Place names of the parishes of Xinzo de Limia
The names of the 20 parishes of Xinzo de Limia and their 35 places: saints' dedications, hamlets named after places, and how they are written in the official Galician form.
- Parishes
- 20
- Places
- 35 population entities
- Most repeated dedication
- San Pedro (4 parishes)
The place names of Xinzo de Limia work on two levels. The first is the names of the twenty parishes, which combine the name of the place with the saint or dedication of the parish church. The second is the thirty-five places that make them up, from the town of Xinzo to hamlets such as Rebordechá, Queirugás or A Gorgoloza. This page gathers what can be seen by reading the official list: the pattern of names, the repetitions and the cases worth clarifying.
The official form: Xinzo
The official name of the concello and the town is Xinzo de Limia. The traditional Spanish form, which begins with G, is no longer official, and that is why this website always uses the Galician one. The same applies to other names: Piñeira Seca, Solbeira de Limia, Laroá or Gudín are written in the form given by the Nomenclátor de Galicia.
The dedications of the parishes
Almost all parish names carry in brackets the patron saint of the church. Counting them gives a very Galician list:
- San Pedro, in four parishes: A Pena, Boado, San Pedro de Laroá and Solbeira de Limia.
- San Salvador, in three: Damil, Faramontaos and Parada de Ribeira.
- Santa María, in three: Lamas, Laroá and Mosteiro de Ribeira.
- San Miguel, in two: Cima de Ribeira and Gudín.
- San Tomé, in two: Moreiras and Morgade.
- San Xoán, in two: Guntimil and Seoane de Oleiros.
- Each of the rest, in one: San Bartolomeu (Ganade), San Nicolao (Novás), Santo André (Piñeira Seca) and Santa Mariña (the parish of the town of Xinzo).
Because of the repetition, some parishes carry the saint in the name itself, like San Pedro de Laroá, which is thus distinguished from neighbouring Laroá. Santa Mariña, the town’s patron saint, is also the focus of the concello’s main festivities: see Festivities of Santa Mariña.
Names that repeat
Some elements appear in several parishes and help to read the map:
- Ribeira forms a trio: Cima de Ribeira, Parada de Ribeira and Mosteiro de Ribeira, plus the place of Soutelo de Ribeira. The shared name indicates that they belong to the same surroundings.
- Mosteiro appears in Mosteiro de Ribeira and in the place of O Mosteiro, in Novás, and recalls the presence of monastic communities in the area.
- Soutelo (from souto, a chestnut grove) gives its name to Soutelo da Pena and Soutelo de Ribeira.
- Seca and Limia complete official names that distinguish parishes with the same root: Piñeira Seca and Solbeira de Limia.
- San Pedro works as a parish name (San Pedro de Laroá) and also as a place name, and San Vitoiro, in Ganade, is just a place with a saint’s name.
How they are grouped
Most parishes have one or two places; A Pena and Novás have three, Ganade has four and the parish of the town (Xinzo de Limia) has two, the town itself and Baronzás. You can see the places of each parish in their entries, starting with the concello index: Xinzo de Limia.
Frequently asked questions
How many parishes does Xinzo de Limia have?
Twenty, divided into thirty-five population entities.
Why is Xinzo written with an initial X?
Because it is the official Galician form of the name; the traditional Spanish form, with G, is no longer official.
Which saint is the most repeated?
San Pedro, patron of four parishes: A Pena, Boado, San Pedro de Laroá and Solbeira de Limia.
