The village of Betanzos, 23 kilometres from La Coruña, contains wonderful examples of medieval architecture, with the many houses bearing coats of arms and its ‘fishing quarter’ making it a delightful place to visit. Once a flourishing port, it now lies some distance from the sea.

The site of Iron Age settlements (castros), Betanzos was named Brigantium Flavium by the Romans. King Alfonso IX awarded it the same municipal charter as La Coruña, heralding a new and prosperous period in its history. However, the principal characters of the medieval period were the powerful Andrade family and other noblemen, earning the place the nickname ‘Betanzos de los Caballeros’ (Betanzos of the Knights).

The nobility and the bourgeoisie were followed there by the Franciscans, and their church, built in around 1400 and housing the tomb of Fernán Pérez de Andrade, ‘O Bó’ (The Good), is one of the finest expressions of Galician art. Nearby, stand the churches of Santa María del Azogue - with its altarpiece decorated with unusual Flemish reliefs - and Santiago, which, combined with the unusual layout of the streets, the remains of the walls and their doors, make the town both a fascinating and attractive place for the visitor. In the centuries that followed, other buildings of interest were constructed, including one to store the kingdom’s archives, which never actually came to be housed there.

The most important buildings are: the Town Hall, the Convento de Santo Domingo, the Archives Building, the churches of Santiago, Santa María de Azogue and San Francisco - containing the tomb of Fernán Pérez de Andrade, the finest of its kind in Galicia - the As Mariñas museum, the famous El Pasatiempo gardens, as well as the lively zona de vinos - an area with a high concentration of bars.

 The fiestas held every year in honour of San Roque are renowned both for the famous paper balloon which is raised as part of the celebrations, and the Os Caneiros fair, where small flower-laden boats sail down the river, the only fair of its kind.