Pazos de Borbén is located between the mountainous terrain of the SuÃdo Mountain and the valleys located at the NE of Vigo Bay. It has an area of 50 square kilometres and a population of slightly over three thousand inhabitants. Redondela and Mos are the southern limits of Pazos de Borben with the summits of the Galleiro Mountain as its natural border, while the river Barragán, in Fornelos de Montes, forms its northern limit. Soutomaior borders this town in the NW, while Mondariz and Mondariz Balneario form the eastern boundary. Amoedo, Borbén, Cepeda, Ermida, Moscoso, Nespereiras, Pazos and Xunqueiras are the eight parishes that comprise this municipality. The population is spread out over the parishes in beautiful little villages that are characterized by their conservation of popular traditional architecture of rural Galicia, namely; stone houses, wherein little sheds called alpendres are used to store their agricultural and cattle farming tools and implements. This feature can also be seen in other towns of the area, where one can find animal shelters in the mountains, especially cattle shelters, besides the autochthonous Galician horses that live freely in the mountains. In Pazos de Borbén, as well as in other municipalities of the Greater Metropolitan Area, there is a sizable amount of cattle, especially cows and horses, which live freely in the mountains.
Abundant rainfall and an uneven relief allow proliferation of water flows some of which are important such as the rivers Borbén, Alvedosa, Barragán, Louro and Tea, the last two being tributaries of the river Miño. Man has inhabited these lands since the Bronze Age as documented by the petroglyphs at Tenxiñas, and knew how to get good use out of the water force through use of water mills. There are sixty catalogued water mills in the municipal area. The religious architecture from the eight parishes offers a wide repertoire of styles from Romanesque to Baroque. An architecture that is artistic and ornamental but simple and which acts as a core completed by other elements like the portico, the cemetery, the carved stone crosses and petos de ánimas (souls from purgatory engraved in stone). With respect to the stone crosses, or cruceiros, Moscoso has one of the finest examples of the province, a work of the stone mason and sculptor Mr. Xosé Cerviño, better known by his nickname Pepe da Pena, who left behind good examples of his works in this parish and also in the parish of HÃo in the Cangas municipality.
Despite the varied noteworthy ethnographic and architectural heritage of this land of stone masons, the visitor will no doubt be enchanted by nature in this area. Woods that change colour with the seasons; brighter shades of green in spring, ochre in the autumn and grey in the winter. There are viewpoints that allow us to see the limits of Vigo Bay, weather carved rocks, paths that lead to large canyons… in short, a unique experience, where one can spend a day or a weekend. If you plan to stay longer, then you should make prior reservation for a room in any of the rural tourism houses on offer. The gastronomy combines traditional coastal food typical of the RÃas Baixas and mountainous cooking, that include meat dishes like richada and also game during the hunting season.
www.pazosdeborben.org
How to get there.
Telephones of interest.
Photo gallery.
 | Bar A Labranza
Council: Pazos de Borbén
Localization: Pazos, 24. Telephone: 986 497 010
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| Bar Cernadas
Council: Pazos de Borbén
Localization: Carballiño, 19. Amoedo. Telephone: 986 497 003
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| Bar Cruz de Pazos
Council: Pazos de Borbén
Localization: Pazos, 42. Telephone: 986 497 375
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| Bar O Torreiro
Council: Pazos de Borbén
Localization: Fraga do Rei, s/n. Telephone: 986 497 702
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| Bodegón Coto do Corno
Council: Pazos de Borbén
Localization: A Ermida, 72. Telephone: 609 715 603
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 | Casa MarÃa Pepa
Date: Founded in 2002
Council: Pazos de Borbén
Localization: A Igrexa, s/n Amoedo. Telephone: 986 497 052 Fax: 986 497 051
Offers one apartment with a room, kitchen and full bathroom and another four double rooms with full bathroom. It complements its services with a kitchen, dining room with fireplace, reading room, balcony, garden and private car park. |
 | Casa RodrÃguez
Council: Pazos de Borbén
Localization: Iglesia, 13. Amoedo. Telephone: 986 497 135
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 | Church of St. James
Date: 12th and later centuries
Council: Pazos de Borbén
Localization: In Borbén
The parish church of St. James of Borbén is identified by its belfry tower, which presides its central facade and the ornamental relief on the upper part of the facade as a replacement of the traditional opening that served for entry of light into the inside of the building.A Romanesque parish church with a Latin cross floor plan and made of just the one nave, which corresponds more with the Baroque style. |
 | Church of St. Sadurniño
Date: 13th century and later
Council: Pazos de Borbén
Localization: In Amoedo.
