Turismo Concello de Barreiros – English
Fountains
Water has a long tradition related to healing. Even the Celts considered it a sacred element. For more than a millennium until today it has been customary to go on pilgrimage to a well or sacred fountain to which miraculous power is attributed.
One of the most recognized fountains, both in Barreiros and in the north of the province of Lugo, is the Augas Santas fountain located in the space of Santo Estevo do Ermo. It is a spring of ferruginous waters, highly revered in A Mariña, which is given medicinal properties to treat ailments related to the lack of iron.
Legend tells that if someone argues in front of the Augas Santas fountain, it stops flowing
In the same place of Santo Estevo do Ermo, above the waterfall, we find another miraculous fountain, the Santa Rosa spring to which healing properties for skin diseases are attributed. In this case the ritual consists in using a piece of cloth that we dip in the water and pass through the affected area. After that we tie the cloth to one of the branches of the surrounding hazelnuts trees as a testimony and offering. The tradition says that the disease will be transmitted to the cloth.
With the arrival of Christianity this type of rituals, considered pagan, were converted to the Christian religion. Therefore, the existence of monasteries and churches next to these springs and sacred wells is quite common. In the surroundings there is a third source called «do Pan Branco» (White Bread fountain) and a chapel of millenary origins.