Northern Spain and Galicia particularly has long been an undiscovered jewel in the whole of the Spanish tourism industry and within that undiscovered jewel in particular we are going to take a look at Lugo.
Overall of all of the autonomous regions of Spain possibly Galicia is the most remote and this makes Lugo even more of an undiscovered treasure. Traditionally, Galicia was seen as a poor agricultural region, whose economy did not lend itself to modernisation and yet as far as tourism is concerned it is this constant contact with the past that gives the region its appeal and charm.
The Galicians, whose origins are Celtic, are fiercely proud of their culture and language; it is what makes them unique within modern day Spain. It absorbed little in the way of outside influence being fiercely resistant to all forms of outside intervention, was never conquered by the Moors, and in the Middle Ages fell under the control of the kingdom of Asturias.
Thankfully slowly throughout the 20th century Galicia has begun to develop a way in which to manage the traditional lifestyles within the modern community to ensure that none of its rich history is lost and this is now starting to show very real and tangible benefits as far as the local tourism economy is concerned.
The ancient town of Lugo in eastern Galicia lays on one of the main roads into Galicia from Leon. It was not surprising given its location that the Romans chose to use it as their provincial regional capital.
As many historians have pointed out on quite a few occasions the Romans were a race that never did anything by half measures and so you can be rest assured that when they decided to use Lugo as their regional headquarters firstly they would make sure that it was fortified and secondly they would make sure that those fortifications were extremely robust and well constructed.
Hence you now have a town built in the 21st century that has some of the finest examples of Roman fortifications and architecture in existence today. So much so that the walls of Lugo, UNESCO World Heritage Site, are now major tourist attractions in their own right.
The Roman settlement at Lugo originates from about 15 BC but the actual fortifications were begun in earnest in the third century AD under the rule of the Roman emperor Augustus. The walls of Lugo surround the entire town and they are punctuated at regular intervals throughout the entire circumference by outposts of 82 different towers.
The other main attraction of Lugo is its Cathedral which now sits on the site of an earlier church construction that stems from the 12th Century. Perhaps not as large or impressive as its westernmost neighbour in Santiago de Compostela, the Cathedral at Lugo is still well worth a visit if you have the time.
Within the town walls the streets still follow a traditional roman axis and the narrow cobble stoned streets are a delight to wander around and there are quite a few interesting restaurants that can be found throughout the town.
By Stephen Morgan
Stephen Morgan writes about a great many Internet Travel based issues and more on the above can be found at Accommodation in Galicia.