Rairiz de Veiga

Rairiz de Veiga is a concello (municipality) in the north of the A Limia district, in the province of Ourense, between the plain and the hills that close it to the west. It covers part of the land once flooded by the Lagoa de Antela, and its wet meadows are among the few in A Limia that still keep that landscape. It is home to the Romaría da Saínza, with its battle of Moors and Christians, and to the Carballa da Rocha, the tallest oak in Spain ^[4][6][11].

Municipal data

The population fell from 1,767 in 2003 to 1,394 in 2016 and 1,154 in 2025 ^[4][1].

Landscape and nature

The municipality lies in the Alta Limia, between 600 and 1,000 m above sea level ^[4]. The wet meadows (veigas) of A Saínza, Ordes and Congostro form a slow-draining valley of about 1,500 hectares that floods in the rainy season. They are among the few places in A Limia that keep the landscape of the lagoa (lagoon) days, with oak woods, amphibians, birds and wetland plants ^[6]. They are part of the Natura 2000 network, within the Veiga de Ponteliñares special area of conservation, and form a core zone of the Área de Allariz Biosphere Reserve ^[4][6]. See Lagoa de Antela.

In the Rocha meadow, at A Saínza de Abaixo by the Limia, stands the Carballa da Rocha, declared a natural monument and outstanding tree on 1 March 2007 ^[10]. It is about 33 metres tall, and its trunk, some 6 metres round, splits into two limbs about 7 metres up; when it was pruned in the 1950s, two men worked for two days and took away more than twenty cartloads of firewood ^[11].

History

From lake dwellings to the Vía Nova

Remains of pile dwellings, round houses of wood and clay built by the water, have been found in the Veiga ^[5]. The Iron Age site of Monte Albán, in Sabariz, was excavated by Florentino López Cuevillas and Vicente Risco and yielded a group of Bell Beaker pottery ^[5][4]. The Vía Nova, or Roman road XVIII from Braga to Astorga, crossed the Limia at Ponte Pedriña and entered the Antela basin through what is now the municipality; the heritage catalogue lists the Ponte Catuxa as a remnant of the road and a Roman altar in Rairiz ^[5][16].

Ordes, 1061

Among the records of the monastery of Celanova, now in the National Historical Archive, is one from 1061 in which two men, Pedro Díaz and Muño Vandilaz, pledged, with the blessing of the priest of Santa María de Ordes, to live together "as good friends, with faith and truth", sharing house, food and goods for ever. Carlos Callón, who brought it to light in 2011, reads it as the earliest documented union between two men in Spain. The medieval Church knew such pacts as adelphopoiesis or sworn brotherhood, and their meaning is still debated ^[12].

Lordships and municipality

In the Middle Ages the tower of Celme stood in Congostro; no visible remains survive, though the catalogue lists the site as A Muralla Grande or Castelo de Celme ^[5][16]. Celme was the birthplace of Álvaro de Oca y Zúñiga, professor at Salamanca, regent of the Council of Navarre and acting viceroy in 1634, who died in Pamplona in 1638 ^[15]. Under the old regime justice was in the hands of the count of Monterrei, lord of six parishes, and the count of Moctezuma, who held Congostro and Ordes ^[5]. The municipality was created in the mid-19th century ^[5]. A Pereira was once its capital and held a monthly fair ^[7].

Heritage highlights

• Romanesque church of Santo André de Guillamil, the only Romanesque church in the municipality, with its calvary and Stations of the Cross ^[4][5][16].
• The 18th-century churches of Lampaza and Rairiz de Veiga, with Renaissance doorways, and the Baroque churches of Candás, Congostro, Ordes and Sabariz ^[5].
• Pazo de Santa María de Ordes, with coats of arms and a chapel ^[5].
• The As Mouchas, O Corvo and Monte Calvo petroglyphs in Guillamil, and the Filgueiras relief ^[16].
• Congostro, a restored village with a threshing floor lined with canastros (granaries), starting point of the San Miguel watermill route, which passes the village of San Miguel and its castro (Iron Age hillfort) ^[9][16].
• The chapel of the Virxe da Mercede at A Saínza, focus of the pilgrimage ^[16].

The heritage catalogue lists 210 sites in the municipality ^[16].

