Sarria

King Alfonso IX of León died in Sarria in 1230 while making a pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela.

• Settlement Type — municipality • Official Name — Sarria • Subdivision Type — Parroquias • Subdivision Name — 52 • Leader Title — Alcalde (Mayor) • Leader Name — Claudio M. Garrido Martinez • Area Note — 185 km² • Timezone — CET • Utc Offset — +1 • Timezone Dst — CET • Utc Offset Dst — +2 • Website — http: www.sarria.es

Sarria's artistic heritage is primarily characterized by churches, which are essential to the Way of St. James. This includes the early-Gothic, 13th-century church, O Salvador, which is located on Rúa Maior. In this town, from its unusual rúa Maior, it is possible to see the only tower that remains of the medieval fortress belonging to the town called Fortress of Sarria. Around this tower, a fair is held three times a month to showcase the traditional products of the area. From its medieval past, Sarria conserves the Convent of A Madalena, currently belonging to the Mercedarian Fathers, founded at the beginning of the 13th century as a pilgrim hospital by Italian monks of the Order of the Blessed Martyrs of Jesus, who were also pilgrims. The present building, which houses a small cloister and a church, is a mixture of different styles of construction ranging from the 15th to the 18th centuries. Today, it is also a private school. It has a strategic point of view of its connections; it is accessible through railway and road, being especially important the 546 road the connects Lugo and Monforte, direction Ponferrada.

The township of Sarria offers a number of leisure activities to visitors, such as O Chanto recreational site, on the banks of the river Sarria. There are also options for fishing at several preserves along the river Sarria, hunting, trekking or taking horseback rides. The village's gastronomy includes dishes like the local stew (cocido), made primarily of pork, octopus, pasty and wild game, partridge, boar and hare. Other local foods include the blood crepes of milk and egg freixos, served with cream or honey. The economy of this Galician town is based on cattle farming and industry, especially the production of furniture. However, the importance of tourism in Sarria in increasing, mostly due to its cultural heritage, landscapes and food. The most popular festivities in Sarria are the feast of St. Jesus, which is the patron saint festival, and Corpus Christi, during which a procession takes place. The Noite Meiga (Witch's Night) is held the last Saturday of August.

ImageSize=width:270 height:300 PlotArea=left:60 bottom:75 top:10 right:16 AlignBars=justify Period=from:0 till:25000 TimeAxis=orientation:horizontal Colors= id:gray value:gray(0.5) id:line1 value:gray(0.9) id:line2 value:gray(0.7) ScaleMajor=unit:year increment:5000 start:0 gridcolor:line2 ScaleMinor=unit:year increment:5000 start:0 gridcolor:line1 BarData= bar:January text:January bar:February text:February bar:March text:March bar:April text:April bar:May text:May bar:June text:June bar:July text:July bar:August text:August bar:September text:September bar:October text:October bar:November text:November bar:December text:December PlotData= color:tan1 width:10 bar:January from:start till:599 text: bar:February from:start till:847 text: bar:March from:start till:9069 text: bar:April from:start till:13060 text: bar:May from:start till:18232 text: bar:June from:start till:18121 text: bar:July from:start till:17179 text: bar:August from:start till:23631 text: bar:September from:start till:21308 text: bar:October from:start till:13552 text: bar:November from:start till:2388 text: bar:December from:start till:715 text: TextData= pos:(50,37) textcolor:gray fontsize:M text:Number of pilgrims who started TextData= pos:(50,20) textcolor:gray fontsize:M text:their journey in Sarria (2024) TextData= pos:(50,3) textcolor:gray fontsize:M text:Source: oficinadelperegrino.com Sarria lies on the French Way of the Camino de Santiago. In 2024 over 150,000 pilgrims headed from this town in the direction of Santiago de Compostela. Out of all pilgrims on the French Way about 64% started in Sarria. Most people started their pilgrimage here in August and September. In contrast to Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port starting from Sarria is rather popular among people from Spain: 64% of the pilgrims had a Spanish nationality, followed by people from the USA (6.6%), Italy (3.7%) and Mexico (3.2%). The distance from Sarria along the French Way to the Cathedral of Santiago de Compestela is 115 km.

• Illustration — Ponte de Áspera - romantic style bridge from 12th century. • Illustration — Church of Saint Mariña. • Illustration — Castle of Sarria • Illustration — Castle of Sarria • Illustration — Monastery A Madalena

• José Díaz Fuentes (1940–2010), Spanish sculptor