Ferrol
Ferrol History:
Ferrol is an Atlantic-facing city in the provice of A Coruna, Galicia in the north-western corner of Spain. It is positioned at one of the inlets or rias of the Atlantic Ocean, giving it strategic significance for the launching and porting of vessels. Today, Ferrol is best known for the Navantia shipbuilding yards, for being the Spanish capital of the Maritime Department of the North and, back in the 18th Century, was the most important arsenal in Europe.
Life in this bustling city has always revolved around the shipyards, shipbuilding in general, and the military. Although the site of an Iron Age settlement, Ferrol only began to develop when the Bourbons named the city as the capital of one of the Maritime Departments in 1726. This decision led to military engineers planning the city and its most important buildings: the Arsenal de la Grana, the castles on the estuary, the Esteiro shipyard, the street of La Magdalena, and the churches of San Julian and San Francisco, amongst others - all of which have contributed to Ferrol being very much a neoclassical-style city. Its builders also worked in other towns in Galicia and used the same new methods that they had used in Ferrol.
The city was the birthplace of the Spanish General Francisco Franco in 1892, and was officially known as El Ferrol del Caudillo from 1938 to 1982. Ferrol has a population of approximately eighty thousand inhabitants and its metropolitan area (ie: the urban area plus all the satellite towns known as Ferrolterra) has a population of over 210,000. The name 'el Ferrol' is probably derived from 'farol' (meaning lighthouse), as the harbour had a lighthouse at its mouth.
Ferrol certainly has less notoriety than either of the province's nearby cities of Santiago de Compostela and A Coruna, but it has had a Naval base since 1726 and has ship building yards (in particular the Navantia shipbuilding yard) that pre-date that. Spain's first academy of Naval Engineers was formed here in 1772 and the city gained a reputation for been a coastal stronghold that invaders could not overcome. Ferrol also had a series of fortified structures on the perimeter of its bay and some of them remain today.
Like most cities Ferrol has enjoyed good times and bad and the worse of those probably came at the turn of the nineteenth century. In around 1800 an attack by Spain's then adversary Britain was narrowly defeated, but within a further ten years the French had successfully invaded Ferrol and the city lost its status and economy. The bad times continued for much of the first half of that century, but gradually Ferrol's ship building capabilities brought them back to the fore and investment, by companies from their former enemy Britain, resulted in major works taking place in Ferrol again. A little known fact is that many of the engineers working on the docks of Ferrol at that time were in fact English.
Ferrol - Geography and sight-seeing:
Ferrol has an impressive bay and port along with some good beaches including those of San Jorge, Cabanas and Cobas. It also has the Castillo de San Felipe coastal fort at the opening to the bay which tourists can visit. This fort is similar to, but probably larger than, the one at Santa Cruz, a little further down the coast. A further castle in the Ferrol district is the Castillo de Nogueirosa, with a large keep and high walls.
Monumental buildings are naturally in smaller numbers in Ferrol than in either Santiago de Compostela or A Coruna, but they are there none the less. Especially impressive is the Plaza del Ayuntamiento with a large palatial structure on one of its sides, but there are many churches and a multitude of other parks and plazas dotted around the city.
One thing that makes Ferrol different to many of Galicia's other cities is its highly geometric and almost American like street geography. The newer parts of the city have ruas (or streets) running at right angles to one another and not the time evolved winding alleys generally found in Galicia's older cities. There is also no distinct medieval or monumental quarter meaning that an exploration of the older buildings cannot be made quite as easily as in some of the regions other towns.
A significant part of Feerrol's port is given over to naval activities. One of the main areas of interest is the Arsenals, the walled naval facilities featuring a number of hugely impressive doorways and engineering works such as the O Sino Dock, once one of the largest in the world.
The Arsenals also comprise the Naval Museum housing fascinating collections of scale model ships and the Library of the Cantabrian Maritime Area. The grid-like layout of the Magdalena Quarter is a reminder of the city's resurgence during the eighteenth century. The rationalist architecture of the area between the Amboage Square and the Arms Square, presided over by the Town Hall, is complemented by later modernist buildings.
The entrance to Ferrol Estuary is particularly narrow and the two fortresses that stand guard over the entrance once made it impregnable. On the northern side stands San Felipe Castle, currently open to visitors. On the southern side lies La Palma Castle (Mugardos),which will shortly be reopened as a hotel. Together with the Arsenals, the two castles make up Ferrol's bid for World Heritage status.
Ferrol - Festivals:
Semana Santa de Ferrol - The city stands on a narrow and sheltered inlet of major historic strategic value during the 18th Century. Its military and maritime spirit, combined with the most timeless of Galician traditions, have led to a series of unique Easter celebrations.
Ferrol - Our holiday accommodation and service:
Travel with secretdestinations.com holidays and enjoy delightful, privileged, sophisticated Galician holiday destinations in La Coruna province, including Ferrol . From privately owned houses, charming cottages, villas and apartments to villas with pools and hotels; all in beautiful coastal and rural locations, hand-picked for an authentic taste of unspoiled Galicia and secret Northern Green Spain.
So, if you're looking for an activity holiday walking, cycling and trekking or climbing in Northern Green Spain's mountains and countryside; exploring La Coruna's fascinating Galician villages, rural towns and historic cities such as Santiago de Compostela; following the historic pilgrims' routes; enjoy bird watching, nature, fancy a spot of surfing, swimming, sunbathing or relaxing on great beaches; sampling fabulous Galician seafood or you just want to simply escape the tourism masses with a privately owned apartment, cottage or villa with a pool, call our holiday team today. We can also assist you with flights to La Coruna and Galicia, ferry travel and holiday car hire.
