Mondoñedo

Mondoñedo is a city and municipality in the province of Lugo, Galicia, the historic seat of the Diocese of Mondoñedo. The city occupies a sheltered valley in the Lugo interior, giving it an enclosed, contemplative character quite different from the coastal towns of the Camino del Norte. The Catedral de Mondoñedo, begun in the Romanesque period and completed with Gothic modifications, dominates the compact historic centre with its twin towers and richly carved west front.

The cathedral interior contains the Black Virgin of the Remedies, a venerated image of medieval origin, and the walls are hung with tapestries. The bishop’s palace, the Episcopal Seminary, and the arcaded streets of the historic quarter give Mondoñedo one of the most coherent medieval urban ensembles in inland Galicia.

For pilgrims on the Camino del Norte taking the inland variant, Mondoñedo is the most historically significant city between Ribadeo and the intersection with the Camino Primitivo, and a full-service stop of considerable architectural and cultural richness.