The small town of Portomarin is in a steep valley of the river Mino. There's been a bridge here probably since Roman times, although it was destroyed and rebuilt many times by those wanting to control the access point across the river. this made the town a key strategic position not only from a military point of view but for trade as well. At least until the 19th century, when the town of Lugo to the north took all the highway traffic and Portomarin became a backwater.
In the middle of the 20th century Franco decided to install a dam to provide hydroelectricity, which would flood Portomarin entirely. So the major buildings of the town was moved, stone by stone, up the hill and then shell of the ancient town effectively disappeared underwater. This included the 13th century church that looks like the fortress it also was. A new bridge was built high enough to span the now wide river.
But by the late 1990s, the authorities started to drain the river, and the old town's bones were revealed, including the old bridge which was repaired as a pedestrian crossing once again. I found it fascinating to think that someone born in 1960 would grow up knowing their town, only to find at age 40 that their town is actually completely different from the one that had survived centuries.
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| view from the new bridge |
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| the ex-townsite, now a marshy plain |
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| more bones downriver |
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| old walls.... |
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| ....and foundations |
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| before |
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| and now |
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| old town, old bridge |
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| before |
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| and now high and dry |
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| sunset over the current Portomarin |
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