Postcard 49, sent by Ciencia Activa students, features
one of the most distinctive Galician landmarks, "os cruceiros", stone
crosses on long slender shafts that be found in a town or city main square and
also at some random point on a road, usually a crossroads (where roads
intersect)
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| Cruceiro de Castillón |
Galician cruceiros
often include small sculptures of Christ on the cross on one side and a Madonna
and Child on the other.
Their origin is uncertain yet most
historians agree that the cruceiros’ origin can be traced back to the lares (laribus vialibus) or gods of the hearth that magically protected
the road and to whom the Romans dedicated altars with inscriptions, mainly
building them by crossroads. Ancient Galicians would light candles on the
altars because they believed they were connected with the underworld. As the
Christianization of the region progressed in the course of the Middle Ages,
said altars were torn down and in their place the cruceiros were put
up. The oldest cruceiros are said to date back to the thirteenth century and
have continued to be built into the twentieth century.
Click here to read more about the cruceiros.
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