Cambados

The name Cambados may derive from a Celtic word for cradle, or from terms meaning "lake house," or from the Camba family — no one is certain. What is clear is that people were living in its hills and along its rivers as far back as the 6th and 5th centuries BC. Phoenician traders came later, seeking copper and tin along the Galician coast; the tower of Lobeira served as a lighthouse for their ships at the mouth of the River Umia, where they also worked the salt flats of the Salnés region.

Under Roman rule, local people organised resistance against the proconsul Decimus Junius Brutus, eventually signing a treaty with him — though he later devastated the area. The Visigoth king Égica appointed his son Witiza as Governor of Galicia, and Witiza granted Cambados significant privileges. Arab forces attacked the town during the Moorish incursions into Galicia, and it was later defeated at the River Umia by Fruela I. For protection, Cambados became a feudal holding of the bishopric of Tuy.

Viking raids troubled the coast during the 9th and 10th centuries. In 1170, Fernando II of León granted Cambados the title of "Most Royal Town." The town passed through the hands of Paio Gómez Charino, the houses of Sotomayor and Ulloa, the counts of Castronuevo, and eventually the house of Alba. Its parishes joined the Irmandiño uprising, and the Catholic Monarchs later rewarded Cambados for its part in the conquest of Granada by exempting it from taxes owed to the Archbishop of Compostela. The town's current municipal boundaries took shape in 1820, when the Ayuntamiento of Cambados was formally established.

The entire old town was declared a protected Historic Ensemble in 2001. Its most atmospheric monument is the ruined church of Santa Mariña Dozo, a protected cultural asset since 1943, whose roofless Gothic shell stands in a quiet cemetery — one of the most photographed sights in the Rías Baixas.

The Pazo de Fefiñáns, a grand Galician manor house, anchors the main square alongside the church of San Benito de Fefiñanes. The Torre de San Sadurniño, a medieval tower, has been a protected cultural asset since 1994. The Pazo de Bazán now operates as the town's Parador hotel.

Other places worth finding include the Convento de San Francisco, the Capilla de O Hospital, the tidal mill known as the Muiño de A Seca, and the seafaring quarter of San Tomé do Mar. In the squares and parks, look for sculptures by well-known Galician artists: a monument to the local poet Ramón Cabanillas, a figure of Bacchus by Francisco Leiro, and a scallop shell sculpture by Manolo Paz. The hillside mirador and hermitage of A Pastora offer views over the town and the ría.