The Camiño Miñoto-Ribeiro

The Camiño Miñoto Ribeiro is one of the oldest and most evocative Jacobean routes linking northern Portugal with Santiago de Compostela. It follows the course of the river Miño and works its way into the heart of O Ribeiro, the oldest wine Denomination of Origin in Galicia, connecting Braga with the city of the Apostle across lands of vineyards, thermal springs, monasteries and stone hamlets. This is not a crowded Camino: it is a quiet, green and deeply authentic itinerary, where the pilgrim still walks the very same paths that for centuries were travelled by the muleteers who carried O Ribeiro wine to the cities. And the best part for us: this Camino literally passes in front of our guesthouse, in A Laixa (A Arnoia), right along the Ourense stretch of the route.

Along its Ourense stretch, after leaving northern Portugal behind and crossing the border through the Miño valley, the Camino reaches Cortegada, where the different variants converge. From Cortegada the route offers two options towards Ribadavia: an 'easy' version of about 13.10 km (approx. 2 h 50 min) and a 'hard' one of about 21 km. The Camino enters the municipality of A Arnoia coming from Cortegada, passing through San Martiño de Valongo, A Barca, Louredo —with the monastery/priory of San Vicente— and Meréns, where the wayside shrine is preserved. The history of A Barca is key here: for some three hundred years there was a bridge over which pilgrims crossed towards Sampaio de Ventosela; after it collapsed in the 16th century, the A Barca river crossing gained prominence for goods, travellers and pilgrims. From A Arnoia —a land of thermal waters and wine— the Camino continues following the Miño towards Ponte Castrelo or on to A Reza en route to Ribadavia. Our guesthouse, in A Laixa (A Arnoia), lies right on this stretch: the Camino passes in front of the property, making it a natural stop to rest, eat, sleep and stamp your credential before tackling the stage to Ribadavia or setting off again from the heart of O Ribeiro. What to see on this stretch: the parish church of San Salvador de A Arnoia (founded in 1612) and the rectory, a former priory dependent on the monastery of Celanova; the chapels of San Roque/San Vicente (18th c.), Nª Sª da Asunción in Lapela, San Antonio in Remuíño or San Amaro; the A Peneda woodland, rich in cork oaks; the recreational areas of Inquiau (on the river), As Poldras (after crossing the medieval bridge of Oliveira) and Os Castelos, granite islets at the mouth of the Arnoia; and, of course, the vineyards and wineries of O Ribeiro and the Balneario de Arnoia (mineral-medicinal waters, in operation since 1995).

The Camiño Miñoto Ribeiro has its roots in the old communication routes between Galicia and northern Portugal, laid out largely over the Roman road Via XVIII or Vía Nova (which linked Bracara Augusta, present-day Braga, with Lucus Augusti, Lugo), of which milestones and remains still survive, such as the mansio of Aquis Originis in Lobios. Over that Roman heritage, in the Middle Ages and the centuries that followed, an intense network of pilgrimage and, above all, trade routes was superimposed. The link between Santiago and O Ribeiro wine is ancient —there are documentary references dating back to the 12th century— and for generations it was the muleteers who, with their strings of mules and pack animals, carried the barrels and wineskins of O Ribeiro wine along these paths towards Compostela and other cities, sharing the road with pilgrims, innkeepers and merchants. That is why the itinerary is dotted with bridges, pilgrim hospitals, monasteries, churches, wineries and historic towns. The route lay forgotten for decades until, following historical research begun in the late 1990s (with the historian Cástor Pérez Casal among its driving forces), the Asociación Camiño Miñoto Ribeiro was founded in 2014, based in Cortegada (Ourense), to recover, promote and secure official recognition for the Camino. The effort culminated in 2020, when the Cathedral Chapter of Santiago ecclesiastically recognised the route as a Jacobean Camino, allowing those who complete it to obtain the Compostela. As for length, the figures vary according to the starting point: it is said to be around 265 km from Braga (northern Portugal) to Santiago de Compostela for the full route, and approximately 174 km if taken from the entry at the Galician border (Portela do Home / Lobios). A note of honesty: there are two different associations that use the name 'Miñoto Ribeiro' with somewhat different routes, which sometimes gives rise to differing figures (265–269 km from Braga); the route that passes through A Arnoia and whose Cortegada–Ribadavia stage is documented is that of the Asociación Camiño Miñoto Ribeiro based in Cortegada.