Pilgrims walking the Camino del Norte toward Santiago reach Sobrado dos Monxes tired and footsore, and the sight of the huge granite Baroque façade of the monastery, rising out of a quiet Galician village, must feel like a miracle. Sobrado was founded as a monastery in the tenth century, became Cistercian in the twelfth, and grew into one of the most powerful abbeys in Galicia. After the dissolution of the monasteries in the nineteenth century, it fell into ruin, until Cistercian monks returned in the 1950s and began restoring it. Today they run a pilgrim hostel in part of the buildings.
The church is enormous, with a Baroque façade and a sober interior, and parts of the medieval monastery survive, including a Romanesque chapel, a Gothic kitchen with a huge chimney, and three cloisters. The monks sell their own products, and the atmosphere is calm and contemplative. Beside the monastery lies a small lake, the Lagoa de Sobrado, created by the medieval monks, now a quiet spot for birds and a picnic.
The countryside around is green, rolling and damp, with meadows, oak woods, eucalyptus plantations and small farms. Galicia's rain is legendary, and the light here is soft and changeable. The roads are narrow and winding, with many junctions, and are generally quiet, though you will share them with tractors, cows and walkers. Watch out for wet leaves and mud in autumn and winter.
Sobrado is a small village with a few bars and shops, but for a reliable fuel stop, head to Arzúa, sixteen kilometres away, a town on the Camino Francés famous for its creamy cow's milk cheese. Galician food is excellent: pulpo á feira, octopus with paprika and olive oil, caldo galego, empanada and the local wines. Santiago de Compostela is about an hour's ride to the west, and Lugo, with its intact Roman walls, about the same distance to the east.