The church of St. Sadurniño in Amoedo is a simple building with a doorway that lacks ornamentation and with a double belfry.Parish church of St. Sadurniño in Amoedo. It is Romanesque in origin with later alterations. |
 | Church of St. Salvador
Date: 12th century and later
Council: Pazos de Borbén
Localization: Parish of Xunqueiras
The parish of Xunqueiras is made up of an architectural unit where the highlight is its church with modest ornamentation and simple forms, elements that are characteristic of rural Galician Romanesque architecture. The austere decoration of the church contrasts with the masonry works of the mausoleums of the parish cemetery.A church with just the one nave and the main facade ornamented with a balustrade from which projects a belfry with two bells. |
 | King's Forest (Fraga do Rei)
Council: Pazos de Borbén
Localization: Parish of Moscoso
Located in the river Barragán, the wood at Rei, also known as the wood of the river Barragán, is a place of great beauty and of high ecological value.River bank wood with abundance of riverine species: birch, ash, cork and willows. |
 | Rocks at Tenxiñas
Date: Bronze age
Council: Pazos de Borbén
Localization: Near the vantage point at Santo Aparecido, parish of Cepeda.
Amongst the petroglyphs at Chan das Teixiñas, worth highlighting is the one that represents two deer with huge horns.A set of rock engravings dating to the Bronze Age, which belong to archaeological remains from which there is hope to get even more remains. The first excavations produced ceramic remains and a structure that indicates the presence of a watermill and a small granary. |
 | Route PRG 26 Saint Aparecido-Xunqueiras
Council: Pazos de Borbén
Localization: It starts at Tenxiñas. You arrive on the PO-250 road from Redondela.
The path starts at Feixiñas, goes along the western face of the SuÃdo Mountains passing through Penaguda, Pazos de Borbén, Aitero, As Tablas, As Muras and ends at Casqueiros.A small distance, low difficulty route with a total length of 7 km. It takes about one and a half hour at a medium to high pace. |
  | Saint Mary of Pazos
Date: 12th to 18th centuries
Council: Pazos de Borbén
Localization: In Pazos
The church, the atrium and the parish house and cemetery make up a very traditional architectural unit of rural Galician parishes, and is therefore a space around which most of the social activity was carried out. From popular feasts to the most important religious ceremonies of a Christian life: baptism, communion, marriage and burial.Small Romanesque rural Galician church with posterior alterations. |
 | Stone cross of Moscoso
Date: 18th century
Council: Pazos de Borbén
Localization: Moscoso
A Baroque style stone cross with important stone masonry work, and created by the well known artist Xosé Cerviño, nick named Pepe da Pena. He is also the one who carved the famous HÃo stone cross in Cangas.A carved stone cross made in the 18th century by the stone mason from Pontevedra, Mr. Xosé Cerviño. |
| The House of Besadio
Council: Pazos de Borbén
Localization: Carballiño, 99. Amoedo. Telephone: 986 497 004
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 | Watermill at Carrillón
Council: Pazos de Borbén
Localization: In the river Barragán, parish of Moscoso
In the municipality of Pazos de Borbén there are about sixty watermills catalogued on the courses of the rivers Barragán, Borbén and others that flow through this territory.A watermill to produce flour where hydraulic energy from the river flow was commonly used in the past to grind grains. There is a little stone bridge next to it. |
