Betanzos

Betanzos is a historic town and municipality in the province of A Coruña, Galicia, situated at the confluence of the Mandeo and Mendo rivers at the head of the Betanzos ría. The town retains one of the best-preserved medieval urban cores in Galicia, with a compact arcaded street network and three significant Gothic churches: San Francisco, Santa María do Azougue, and Santiago.

The church of San Francisco is particularly notable for the tomb of Fernán Pérez de Andrade, a fourteenth-century Galician nobleman, whose stone sarcophagus is supported by a stone boar and a bear, the heraldic animals of the Andrade family, and shows him in effigy above. The stone boar and bear are among the most distinctive pieces of medieval Galician sculpture.

For pilgrims on the Camino Inglés, Betanzos is the major historic stop between Ferrol and A Coruña and one of the most architecturally rewarding towns on the entire route.