San Andres de Teixido

Home | Up | Destinations | Publications | Expeditions | Themes | Feature

Cedeira | Ortigueira | San Andres de Teixido | Valdoviño

Supposedly Galicia does not suffer from an excess of tourism, but given the swarms of visitors and an overflowing coach park we experienced on a wet Sunday in November, I dread to think what it must be like in summer. 

San Andres can be a very pretty village when the sun shines, as evidenced by many of the online images found elsewhere, equally photogenic viewed either from within the village looking out to sea, or from above in its hillside context.  However, whilst it is quaint and picturesque even  in the rain, it is also utterly dismal as the storms lash its sorry walls unhindered, from thousands of miles of uninterrupted Atlantic. 

I was first attracted by the unusual construction aesthetic, the "almost whitewashed" look (as well as the dramatic situation).  I am not sure whether the over-enthusiastic pointing is a vain attempt to waterproof the stonework, an attempt to render the surface with insufficient material, or simply sloppy workmanship, but it was the only place I came across this photogenic, if futile, technique.

Inside the church and memorial chapel is evidence of their relationship with the sea, a losing one I suspect from the number of candles versus "thank you for saving my life" relics.

 

 

All images and text are copyright.  If you wish to use any of this material contact the author: jeremy@nomadintent.com

© Jeremy Harrison 2005-2020