Ourense information
General information
Ourense is the only province without any sea , but it compensates
it with near 200 km from length of fresh and navigable waters.The
city is located on the left border of the river Miño and has one
of the most beautiful and ancient bridge of Europe, called "el
Puente Viejo" / the old bridge which is crucial to reach the town
center. The cathedral is situated in the historic sector of the
city close to the "Plaza Mayor" Major square built in the 12th
century.
Ourense's Cathedral is a clear example of the Romanesque transition
(12th and 13th century), with notable influences compostelanas,
being the date of its consecration in 1188. From the Romanesque
one to the current one, all the styles are represented.
The Archaeological Museum was created in 1895, though it is in 1951, when it moves to his current emplacement.
For some investigators it is the place where there would settle
itself the primitive "Praesidium" (Roman billeting). Later kings'
mansion suevos and finally episcopal palace. The Museum in itself
consists of two sections: archaeological and fine arts. In the
first floor, there are the rooms dedicated to the culture from
the paleolitich to the Galician castreña . The kitchen, of s.
The XVIth, concentrates the remains found in the own building.
The cloister is a rare example of the Romanesque Galician. Before
ascending for the classical stairs, opposite it a small dependence
Roman receives the finds of epigrafía.
One of the most important Renaissance palaces of Galicia: the
Palace of the Oca-Valladares built in the middle of the 16th century.
Façade of two floors with five quote of arms of different Galician
lineages (Deza, Zúñiga, Lemos, Ribadeneira, Ulloa, Aguiar) in
the central balcony and that repeat themselves in the interior.
In the column court interior, polygonal columns with geometric
capitals and a fountain of marble of carrara in the center of
the sculptor Piñeiro (1890).
From 1850, it is the headquarters of one of the most ancient cultural societies of the city: the Lyceum I Recreate Orensano.
The whole street has its history, so in the Middle Ages and with
Rúa Nova's denomination (New street) it was the Jewry orensana
up to the expulsion in 1493, without any material vestige stayed