Camiño Square

Old Portomarín was several metres lower down, on the banks of the river Miño, before the reservoir was built. In the 1950s, because of the Belesar reservoir project, and because it had been an artistic historic monument since 1946, it was decided to relocate it to prevent it from being submerged.

The architect Pons Sorolla was commissioned for this project, to move the artistic elements, and another architect, Moreno Lacasa, was commissioned to design the new homes.

The two architects designed the new town of Portomarín with a focal point, the Plaza Mayor (now the Praza do Camiño), in which the main buildings would be placed: The church of San Juan, the town hall and the Palace of General Paredes. On the south side of the square is a line of buildings with a lintelled colonnade housing the major businesses, the wealthiest homes and the most important civic buildings.

This is why today, the town’s urban planning is perfectly organized, unlike what is normally found in historic towns, which have a network of streets that developed as the town grew, like in old Portomarín.