician agricultural landscape composed of fields, crops and forests. In addition to providing shelter and food for marsh wildlife, this place we moved to a studio and entertainment.

The "Casa do Gado" Oak forest

is a beautiful oak forest over the town of Sobrado where there are also chestnut, mistletoe, birch, pine etc. In the 1980s a film was shot in the forest. The film is called the Living Forest(el bosque animado) and is based on a novel of a Galician writer Wenceslao Fernandez Florez

The 2nd oldest oak in Galicia

Situated in the village of Portacal (Cumbraos), is an oak ranked as the 2nd oldest in Galicia according to the SGHN Galicia (Galician Society of Natural History).

References

External links

Oficial Sobrado's web side

Tourist information site of Sobrado de los Monjes

The Lands of the Ulla and Tambre information site

Web site of the local juniors football team Atlético Sobrado Xuventude
{{Authority control Municipalities in the Province of A Coruña