Directions Lavandeiras of the Sil River (Legend)
The lavandeiras (cleaners) are mythical beings who lived underwater in the Sil River, and who did the job of cleaning and polishing the gold nuggets found at the bottom of the river. This is the love story of his parents; an impossible love between two young members of nobility.
There is a traditional legend that tells of how the daughter of a member of the nobility from Quiroga liked to travel in the surrounding mountains dressed as a commoner, so she could pass unnoticed among the local people.
One autumn afternoon, while out on one of her walks, she came across a young man hunting deer with his crossbow. The young woman, who according to the story had beauty “like in a fairy tale”, told the hunter that she lived in the castle at Quiroga, while the young man said that he was a vassal of the lord Osorio at Castro Caldelas. These two attractive young people instantly fell in love with each other, and they agreed to continue meeting.
Because their encounters took place along the banks of the Sil River and became more frequent, the young woman’s father soon found out about what was happening. That nobleman’s name was Don Pedro of Quiroga, and he viewed those from Castro Caldelas as his enemies, unworthy of becoming involved with his daughter. He therefore told his daughter that she must never see the young hunter again.
However, the young lovers soon found a way to continue meeting, because there was a passageway that connected the castle at Quiroga with a tunnel that ran below the Sil River, until reaching the castle at Castro Caldelas. However, the father again found out what was happening, and he was so outraged that he decided to impose a punishment on them.
He ordered his men to wait until they had entered into the passageway on their way to another meeting, then to seal off both entrances to the tunnel with stones that would be impossible to remove.
In this way, the young lovers remained beneath the waters of the Sil River forever.
The story also explains that these two lovers were the ancestors of the lavandeiras, mythical beings who according to local beliefs, live in the waters of the Sil River, where their job is to wash and polish the gold nuggets deposited at the bottom.
In Quiroga, you can see a mural depicting a lavandeira, painted on the outside of the Municipal Hostel (Albergue Municipal) as part of the project "A Touch of Colour in Ribeira Sacra".
Source of the legend: Antonio Cortizo