GALICIA Provinces - BETANZOS |
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BETANZOS. The Roman
town Brigantium Flavium emerged from old castros and gave birth to
the present Betanzos. King Alphonso IX granted it the same law-code
as A Coruna and so a new era of prosperity began. However, the mighty
Andrade family and other noblemen were the protagonists of its mediaeval
history. This explains the place-name of Betanzos de los Caballeros
(of the Knights). Nobility and bourgeoisie attracted the Franciscans,
whose church is a masterpiece of the Galician art of around 1400.
It also holds the shrine of Fernan Perez de Andrade, "O Bó".
Nearby are the Church of Santa Maria del Azogue, with excellent Flemish
reliefs in its reredos, and the Church of Santiago. It all forms an
attractive, lovely urban centre, together with a peculiar street pattern,
and the ruins of the walls and gates.
In later centuries, other attractive buildings were erected, among
them one intended to hold the Kingdom's public Archive, which in fact
was never installed there. The yearly Festival in honour of St Roch
owes its fame to a paper balloon which is traditionally released into
the air, and also to the river romeria, the only one of its kind.
The Garcia Naveira family, well-off indianos (Spaniards who returned
rich from America) constructed an "encyclopaedic park",
known as the Jardines del Pasatiempo, at the beginning of the century.
Statues, reliefs, stretches of wall, ponds and fountains create an
overall beauty which has partially been restored. |
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