Laza: Entroido, Churches and Mountain Valleys

Culture and Festivals

Laza’s Entroido begins several weeks before the main carnival days. Its festival sequence includes four Fridays of Folión. During Entroido, the festive gatherings revolve around good food, wine, Licor café and the typical Galician aguardientes.

During Luns Borralleiro, the Farrapada takes place as a battle with dirty cloths. In the Baixada dá Morena, a figure in the shape of a cow’s head moves through the streets on Luns Borralleiro; it is accompanied by donkeys, ants and broom.

The Church of Santa María de Retorta was built in the Gothic style at the beginning of the 14th century. The Church of San Pedro do Castro de Laza dates from the 18th century.

The lead-up to Entroido and the various customs of Luns Borralleiro give the festival calendar several clearly distinguishable stages. Farrapada and Baixada dá Morena belong to the same festival day, but each creates its own imagery in the streets with cloths, a cow’s head, donkeys, ants and broom. The two churches also point to different historical periods through their Gothic construction at the beginning of the 14th century and their origins in the 18th century.

Nature

The Macizo Central also includes Laza and is a largely uninhabited mountain area where important transitional ecosystems have been preserved.

The mountain ranges belonging to the Macizo Central around Laza provide a habitat for wolves and large game such as roe deer, red deer and wild boar.

The Támega rises in the heights of A Alberguería in Laza and forms a corridor of riverside forests and narrow mountain valleys there. The Laza Valley is one of these valleys.

The Castiñeiro de Cerdedelo is one of the largest chestnut trees in Galicia and is listed in the Galician Catalogue of Outstanding Trees. Ten trunks grow from its main trunk, reaching heights of up to 30 metres. The centuries-old trunk has a circumference of ten metres.

The landscape therefore includes both the largely uninhabited mountain area of the Macizo Central and the course shaped by the Támega, with riverside forests and narrow valleys. The Castiñeiro de Cerdedelo provides a single, particularly striking natural landmark within it: ten trunks growing from the main trunk reach up to 30 metres, while the centuries-old trunk itself has a circumference of ten metres.

Other Places

You can go directly to other places: Maceda, Beariz, Pousadoiro, Mesón, Leiro, O Barco De Valdeorras, Parada De Sil and O Viso.

Trails and Water

The Fervenza de Augas Altas is located directly beside the road. The waterfall can be reached via the OU-112 between Laza and Cerdedelo.

The Fervenza de Augas Altas is located on the Rego Auga Alta, a tributary of the Río Cereixo. The Río Cereixo in turn flows into the Támega.

The Vía de la Plata stage runs from Laza to Vilar de Barrio. Soutelo Verde and Tamicelas lie along its route.

After a steep climb, the stage reaches A Alberguería.

The trails connect different landscape features: the Fervenza de Augas Altas is located beside the road and also on the Rego Auga Alta, while the waterways are connected to the Támega via the Río Cereixo. The Vía de la Plata stage has a different focus. It runs from Laza via Soutelo Verde and Tamicelas to Vilar de Barrio and reaches A Alberguería after a steep climb. Thus, the watercourse and the route stand alongside one another as distinct, clearly named elements.

For the overarching travel overview: Ourense.