History of A Limia, from the castros to the 20th century

Q: Who wrote the history of Xinzo?

The reference work is the Historia de Xinzo de Limia (2012) by Edelmiro Martínez Cerredelo, who also published studies on the local press and on A Limia between 1931 and 1953 [1].

The history of A Limia is that of a high plain in southern Ourense, open around the river Limia and the vanished Lagoa de Antela, which for two millennia was a place of passage and frontier. Through here ran the Roman road linking Braga and Astorga, here towers were raised to watch the border with Portugal, here the Couto Mixto survived into the 19th century and here fairs were held that gave life to Xinzo de Limia. This page summarises that trajectory by period and links to the chapters that tell it in detail. Much of the local information comes from the research of the Limia historian Edelmiro Martínez Cerredelo, author of a Historia de Xinzo de Limia (2012) and of the blog Historia de Xinzo, cited in each case ^[1].

Timeline of A Limia

Prehistory and castro culture

The first human traces in the comarca are tied to water and to the hills surrounding the plain. There are menhirs such as the Pedra Alta de Antela, Bronze Age weapon hoards such as that of Roufeiro (Sarreaus), made known in 1911, and a string of castros, from the great enclosure of Bóveda (Vilar de Barrio) to the Outeiro de Baltar, where tin was smelted ^[2]^[8]. The best-known jewel of this period is the gold earring of Vilar de Santos, found in 1924 ^[9]. All this is told in Prehistory and castros.

The Limici and Rome

Classical authors called the peoples of the valley Limici, and Strabo and Pomponius Mela linked the river Limia with the Lethe, the river of forgetfulness, a legend that today lives again in the Festival of Forgetting ^[1]. Rome organised the territory as the Civitas Limicorum, with a centre called Forum Limicorum whose location is disputed: A Cidá of Nocelo da Pena (Sarreaus) or the town of Xinzo itself ^[2]. The Via Nova or Via XVIII, built in the Flavian period, crossed the comarca and left milestones in Sandiás and elsewhere ^[3]. See The Limici and Romanisation.

Middle Ages: towers on the border

With the formation of the kingdom of Portugal, A Limia became disputed land. Afonso Henriques entered the comarca in 1130 and in 1169 had to return it to Ferdinand II of León ^[1]. To defend the frontier towers and castles were raised: the Torre da Pena da Portela (Xinzo), that of the Castro (Sandiás), that of A Forxa (Porqueira) or the Portuguese castle of the Picoña (Calvos de Randín) ^[4]. The Sandiás tower was torn down by the irmandiños in 1467 ^[7]. See Middle Ages and towers.

The Couto Mixto

Between Galicia and Portugal, in the villages of Santiago de Rubiás, Rubiás (Calvos de Randín) and Meaus (Baltar), there existed for centuries a territory with its own judge, exemption from taxes and military service and freedom to choose nationality. The Treaty of Lisbon of 1864 divided the border and the Couto remained in Spain, without its privileges, from 1868 ^[5]. See History of the Couto Mixto.

Early modern period: convents, lords and fairs

The 16th to 18th centuries are those of the Franciscan convent of Bon Xesús de Trandeiras, begun in 1520, of the long lawsuits between the houses of Monterrei and Lemos over the Torre da Pena (settled in 1610) and of the Xinzo fairs, which already in 1576 had covered stalls in today’s Praza Maior ^[1]. In 1809 the people of A Limia confronted French troops at the Xinzo bridge ^[1]. See The early modern period in A Limia.

From the 19th to the 20th century

The 19th century brought the first constitutional concellos and a series of failed attempts to drain the Lagoa de Antela, from that of 1827 to that of 1874, all stopped by local opposition ^[7]. The 20th century opened with intense cultural life in Xinzo: between 1911 and 1925 six local newspapers were published, the first being El Eco Antelano ^[1]. Electric light reached the town in 1911 and Antela F.C. was born in 1919 ^[1]. Emigration to America marked whole generations, and the Francoist draining of Antela, whose works began in 1958, changed the comarca’s landscape and economy for ever ^[6]. See The 20th century in A Limia.

