Why You Should Visit Baiona
If you’ve never visited Baiona you’re in for a treat!
This cute Spanish seaside town is part of the Portuguese Coastal Way to Santiago and it allows for a wonderful mix of scenic views and plenty of history. Located on the Galician southwest coast Baiona has several small beaches, a charming fishing port and a lovely traditional old town just waiting to be explored. A unique connection to the discovery of America, a walled precinct that is more than 2000 years old and a hidden-in-plain-sight viewpoint are also among the features that make this such a great little town.
Here are 5 great reasons to visit Baiona:
Monterreal Fortress and Monte Boi promenade
On the Monte Boi peninsula, also known as Monterreal, you’ll find this very old and very important fortress. Before the construction of the fortress began, in the 12th century, the site had already been inhabited by Celts, Phoenicians and Romans, which means that for more than 2000 years this has been a fortification of some sort. Pretty impressive, right? The fortress, occupying a total of 18 hectares, is enveloped by 3 Km of battlement walls from the 11th to the 17th centuries and has three watchtowers.
This is also the place where the Caravel Pinta arrived with news of the discovery of America (more on that bellow). Still today, every year, the “Fiesta de la Arrivada” commemorates the date.
For great views and perhaps a romantic sunset make sure to take the Paseo de Monte Boi, a walk around the fortress that’s roughly 2km long.
Our Lady of the Rock
Standing on the rocks of the San Roque hill the Virxe da Rocha (Our Lady of the Rock) is an imposing presence in the town of Baiona. Inaugurated in 1930, this 15 meters tall granite statue was conceived by Antonio Palacios, probably the most important Galician modernist architect, and represents the Virgin Mary holding a boat in her right hand. That boat however is also a viewpoint that is accessed by going up a narrow spiral stone staircase and allows for some amazing views over the estuaries of the south of Galicia, including the beach of Ladeira and the Cies Islands.
Caravel Pinta Museum
On March 1st, 1493, caravel La Pinta, one of three that Columbus took on his first voyage to America, arrived in Monterreal: Baiona had just become the first European port to know about the discovery of the New World. Talk about writing a special page in the history of Spain! For the commemorations of the 5th centenary of the discovery of America an exact replica of La Pinta caravel was built, showing what daily life inside such a ship would have been like in the late 15th century. This replica is now a small museum which includes dummies that look like the crew and native Americans would have looked like and also includes replicas of plants, foods and animals from the New World.
Baiona beaches
Time to take off your walking boots and feel some sand in your toes! Besides plenty of history Baiona also offers quite a few small but inviting beaches that get very busy in August. Several of these beaches have the Blue Flag award and have been made easily accessible for the disabled. Ladeira, the longest beach in Baiona, is also part of the Nature 2000 network of nature protection areas. A Ribeira is the beach nearest the town center and is located next to a park close to the fortress of Monte Boi. A Concheira, Os Frades, Santa Marta and Barbeira are other beaches in the area with peaceful waters and fine sand. The beaches in Baiona provide all the services one might expect, including restaurants and parking spots.
Old town
Baiona’s old district will delight you with its quaint Galician styled terraced houses, arcades and narrow streets of cobbled stone. The old part of town is perfect for a relaxing stroll away from the more crowded seafront area while stopping every now and then to admire a century-old church, a forgotten nobility manor or a fountain that has quenched the thirst of countless generations. This is also where you’ll find cafes, bars and restaurants that are often better and cheaper than those on the seafront.
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