Town of the Camino
Portomarín
The town that rose again from the waters. Rebuilt stone by stone beside the embalse de Belesar, Portomarín is an emblematic stop on the Camino Francés with a unique story of resilience.
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The Town
Discover Portomarín
The present-day town dates from the 1960s. Old Portomarín was left beneath the waters of the reservoir, and its most valuable buildings were dismantled and rebuilt on the high ground of monte do Cristo. The centrepiece of that move is the fortress-church of San Xoán, also called San Nicolao: twelfth-century Romanesque, of the Order of St John, with the numbers carved into the ashlar blocks still visible on its walls. You enter the town by crossing the long bridge over the Miño and climbing the stairway that ends at the capela das Neves (chapel of Our Lady of the Snows), the old gate of the medieval bridge. Around the square there are arcades and restaurants; the empanada and the aguardiente are well known here.
It is the end of the stage for almost everyone and has more than thirty places to stay, but it is worth booking between May and September. The next day you either go straight through to Palas de Rei, about 25 km, or break up the day with a night in Castromaior (about 9 km), Hospital da Cruz (about 11) or Ventas de Narón (about 13). Have breakfast before you set off: as far as Gonzar, about 8 km, services are scarce.
It is worth going inside the church, not just looking at it from the square. And if you come in August or in early September, when the reservoir is at its lowest, the remains of the old town appear: the bridge, the roadway and the houses that were left underneath. Lugo is a little over half an hour away by car, with its Roman wall, declared a World Heritage Site.
Last updated: 23/08/2026
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