Caldelas: Waterfall, Mills and Cultural Heritage

Caldelas combines a water landscape, mill construction, ethnographic cultural heritage and traditional festivals. The sites cover different themes: a hiking trail starts at the Molino de Caldelas, while the waterfall, lake, bridge and mill at Codeso form the main landscape highlights. This picture is complemented by the history of the water supply and events in nearby A Ponte Ulla.

Nature and Trails

The Molino de Caldelas is the starting point of a described hiking trail. On another described walking route, it appears as a later point after the Fervenza de Codeso. About 300 metres farther on are the Fervenza e molino de Codeso, with a 15-metre-high waterfall, a small lake, a footbridge and a mill. The two route descriptions place the Molino de Caldelas at different points in the sequence and connect it with the waterfall area.

There, the waterfall, lake, bridge and mill form a closely connected sequence of different landscape and built elements. The waterfall shapes the scene, the small lake expands the water surface, the footbridge marks a crossing and the mill points to the use of water power. When preparing for a day of hiking, current trail conditions and any applicable route notices should be checked.

Culture

Caldelas is home to a house listed in the Xunta’s inventory as a cultural asset of ethnographic interest. A house in Caldelas is also classified in the Xunta’s cultural heritage inventory as an object of ethnographic interest. Both entries refer to a specific building and link local history with the documented ethnographic significance of the house.

Vedra presents the Ruta do Viño da Ribeira do Ulla as an ethnotourism route. The route broadens the cultural perspective beyond the individual building and forms part of the nearby surroundings of the destinations around Caldelas.

Festivals

The Festas da Madanela take place in A Ponte Ulla on 22 and 23 July. The Romaría do Gundián follows there on 7 and 8 September, with a procession and fireworks. The different dates spread the festival traditions across the summer; before travelling, you can check the current event dates and start times.

Other destinations: Cee, Cuíña, Vimianzo, Ambroa, Cariño, Laxe, Boaño, Tambre

Local History

After a plentiful water source was found above Caldelas in 1975 and piped to the houses, a public fountain was installed in the centre of the village. Developing the water source improved the water supply in Caldelas and enabled, among other things, the installation of a washhouse in front of the houses. The development ran from the source above the village through the pipes to the houses, then to the fountain in the centre of the village and the washhouse in front of the houses. The fountain and washhouse thus preserve a visible connection to the history of Caldelas’s water supply.

For the overarching travel overview: Coruña.