The lushness of the Galician Versailles
The manor house Pazo de Oca is a haven of peace of a great botanical and architectural value. Its courtyards are filled with history and those who visit its gardens are always accompanied by the sound of water
This is one of the best-kept treasures in the inland part of the province of Pontevedra. The Pazo de Oca, more han four centuries old and in the town of A Estrada, is one of the best-preserved manor houses in Galicia and boasts a majestic grove. Visitors often bring back the memory of their stunning ponds. This manor house of baroque style is also known as the “Galician Versailles" for the beauty of its French maze gardens.
don’t miss… ...
- The stone rowboats
- French gardens
- Lime tree path
- Native woodland
A stroll around its 14 hectares of land is always accompanied by the sound of the water. This breath-taking space is topped off by a plantation of box hedges that are over three hundred years old and the lime trees that are 30 meters tall. These trees are planted around a meadow, forming a path that runs from the beginning of the river to a native woodland that is also part of the garden.
Let yourself be amazed by its more than one-hundred year-old boxwood plantations and its 30-meter-high lime trees
The water in the Pazo de Oca serves both aesthetic and functional purposes, because the Boo River stops at the washing place, flows through canals and fountains; and moves the mill. The stone rowboats in the ponds, a war boat and a fishing boat, seem to hint at the existence of two well-differentiated realms: on the one hand, the still waters of the higher pond would represent virtues; on the other hand, the troubled waters of the lower pond would harbour the vanities of the world.
The Pazo de Oca is declared Asset of Cultural Interest (BIC) and is managed by the Ducal House of Medinaceli Foundation. The primitive fortress dates from the middle of the 15th century and it was restored in the first half of the 18th century. The gardens can be visited every day from 9 am to 6.30 pm in Winter (November to March) and from 9 am to 8.30 pm in Summer (April to October).
Deep-rooted camellias
The camellias growing in the Pazo de Oca are the oldest in the province of Pontevedra. They seem to date back to the 18th century. Today, the garden boasts more than 600 hundred specimens that are up to eight metres tall, most of them with white and pink flowers. Visitors can enjoy their colourful shades from January to April. The so-called "Galician Versailles" is part of the Route of the Camellia in Rías Baixas.