Civil War, repression and guerrilla (1936–1953)

The coup d’état of July 1936 opened a period of repression in the comarca, with killings in ditches, improvised prisons and flights to Portugal. Later, between 1946 and 1950, the II Agrupación of the Galician Guerrilla Army operated in the surrounding mountains and on the plain ^[1]. These events, documented by Martínez Cerredelo from civil registers, military cases and oral testimonies, are recounted with respect in Historical memory of A Limia.

Curiosities

The history of A Limia is full of small episodes that say a lot: the Girls’ Fair of 14 May, the Xinzo linen awarded in Paris in 1878 or a plague that took 118 neighbours of Escornabois in 1598–1599. They are gathered in Historical curiosities of A Limia.

The great themes of Limia history

The frontier. The border with Portugal explains the medieval towers, the Couto Mixto, smuggling and also the flights of 1936. Already in the 15th century the council of Ourense banned buying stolen livestock from Portugal, a sign of a frontier more of contact than separation ^[1].

Water. The Lagoa de Antela was for centuries a source of fishing, pasture and legends, and also the object of draining projects. Its disappearance in the second half of the 20th century is one of the greatest environmental changes in contemporary Galicia ^[6]. More information in Lagoa de Antela.

The road. From the Roman Via Nova to modern roads, the comarca was always a passage between Ourense, Verín and Portugal. That is why the Xinzo fairs were so important: already in 1131 Alfonso VII exempted from toll the people of Ourense who went to sell in A Limia ^[1].

The people. The comarca produced chroniclers such as Hydatius, Enlightenment figures such as Pedro González de Ulloa and 20th-century writers linked to Xinzo. Their profiles are in Notable people of A Limia, and the organisations that care for this memory today in Associations of A Limia.

More history pages

Archpriestship of A Limia: parishes and dedications
The counts of Gimonde in A Limia: rents, leases and a chapel in Santa Mariña.
The Villacastín-Vigo road and Xinzo as seat of the judicial district
The Xinzo fairs through time: the 14th fair from 1131 and its decline.
The Regional Country Fairs of Xinzo (1964-1966)
Lethes, cultural notebooks of the Limia: index of issues 1 to 5.
The Faramontaos feldspar mine (2013): the neighbours’ protest and the Xunta’s refusal.
The Honorary Judges of the Couto Mixto: the July ritual and the honourees from 2002 to 2026.
Xinzo de Limia and Ponte de Lima: the twinning and the Embrace of the Limia River.

FAQ

Where was the Forum Limicorum?

There is no agreement. Since the 18th century it has been placed at the Cidá of Monte do Viso (Nocelo da Pena, Sarreaus), from where tablets of the Civitas Limicorum came; the excavations in Xinzo since 2002 strengthen the town’s candidacy. The archaeologist Manuel García Valdeiras considers that A Cidá still offers the best possibilities ^[2].

What was the Couto Mixto?

A border territory made up of Santiago de Rubiás, Rubiás and Meaus, with its own government and fiscal and military privileges, not fully dependent on Spain or Portugal until the Treaty of Lisbon (1864), applied in 1868 ^[5].

When was the Lagoa de Antela drained?

The law declaring the draining of national interest dates from 1956 and works began in September 1958; the Decree of 1962 set the definitive delimitation ^[6].

Which medieval towers survive in A Limia?

Still standing, in varying condition, are the Torre da Pena (Xinzo de Limia), that of the Castro (Sandiás) and that of A Forxa (Porqueira), which was the seat of the Porqueira council from 1837 ^[4].

Who wrote the history of Xinzo?

The reference work is the Historia de Xinzo de Limia (2012) by Edelmiro Martínez Cerredelo, who also published studies on the local press and on A Limia between 1931 and 1953 ^[1].