Santa Mariña Dozo ruins and the Wine Museum

A Gothic church that lost its roof and was left with its arches open to the sky, on the slope of Monte da Pastora. Around it and inside it is Cambados' cemetery, and the pointed arches above the graves make the ruins one of the images of the Rías Baixas. Álvaro Cunqueiro called it "the most melancholy graveyard in the world".

Its history

The church was built on a 12th-century Romanesque chapel. It was built by Lope Sánchez de Ulloa, and his daughter, María de Ulloa, restored and enlarged it in the late 15th century. It is of the style that in Galicia is called seafaring Gothic, with some Renaissance touches: a single nave divided by four transverse arches, five side chapels, the sacristy and the main chapel. The arches and chapels are decorated with balls, and in the chapels there are reliefs of the Visitation, Christ with the apostles, the expulsion from Paradise and the deadly sins; one of the arches represents sloth.

In the 19th century the church was partly destroyed. Turismo de Galicia records two explanations: a fire, accidental or deliberate, or the unrest of the time. It was declared a National Monument in 1943 and is a Site of Cultural Interest. In December 2013, on reaching seventy years as a monument, it joined the Association of Significant Cemeteries in Europe: it is the first in the province of Pontevedra and the fourth in Galicia, after San Amaro in A Coruña, the English Cemetery in Camariñas and the one in Lugo.

How to visit

It is in the upper part of Cambados, on the climb up Monte da Pastora. The ruins can be seen free of charge; they have no published hours, and as it is still a working cemetery, you should go respectfully and quietly, especially if there is a burial. The best time, according to Turismo de Galicia, is dusk, when the light comes through the arches. If you climb Monte da Pastora, you have views over the Arousa estuary.

The Ethnographic and Wine Museum

Next door, at avenida da Pastora 104, is the Museo Etnográfico e do Viño, in the Casa Ricoy, a former 16th-century rectory. It was one of the first museums in Spain devoted to winegrowing and explains the wine of the Salnés and the Rías Baixas: history, grape varieties, production and popular culture. It is open Tuesday to Saturday from 10:00 to 14:00 and in the afternoon from 16:30 to 19:30 in winter and from 17:00 to 20:00 in summer, and on Sunday from 10:00 to 14:00. Entry costs €1, and under-11s do not pay. Phone, 986 526 119.

It is a good first stop before the wineries: afterwards, the tasting at the Palacio de Fefiñanes or the visit to Martín Códax. And to round off the morning, go down to the old town.