Foz () is a town and municipality in the A Mariña Central comarca in the Galician province of

Lugo Lugo (, ) 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 of 100,060 in 2024, ...

. It has been historically linked to the Ancient Province of Mondoñedo and also linked to the arrival of Briton immigrants during the Dark Ages (5th and 6th centuries) fleeing by sea from the British Isles (see Bishop Maeloc,

Britonia Britonia (which became Bretoña in Galician and Spanish) is the name of a Romano-British settlement on the northern coast of the Iberian peninsula at the time of the Anglo-Saxon invasion of Britain. The area is roughly that of the northern pa ...

and San Martiño de Mondoñedo). It has 9800 inhabitants. It borders the coastal municipalities of Burela and Barreiros, and the inland municipalities of Lourenzá, Mondoñedo,

O Valadouro O Valadouro is a municipality in the province of Lugo, in the autonomous community of Galicia, Spain. It belongs to the comarca A ''comarca'' (, , , ) is a traditional region or local administrative division found in Portugal, Spain, and som ...

Alfoz Alfoz () is a municipality in the province of Lugo, in the autonomous community of Galicia, Spain. It is in the comarca of A Mariña Central. It borders the municipalities of Foz, Mondoñedo, Abadín and O Valadouro. The population in 200 ...

, and Cervo. Foz is a coastal town on the shores of the Cantabrian Sea at the mouth of the river Masma, which forms the Foz estuary, with an approximate area of 100 km². Although Foz was previously a fishing village, most of its economic resources now come from tourism.

Etymology

The name Foz comes from the Latin word ''faux'' which graphically describes the river mouth of the Masma river; Foz is the Galician term for

base level In geology and geomorphology a base level is the lower limit for the vertical position of an erosion, erosion process. The modern term was introduced by John Wesley Powell in 1875. The term was subsequently appropriated by William Morris Davis wh ...

History

The foundation of Foz dates back to pre-Roman times, as attested by the existing forts Fazouro and Pena do Altar. Its foundation may originate in the time of the Ártabros or, according to the historian Amor Meilán, a factory may have been established by the

Tartessos Tartessos () is, as defined by archaeological discoveries, a historical civilization settled in the southern Iberian Peninsula characterized by its mixture of local Prehistoric Iberia, Paleohispanic and Phoenician traits. It had a writing syste ...

. During the ninth century the town had flourished since the establishment of the episcopal headquarters in San Martiño de Mondoñedo. At the time of Ferdinand and Isabella, Foz kept certain privileges and exemptions as a result of its commercial importance. During the sixteenth and seventeenth Foz had a major port and one of the three most important shipyards in Galicia. Shipowners and fishermen engaged mainly in whaling. This important fishery has declined over time, but today there is still an important seafaring tradition. The main monuments of Foz are the Basilica de San Martiño and the Manor of the Counts of Fontao

Port of Foz

* ''Fishing port'' * ''Sport port''

International relations

Twin towns – sister cities

Foz is twinned with: * Trégastel, Brittany, France (2003)

References

{{Authority control Municipalities in the Province of Lugo Port cities and towns on the Spanish Atlantic coast