Vigo is a city and municipality in the province of Pontevedra, within the autonomous community of Galicia, Spain. Located in the northwest of the Iberian Peninsula, it sits on the southern shore of an inlet of the Atlantic Ocean, the Ria de Vigo, the southernmost of the so-called Rías Baixas.
Vigo is one of the region’s primary economic agents, owing to the French Citroën automotive factory and to the Port of Vigo. Close to the Portugal–Spain border, Vigo is part of the Galicia–North Portugal Euroregion. The European Fisheries Control Agency is headquartered in Vigo.
Main sights
An industrial and recent city, Vigo has few remarkable old buildings but is home to a collegiate church and a few museums, most of which were inaugurated between the late 1990s and early 2000s. Among them, the Museum of Contemporary Art (MARCO) and the Museum of the Sea. The oldest museum is the Quiñones de León Municipal Museum. The most important historical centre of the region is located in its capital and rival city, Pontevedra.Samil Beach and Toralla island
- Casco Vello (historic centre)
- Porta do Sol, Policarpo Sanz and Alameda area (modern centre)
- Príncipe and Urzaiz Streets (commercial area)
- Celtic Castro ruins
- Castro fortress
- Collegiate church of Santa Maria de Vigo
Museums
- Naturnova Museum: Museum dedicated to the environment. Interactive contents.
- Museum of the Sea: Museum dedicated to the Sea, and to tinned food and to naval. Important building designed by famous architects Aldo Rossi and Cesar Portela.
- Museum of Contemporary Art, Vigo: One of the most important museums of Contemporary Art in Spain.
- Museum of Castrelos.
- Verbum, Casa das Palabras. A museum dedicated to languages and communication. Important building designed by famous architect Cesar Portela.
- Pinacoteca de Vigo
- Galician Center of Photography
- Ethnographic Museum Liste
- Pedro Barrié de la Maza Foundation
Romanesque architecture of Vigo
The municipality of Vigo is not only one of the major industrial cities in Galicia, but it is also one of the more important Roman centers of Pontevedra. Although within the city one will not find much Romanesque architecture, it can be seen a few kilometers away from the city center. In many of the municipality’s neighborhoods and parishes a large number of Roman ruins remain. Such is the importance of the Roman remains in Vigo that many Spanish authors have come to coin the term Romanesque Vigo (románico vigués in Spanish). Vigo retains some interesting examples of Romanesque churches in southern Galicia:
- Santa María de Castrelos
- Santiago de Bembrive
- San Salvador de Coruxo
Beaches
Throughout the municipality of Vigo there are 47 coves and beaches, including sandy areas with waves for water sports, wild coves, family beaches, nudist beaches and urban beaches. Some of these coves and beaches have various facilities or services for their users, such as sports areas, showers, footbaths, public address system, promenade, Red Cross lifeguard and rescue post, areas adapted for people with disabilities, etc.
In June 2020, the Association for Environmental and Consumer Education (ADEAC) awarded the blue flag distinction to the following 10 beaches in Vigo: Argazada, Canido, Carril, Fontaíña, Muíños de Fortiñón, Punta, Rodas, Samil, Tombo do Gato and Vao.
Following.a list of some of the beaches of Vigo:
- Samil beach
- Carril beach
- Canido beach
- Vao beach
