TRACES ON THE WAY TO GUARDA

About this heritage

After crossing the Miño River by boat, A Guarda is the first town in Galicia with deep traces of the Camino de Santiago.

This same boat route crossing the two banks of the Miño River, between Caminha and A Guarda, was already taken by pilgrims in the Middle Ages. A few meters from the current dock of A Pasaxe, there was a small goods port known as Porto Santo, and the Porto Santo boat that transported the pilgrims. From here, travelers headed towards the town center.

The oldest traces of the pilgrims are located in the old town. Currently, the small Plaza de San Marcos is the space that until the 19th century was occupied by the Hospital de San Marcos, which was dedicated to the care and rest of the poor and pilgrims. Its origins could date back to the 12th or 13th century due to some Romanesque pieces, with the rebuilding of the chapel and the hospital itself documented in the 14th century.

Along the route followed by the pilgrims, we find the parish church of Santa María, built in the 16th century over an older temple. Inside, two images of the Apostle Santiago are preserved: a statue of Santiago Peregrino on the altarpiece of the Virgin of the Rosary, and a painting of Santiago on the altarpiece of the Virgin of Carmen.

From a more recent period, there are other references to the Camino, highlighting the Cross of Santiago at the Jesuit College located opposite the dock or the stone sculptural carving of Santiago Apóstol that bids farewell to the pilgrims in the last kilometers of the route along the coast of A Guarda.

These are the testimonies that remind visitors and pilgrims that A Guarda is also a living part of the Jacobean memory.