Muros

Muros traces its origins to 1286, when Sancho IV of Castile established it as a royal town under the name Pueblo de Muro. Twelve years later, Fernando IV transferred it to the archbishopric of Compostela, and the town's coat of arms changed accordingly — the castle and lion of Castile were replaced by two pilgrim shells representing the cathedral of Santiago.

By the mid-fifteenth century the town had grown important enough that Juan II of Castile granted it rights to import and export goods through its port. Muros was walled in 1520, the walls running three to four metres thick and up to seven metres high, dividing the town into two distinct districts. The main gate, flanked by two strong defensive towers and sited near what is now the town hall, was one of two gates in a circuit that also included eighteen battlemented towers reaching up to eleven metres. That same year, Alonso III de Fonseca built the Fortaleza del Monte Laurel as a defence against pirate raids.

In 1543, a naval battle was fought in the Muros estuary, where the Spanish Armada under Admiral Álvaro de Bazán defeated a French fleet. By the late seventeenth century, the Marquis of Cerralbo had built a castle near the old fish market, which eventually mounted twelve cannons.

In March 1809, during the Peninsular War, Napoleonic troops destroyed the town in twelve hours, burning 190 houses and, critically, the Municipal Archive, which destroyed most of the historical record.

Recovery came with the nineteenth century. Catalan entrepreneurs arrived and established more than thirty salting factories, processing mainly sardines and herring. Shipyards developed alongside them, shaping both the economy and the physical character of the town. A royal visit followed — Queen Mother María Cristina of Habsburg-Lorraine spent several days in Muros with her court.

In May 1970, Muros was declared a historic-artistic ensemble, recognised for its fishing-village character, Gothic palaces, the former collegiate church, and the hermitage of the Virgen del Camino.

The old town, built around the former fishing quarter, preserves the traditional low-arched stone houses where fish crates were once stacked in the arcaded ground floors — a mix of rounded and pointed arches along the streets around the Praza da Peixería Vella. The parish church, formerly the Collegiate of Santa María del Campo, is the town's most significant building. Commissioned by Lope de Mendoza in the fifteenth century, it is Gothic in style, with a baroque bell tower added in 1757, complete with a stone balustrade.

Inside, the most venerated image is a baroque figure of the Cristo de la Agonía, an intensely expressive representation of Christ's suffering. On the edge of town, the Muíño de Maré do Pozo de Cachón is a tidal mill built in the first third of the twentieth century and is among the largest of its kind in Spain.

From Santiago, drive west on the AG-56 towards Noia, then take the AC-550 along the ría's north shore. Monbus runs hourly from Santiago de Compostela, taking 1 hr 45 min via Noia and the north-shore villages. The town centre is walkable, but you need a vehicle to reach nearby villages; taxis wait near the port.

The Gadis supermarket on Rúa Cabo, just south of the port, is open Monday–Saturday 09:30–14:00 and 17:00–20:30. The town market at Praza de Abastos runs Monday–Saturday 09:00–14:00. As of February 2025, Muros and its approach roads have 5G from Masmovil, Movistar, and Orange; Vodafone gives only a weak basic signal.

Eating and drinking clusters around the port — pubs on the south side serve tapas, and about 200 metres north is Hamburguesería MacBurger, open Wednesday–Monday 13:00–23:00. The local Galician wine is white and crisp, similar in style to Portuguese wine.