Olveiroa to Santa Mariña

The day begins in Olveiroa, a small rural hamlet of stone houses and hórreos in the inland heart of the Costa da Morte. Heading towards Santiago, the pilgrim leaves the village behind and descends gently between meadows and granite walls to the bottom of the valley. The route seeks the course of the river Xallas, here held back by the great Fervenza reservoir, built in 1966, whose waters flooded much of the former valley. The landscape is calm and open, dominated by the sheet of water and the wooded hills that surround it.

At A Ponte Olveira the river Xallas is crossed by the bridge dividing the councils of Dumbría and Mazaricos, the lowest point of the section. Beyond the riverbed, the path begins to climb the slope of Monte Aro, the great natural viewpoint of the region. The ascent, gradual but demanding, is rewarded with sweeping views over the Fervenza reservoir and the surrounding hills. This is the main effort of the day, along stretches of track and dirt path.

Once the height is gained, the route eases and advances through a mosaic of fields, meadows and patches of oak, chestnut and eucalyptus woodland, dotted with granite outcrops. It links small scattered hamlets -As Porteliñas, Lago, Vilar de Castro, A Gueima- of traditional architecture, with hórreos and stone buildings. The walking is peaceful, in a wholly rural setting where the murmur of water and grazing cattle set the pace, far from the bustle of the busier routes.

The section ends in Santa Mariña de Maroñas, a parish of the council of Mazaricos that keeps its church and the sheltered air of inland Galicia. The village, ringed by meadows and groves, offers a natural stopping point before continuing towards Negreira. Here the pilgrim finds the calm of the inland Costa da Morte, with its horizons of low hills and its quiet farming landscape, a prelude to the stages leading on to Santiago.