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Monday 20 August 2012

CAMBADOS, GALICIA, SPAIN


The name “Cambados” probably comes from the Spanish word “combado”, that’s to say round, because the town lies in a bay with a round shape.


The history of Cambados may begin in prehistoric times; 'the  most ancient monuments in the town are its pathways', as Luis Rei, a historian from “O Grove” likes to say . The road from 'A Modia' (a little hill in the east) to the shore, where Cambados lies today, is the oldest road in town. 'Modia' comes from the word in Galician language: 'mámoa', an ancient stone monument built between neolitic and bronze age (at the same time as Stonehenge in England). Nothing remained of this monument but the name of the place. However,  there  is some evidence that something was there in the past. The older  archeological sites that we have in the town are  ' O Castro de Sete Pías ' , located  (not by chance) near 'A Modia'. Castros were little villages lying at the top of a hill for defensive reasons. People who lived in those villages were warriors who  cultivated land and reared cattle, they also caught food from the sea: fish and seafood. The culture of these people has similarities with other Celtic tribes of Europe (for example they used iron) but we are not sure if there was a Celtic ethnic group in Galicia in those times or if  it is only  cultural influence.

Phoenicians and Romans were here in ancient times, they came here looking for tin, lead and other metals. Pliny, Avieno and other Roman historians talked about 'The Cassitérides' (tin islands) located in the northwest of Spain, and Sálvora, an island that is opposite Cambados could be one of these islands. Both Phoenicians and Romans, took also salt from the flat lands in the mouth of River Umia, and the name of the county ('O Salnés')  where Cambados is placed, comes from this ancient activity. Xaquín Sánchez-Peña, a local historian who wrote in the early 20th century,  talked about a Roman bridge located in the borough of Fefiñáns, but according to him it was demolished at the beginning of  the 20th century. A Roman road went from Bracara Augusta (Braga) to Lucus Augusti (Lugo). It is not impossible that a secondary road connected Aquis Celenis (Caldas or Cuntis now) with the coast. Some people say  that the name of the promenade 'A Calzada' comes from the fact that this Roman road crossed the town through this walk.

During the Middle Ages German tribes settled here and became great land owners. Some historians think that the name of Fefiñáns (a borough of Cambados) comes from the word 'faffilanis' that is to say, The 'villae' of Faffila, a land owner with German origins. Later, these lands passed down to the Church. Many sources talk about St Rosendo’s family (the founder of Celanova’s benedictine monastery) as important land owners in the 9th and 10th century in this area; this fact perhaps explains the building of the church dedicated to St. Benedict in Fefiñáns square. The archbishop of Santiago de Compostela was an important land owner as well; many fortresses were built by the bishops along the Ría (bay) of Arousa to defend the city from Viking's attacks that tried to reach  the  city of Santiago and steal its treasures. During many years people have thought that the Tower of s. Sadurniño was one of these fortresses but the historian Gumersindo Mosteiro proved recently that it was built during the late 15th or early 16th century. It was the house-tower of the Soutomaior family.

The tower of s. Sadurniño, Santomé, Cambados