Festivals and fairs

• Romaría (traditional pilgrimage festival) da Saínza, on the Sunday nearest 24 September, feast of Our Lady of Mercy. A Festival of Galician Tourist Interest; since 1840 it has included a mock battle of Moors and Christians that ends with the burning of the castle ^[8][13]. See Romaría da Saínza.
• San Xoán (St John), 24 June, local holiday ^[7].
• A Saínza fair, on the 23rd of every month, at the fairground ^[7].
• A Pereira ethnographic fair, on the first Sunday of August, revived by the Concello in 1995, with octopus, farriers and readings of Antón Tovar’s poems ^[7].

More dates in A Limia festivals month by month.

Notable people

• Antón Tovar (A Pereira, 1921 – Ourense, 2004), poet of the post-war "promoción de enlace", author of Arredores (1962) and Calados esconxuros, corresponding member of the Royal Galician Academy ^[14][7].
• Álvaro de Oca y Zúñiga (Celme, 16th century – Pamplona, 1638), jurist and acting viceroy of Navarre ^[15].

Parishes

The concello has 8 parroquias (parishes, local territorial units) ^[3]:

Candás · Congostro · Guillamil · Lampaza · Ordes · Rairiz de Veiga · Sabariz · Zapeaus

More about A Limia

• The A Limia district
• Xinzo de Limia
• Porqueira
• Romaría da Saínza

FAQ

Sources

1. INE, Padrón municipal. Cifras oficiales de población (table 2885), 2016–2025. https://www.ine.es/jaxiT3/Tabla.htm?t=2885
2. Wikidata, "Rairiz de Veiga" (Q542228). https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q542228 (CC0)
3. Xunta de Galicia / RAG, Nomenclátor de Galicia – Galicia Nomeada. https://galicianomeada.xunta.gal/sixtop/inicio
4. "Rairiz de Veiga", Galipedia (in Galician). https://gl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rairiz_de_Veiga (CC BY-SA 4.0)
5. Concello de Rairiz de Veiga, "Historia". https://rairizdeveiga.es/gl/concello/historia
6. Concello de Rairiz de Veiga, "As Veigas". https://rairizdeveiga.es/gl/concello/reserva-Biosfera
7. Concello de Rairiz de Veiga, "Feiras e festas". https://rairizdeveiga.es/gl/feiras-festas
8. Concello de Rairiz de Veiga, "Romaría da Saínza". https://rairizdeveiga.es/gl/feiras-festas/romaria-da-sainza
9. Concello de Rairiz de Veiga, "Turismo". https://rairizdeveiga.es/turismo
10. "Carballa da Rocha", Galipedia (in Galician). https://gl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carballa_da_Rocha (CC BY-SA 4.0)
11. Alexander de los Ríos Conde, "A Carballa da Rocha: el roble más alto de España", Vía Lethes, 02/04/2017. https://vialethes.es/carballa-rocha-roble-mas-alto
12. Alexander de los Ríos Conde, "La primera unión homosexual de la Historia de España en Rairiz de Veiga, Ourense (siglo XI)", Vía Lethes, 28/06/2017. https://vialethes.es/primera-union-homosexual-historia-espana
13. Fronteira Esquecida, "Romaría da Saínza". https://fronteiraesquecida.eu/en/fichas/romaria-da-sainza-pilgrimage-to-a-sainza/
14. "Antón Tovar", Galipedia (in Galician). https://gl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antón_Tovar (CC BY-SA 4.0)
15. María Dolores Martínez Arce, "Álvaro de Oca y Zúñiga", reproduced on historiadexinzo.wordpress.com, 14/03/2023. https://historiadexinzo.wordpress.com/2023/03/14/alvaro-de-oca-y-zuniga-celme-rairiz-de-veiga-ourense-s-xvi-pamplona-navarra-08-01-1638-catedratico-de-la-universidad-de-salamanca-dean-de-zamora-corregidor-de-villena-ch/
16. Xunta de Galicia, Catálogo de patrimonio cultural do Plan Básico Autonómico (Rairiz de Veiga planning catalogue). https://ideg.xunta.gal/servizos/rest/services/PBA/Afeccions_PatrimonioCultural/MapServer
17. Universidade de Vigo, Xentilicios de Galicia. https://www.uvigo.gal/sites/uvigo.gal/files/contents/paragraph-file/2018-10/Xentilicios_0.pdf