The Vía de la Plata (Silver Way) follows the Roman road that linked Emerita Augusta (Mérida) with Asturica Augusta (Astorga).

The route was laid out in early Christian times along older paths. It enters Galicia at A Mezquita and is the longest of the Ways of St James.

The name “vía de la plata” is thought to come from the Arabic “Bal’hatla”, the word Muslims used for that broad, paved and solidly built public road leading to the Christian north. But the road was indeed used for trading American silver arriving at the docks of Seville. Almanzor advanced along this route with his infantry against Santiago in 997.

Centuries later, it was the road taken by the cathedral bells that had been carried off during the Reconquest.

The Vía de la Plata and the Winter Way meet at Bendoiro, in Lalín. The Winter Way is the entrance to Galicia from the Meseta, an alternative to the hard climb to the snowy heights of O Cebreiro.

Its origins go back to Roman times, starting from the gold mines of Las Médulas. Napoleon’s troops also entered this way, and it follows the railway line that links Galicia with the rest of the Peninsula.