Liñares

Liñares is a small hamlet in the municipality of Pedrafita do Cebreiro, Lugo, Galicia, situated in the high mountain terrain just below the O Cebreiro pass on the Camino Frances. The name derives from liño, the Galician word for flax, indicating that flax cultivation once characterised the alpine meadows around the settlement.

The hamlet has traditional Galician stone farmhouses with hórreo granaries and the lush, green quality that immediately distinguishes the Galician mountain landscape from the Leonese terrain below the pass. The enclosing hills and the damp Atlantic air create an enclosed pastoral character.

For pilgrims, Liñares is the first genuine Galician village after the emotional crossing at O Cebreiro, its stone and green character marking the beginning of the Galician experience of the route.