Monte Faro is one of those places in Galicia that doesn’t announce itself. There’s no big sign on the main road, no tour buses in the car park. You more or less have to already know it’s there, which is exactly why it’s stayed the kind of place it is.
At just over 1,100 metres, it’s one of the highest points in this part of the Ribeira Sacra, and on a clear day the view from the top stretches out over an enormous sweep of Lugo and Ourense province, ridgeline after ridgeline fading into the distance. We’ve been up a few times now, sometimes just for the view, sometimes with the drone, and it’s one of those spots that genuinely earns the climb.
A mountain with a long memory
What makes Monte Faro more than just a good viewpoint is its history as a place of pilgrimage. There’s a hermitage near the summit dedicated to the Virxe do Faro, and people have been coming up here for centuries, long enough that the tradition has folded together layers of Christian devotion with older, pre-Christian associations that this kind of prominent, isolated peak tends to attract in Galicia. It’s a pattern you see across the region: a striking natural landmark that becomes sacred ground long before anyone builds a chapel on it, and then keeps being sacred ground afterward, just under different names.
The romería
Every year, on the 8th of September, people climb Monte Faro for the romería, a mix of religious pilgrimage and genuine community celebration that’s very much a Galician tradition rather than a tourist event. Mass is held at the hermitage, and the day around it fills with music, food, and a good deal of local wine, in the loose, unhurried way these things tend to happen here.
We’re planning to go up for it this year. It’s the kind of event that doesn’t really get written about in English anywhere, which is part of why we wanted to cover it. A romería isn’t the same as a village fiesta like the ones we’ve been to before, San Blas being a good example. A fiesta tends to be centred on the village itself, while a romería is built around the walk or climb to a specific sacred place, which gives it a different rhythm. There’s more of a pilgrimage feel to the day, even if most people there are there for the atmosphere as much as the devotion.
If you want to visit
Monte Faro isn’t hard to reach if you have a car and don’t mind a winding mountain road for the last stretch. Outside of the romería, it’s usually quiet, sometimes completely empty, which is part of its appeal if you’re after a proper Ribeira Sacra viewpoint without the crowds that gather at some of the better-known miradoiros. Good boots help for the final stretch to the summit, and if you’re coming for the views specifically, an early morning or late afternoon visit avoids the haze that tends to build up over the valley by midday.
We’ll follow this up after the romería with what the day was actually like on the ground. For now, if you’re anywhere near the Ribeira Sacra on the 8th of September, it’s worth the climb.
